Never Let Go (2024)
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
Premise: A mother (Halle Berry) and her two sons (Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins) live in an isolated cabin in the woods. They can only leave the house tethered by a rope for fear that evil spirits will overtake their body.
What Works: Never Let Go is an involving family drama with a horrific angle. We’re introduced to a family that initially appears to be living in a post-apocalyptic setting and struggle to provide for themselves while haunted by demonic forces. It’s quickly evident that their situation is not as it initially appears and the filmmakers do a great job of playing with our perceptions and drawing out the truth until the very end. The filmmakers do a remarkable job aligning the audience’s experience with that of the characters. How we understand the family, and especially the mother, depends on what we believe to be the truth and the viewer’s perspective shifts in tandem with the boys’ epiphanies. The performances are stellar. Halle Berry is ferocious as the mother. She may be right or she may be unwell but she’s driven by a fierce instinct to survive and protect her kids and the character is frightening but complex. Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins are also terrific as the brothers. Each of them is distinct and has their own view of their situation and Daggs and Jenkins’ performances embody a commitment to the horror but also to the family drama. The familial and horrific qualities are entwined in a way that makes Never Let Go frightening but also heartbreaking.
What Doesn’t: The only flaw of Never Let Go may be in the premise. The conceit requires us to believe that this family occupies an abandoned cabin and no one notices or makes contact with them. It’s revealed that they aren’t really that deep in the woods and so it’s unlikely that they would go unnoticed for this long. However, Never Let Go is involving enough and smart enough that this implausibility doesn’t much matter.
Bottom Line: Never Let Go is a terrifically crafted and extremely well acted mix of paranoia horror and family drama. This may be Alexandre Aja’s best film to date.
Episode: #1019 (October 27, 2024)