Director Alexandre Aja continues his recent streak of helming self-contained horror, shifting from the claustrophobic confines of space in Oxygen and the flooding Florida house in Crawl to a rundown cabin in the woods with his latest, Never Let Go. Its simple setup and fairy tale qualities feel familiar, with inevitable comparisons drawn to Bird Box due to the title’s meaning. While it is lean in plotting, Never Let Go becomes a vicious little bedtime story with sharp teeth in Aja’s hands, one that refreshingly doesn’t handhold.
Never Let Go introduces a small family of three deep into their self-imposed isolation in the woods. Under the strict rules of Momma (Halle Berry), siblings Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins, The Deliverance) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) spend their days venturing out to forage for food while tethered to ropes. The rope is key: there’s an evil lurking in the forest that only Momma can see, and the ropes protect them from it. While Samuel, the slightly older of the boys, remains the doting, dutiful son, Nolan finds himself questioning his surroundings and wondering if, perhaps, Momma might be wrong about evil’s existence.
Percy Daggs IV as Nolan, Halle Berry as Momma and Anthony B. Jenkins as Samuel in Never Let Go. Photo Credit: Liane Hentscher
Alexandre Aja, working from a screenplay by Ryan Grassby and KC Coughlin, leans heavily into psychological horror and ambiguity here. Berry’s Momma is ferocious, both in her profound love of her sons and in her fear for what’s outside. Everything we learn about this world, set sometime in an undisclosed future, is filtered through Momma. And Momma keeps things close to the vest in the name of protecting what little family, her most cherished, she has left. Aja directs most of the horror to her in the first act, including spooky nighttime visitations (Abigail‘s William Catlett) or eerie forest visions, instilling doubt in reality.
Mostly, though, Aja keeps the horror restrained initially to instead establish this warped family as a fully realized, endearing trio despite their bizarre circumstances. Berry finds compelling ways to peel back layers of Momma while maintaining the mysterious nature of this story; she’s at once fierce and vulnerable, with a volatile nature that keeps both her sons and us on edge. It’s that push and pull between mom and sons and Berry’s compelling performance as the flawed and potentially mentally unwell Momma that lays the groundwork. The slightly older Samuel earns initial rooting interest as the voice of reason and as the victim of an unlucky accident at Nolan’s hands. But the more curious Nolan becomes, allegiances shift thanks to an empathetic, spirited performance from Daggs IV that becomes the emotional center of the film. It certainly helps that Nolan asks all the questions the audience wants answered, evolving Nolan into an audience proxy, as well.
Anthony B. Jenkins as Samuel in Never Let Go. Photo Credit: Liane Hentscher
Like a frog immersed in a pot of water set to a slow boil, Aja slowly ramps up the claustrophobic unease and psychological torment. Subtle signs that life at the cabin isn’t quite sustainable further erode morale and sanity, letting Aja escalate the psychological horror into something far more visceral. It culminates in an intense and intensely satisfying third act that lets Aja cut loose with his trademark ability to wring taut tension from just about any scenario. Luckily, Never Let Go gives the director no shortage of opportunities to leave you on edge.
Through fairy tale whimsy, recurring snake imagery, a stunning Southern Gothic production design from Jeremy Stanbridge, and a remarkable cast, Never Let Go elevates a barebones, well-trodden concept. It’s unafraid to get dark and mean, removing the safety net for all, and refuses to overexplain its themes or the evil itself. It’s a smart approach when tackling a horror movie, asking questions about blind faith and belief. While the final coda does veer into cliched territory, Aja ultimately delivers a satisfying new horror fairy tale that’s light on logic but rewarding on heart and a trio of affecting performances that ensure the horror, pain, and endless familial love are felt in equal measure.
Never Let Go releases in theaters on September 20, 2024.
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