Never Let Go (2024), Dir: Alexandre Aja, Lionsgate.

4✩✩✩✩ Review: Matthew Alicoon.

Running Time: 101 Minutes

“A horror that relies on your interpretation.”

Never Let Go takes place at a remote home, focusing on a family who have been cursed by an unknown evil spirit for years. The only protection is the family must stay connected at all times, latching onto a rope being forced to never let go. However, after one of the boys questions the evil, it triggers a nail-biting fight for survival.

Alexandre Aja thrusts harmonious moody tension instantly, creating an unsettling tone with that carries bite and heft. The elegance of Never Let Go falls within Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby’s screenplay, as there carries a tremendous intellect that studio horror films can miss. The boldness comes from maintaining the evil’s secrecy, where the unknown has carries the dread it needs. Several theories can be imagined as to what is going on. The chunks of minimal explanation, enhance the covert tone of the drama. The film understands how to challenge your perceptions of what you are seeing on screen. There is an audacious swing at around the 1-hourmark, however the film keeps building on the questions of the world.

The family dynamic is exceedingly naturalistic. Halle Berry plays Momma, who masterfully conveys a delusional sense of mass hysteria, causing the question of what she is truly seeing. It is a tone that Berry flawlessly carries throughout the film, causing intrigue to grow. The performances off the children, are momentous with the film showcasing some of the best upcoming talent seen all year. Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins play the two children. What both of them bring, is a profound and reflective sense of humanity and awareness. There anchoring performances, bolster a deep coming of age addition to the narrative. They both command the screen with intense explorations of anxiety and persistence. Collectively, all 3 performers share awonderfully compassionate and delicate family bond.

As the film progresses, the questions keep rising. Never Let Go is not a horror film, which will give you all the answers. There is the possibility of more questions than answers. While this could be a turn-off, the admirability of Alexandre Aja’s daring and confident family horror is restoring. It is possible to have various interpretations of what the evil represents. The evil fluently interweaves within the family dynamic. It is a rarity for a film to leave the questions that it does, however interpretative cinemafeels refreshing for the horror genre. Importantly, the ambiguous nature distinguishes Never Let Go as a challengingly provocative horror.  

It is a minimalistic drama in terms of locations, yet Alexandre Aja allows for a thought-provoking scope of exploration into mass hysteria and illusions. Three incredible central performances from Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins command Never Let Go.

Cast

Halle Berry as Momma

Percy Daggs IV as Nolan

Anthony B. Jenkins as Samuel

Matthew Kevin Anderson as The Stranger

Christin Park as Paramedic

Stephanie Lavigne as The Evil

Creatives

Director – Alexandre Aja

Screenwriters – Kevin Coughlin & Ryan Grassby

Producers – Shaun Levy, Dan Cohen, Alexandre Aja & Dan Levine

Cinematographer – Maxime Alexandre

Editor - Elliot Greenberg

Music – Robin Coudert