Always regarded for his skillful construction of narrative and daunting psychological horror, Alexandre Aja takes a new step into the realm of Never Let Go – a survival thriller that teeters over a hidden apocalyptic world. The film is set to release in 2024 and has Halle Berry taking on what may be her most captivatingly intense roles to date, along with younger talents Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins. Due to the film’s tight-knit cast and limited mise-en-scene, Never Let Go wraps itself in the folds of horror and operating more so as a claustrophobic psychodrama rather than a straightforward horror movie.
Momma (Halle Berry) takes the center stage of the narrative. A fierce mother who mercilessly guards the safety of her twin sons, Nolan and Samuel, is living in a cabin tucked away in the remote wilderness. With what looks like civilization crumbling down, caused by some supernatural force, the family adheres to a rigid set of survival commandments to safeguard against an unidentified entity known simply as ‘The Evil’.
Failure to obey carelessly set rituals such as chanting “Thank You” towards the cabin each day, keeping hold of the rope while stepping outside, or a constant reminder that the world beyond the woods is filled with death and danger. Shaping the children’s lives to a great extent, these rules routinely facilitate the parents’ children understanding their reality which heavily revolves around concealed dangers.
Nolan’s father, as he grows older, starts to doubt his mother’s warnings as his brother Samuel blindly obeys them. This serves to deepen the already strained emotional relationship the siblings share. As Momma becomes more frightened and the supplies run dangerously low, the already split family becomes more dysfunctional and, when she states that she must kill their dog to avoid starving, it results in some devastating emotional breakdowns in the family.
This triggers a series of disturbing psychological breakdowns for the family, starting with one child breaking the boundaries set for him, sending the family into a downward spiral of havoc leading to an uncomfortable revelation that can change the perception of the onlookers completely.
Characters and Performances
With superb accuracy, Halle berry plays the very human character of Momma. Balancing a protective parent’s typical to a child’s empath and incredibly wounded, frantic and desperate. Rather than a typical horror movie heroin, her character is much deeper, being rather broken, deeply loving, and somewhat crazed. Berry does superbly in portraying a mother hovering on the brink of madness, desperately trying to have control over her children out of a pure instinct to protect them where she may end up controlling them with terror.
The portrayal of Nolan by Percy Daggs IV captures the bewilderment and covert defiance of teenage years perfectly because of how he portrayed the character’s internal struggle. The performance captures a boy coming to the realization that the pillars of his support system can be deeply flawed, unsound, and dysfunctional. The emotional pain and his subtle defiance creates a complex character within the film.
As Samuel, Anthony B. Jenkins plays the dutiful son who is torn between his affection for their mother and devotion to his brother, balancing the dynamic. His quietness is particularly laced with tension which furthers as the family dynamics become more dysfunctional.
As a unit, this small cast is as powerful as every portrayal conveys a different dose of love, fear, and distrust. The combination of their performances power the emotional core of the narrative.
At the thematic and symbolic level
Never Let Go, in its most absolute form, explores the notion of fear and the illusion woven with safety. Its core metaphor is encapsulated in the film’s title. The family attempts to protect itself, both thematically and literally, but sometimes these protective measures can become suffocating. The rope that literally connects the family to the cabin not only serves as a protective measure but also as a means of confinement.
This movie reflects on the expression of parental authority, trauma, and the intricate realms of psychological abuse disguised as protective care. Momma’s coping mechanisms tread the fine line between love and madness. Is she rescuing her sons or holding them captive? That is the question that lingers in every face of the film.
Isolation is a prominent theme, both physically and emotionally. There is a deep divide in the emotional state of each family member, as well as the outside world. As the characters emotionally start drifting apart, the coupled risk of disintegration of trust and non-existent external threats is dangerous, and in fact, frightening.
This theme is portrayed through the use of perception and reality, which is one of the motifs of the film. Putting aside disability, trauma, mental illness, or fear of the unknown, Evil is never seen very clearly or constructed. Is Evil a manifestation of Momma’s paranoia? The film never truly reveals the answer, neither does it need to, as that unresolved confusion is what gives the film its substance.
Direction and Style
Aja Alexandre is a skilled filmmaker who understands tension like few others. In his previous films, The Hills Have Eyes and Crawl, were centered on stretching suspense to the breaking point. Here, in Never Let Go, he moves away from spectacle driven horror into the more intimate and psychological. He silences, traps, and restricts the movement of the camera until his viewers reach that dreaded space where nothing explodes, but everything simmers.
The cinematography emphasizes the characters’ deep isolation. A wide shot of the forest is filled with both beauty and menace and the cabin interior is dimly lit, claustrophobic, and emotionally stifling. The forest becomes a character too, both expansive and constricting as it mirrors the children’s emotional state.
The film has an eerie atmosphere which is integrally set by the sound. The creaks of the cabin, the howling wind, and distant, unplaceable sounds all contribute towards suggesting that something is always lurking just out of sight.
Reception
Not Letting Go, along with watching the film, received generally favorable reviews. Critics loved the atmospheric tension in the film and Berry’s standout performance. And while some viewers found the pacing slow or the plot ambiguous, many appreciated the film’s refusal to spoon-feed.
This dispute is in part of what creates conversation around the film, which is its staying power. After all, the movie encourages discussion interpretation of the events within, and provokes debate long after its conclusion.
Conclusion
Never Let Go is a deep gripping horror thriller that examines the farthest fears woven into parenthood, survival, and even sanity. Centered around a powerful performance by Halle Berry and a thesis of stunning direction by Alexandre Aja, the film does offer its moments of jump scares; but offers a chilling investiage on the measures humans go through to protect their loved ones, and the chilling consequences that arise from such deep seated fears of imaginary dangers.
Focused on the theme of horror or as a supernatural pyschological drama, the film does stick to the viewers mind and heart long after the bizarre conclusion, just like the characters who were instructed to create a grip at all times.
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