On September 20, 2024, Lionsgate releases 'Never Let Go', which has received predominantly positive reviews from critics, currently holding at 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the film, "as an Evil takes over the world beyond their front doorstep, the only protection for a mother, played by Academy Award® winner Halle Berry (Actress in a Leading Role, 2001 -- Monster's Ball), and her twin sons is their house and their family's protective bond. Needing to stay connected at all times -- even tethering themselves with ropes -- they cling to one another, urging each other to never let go. But when one of the boys questions if the evil is real, the ties that bind them together are severed, triggering a terrifying fight for survival." The ensemble cast includes Percy Daggs IV, Anthony B. Jenkins, Matthew Kevin Anderson, and Stephanie Lavigne. But what did the critics say?
J. Don Birnam of Next Best Picture says, "Fans of niche horror rejoice at the arrival of Academy Award-winner Halle Berry into the genre. In her latest film, “Never Let Go,” she plays Momma, a woman living with her twin sons in a post-apocalyptic world, stalked by monsters. Captivating and ferocious, Berry’s Momma must fight back against the forces of darkness that are stalking her and her children while facing renewed doubt about the reality of the evil that surrounds her. The end result is an enjoyable and, at times, truly scary film that marks one of Berry’s best work in a long while."
Laura Potier of Starburst praises the film, stating, "While this reviewer can’t decide whether Never Let Go would have been better as an ultra-serious, Gothic chamber piece or as an all-pulp, jump-scare extravaganza, Aja’s latest is still an entertaining, polished horror... perfect for spooky-season viewing."
Courtney Howard of Variety notes, "Never Let Go” isn’t interested in reinventing familiar formulas when it comes to its unsettling spin on sinister spirits visiting a secluded cabin in the woods. With its inclusion of a protective mother and her two young kids attempting to escape an evil entity plaguing their world, it’s also unafraid to invite minor comparisons to “Bird Box.” Still, director Alexandre Aja’s psychologically taut feature blazes its own trail, dropping us into the middle of one family’s ghastly, worsening crisis, craftily drawing its scares from their interpersonal and intrapersonal strife. Though not all of its clever ideas come together efficiently in the finale, its thematic ruminations on grief, sanity, rebellion and redemption are intrinsically intertwined to harrowing, claustrophobic effect, heightening the hallucinatory horrors and dread-soaked atmospheric pull." Adding, "As demonstrated in Aja’s previous films, ranging from “High Tension” to his “The Hills Have Eyes” remake, the French genre director’s strength lies in stories dealing with ordinary people trapped in seemingly insurmountable, nightmarish experiences. Each is told with brevity in mind, streamlining the narrative’s pacing and twists. The same can be said of the way Aja fearlessly explores similarly bleak mounting circumstances in “Never Let Go,” sensing how to tap into the shared universal fears of both the characters and the audience rooting for their survival."
David Rooney of Hollywood Reporter was less impressed, stating, "Splat Pack veteran Alexandre Aja tries his hand at family-in-peril horror along the lines of the Quiet Place franchise with Never Let Go. But mostly, the French director just succeeds in making us miss his entertainingly trashy swerves into B-movie pulp, with creature features built around ravenously bitey carnivorous fish (Piranha 3D) or giant Florida gators riled up by a hurricane and flood (Crawl). Whatever their strengths and weaknesses, those movies were fun popcorn entertainment with teeth. Fun is banished from Aja’s latest, which starts out mildly intriguing and chalks up a few bracing jump scares before running out of juice." Concluding, "Part of the problem with KC Coughlin and Ryan Grassby’s feeble screenplay is the laboriousness of its setup. Halle Berry plays a woman, initially identified only as Momma, living in woodlands isolation in an old timber family home with her preteen nonidentical twin sons, Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV). Whenever they step outside the house in search of food, they must remain tied to its foundations with thick ropes and: Never. Let. Go. That way evil can’t touch them and make them do bad things, explains Momma, so many times you want to scream, “Jesus, we get it!”
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| Photo by Cody Chan on Unsplash |
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