Movie Review – ‘Never Let Go’ might need a stronger grip for some

Never Let Go (2024) is a cross-genre thriller that never quite settles in its identity, but manages to hold on.

A mother (Halle Berry) raises her two sons Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) in a world that has moved on without them. In a farmhouse in the middle of a deserted wilderness, she struggles to keep them occupied, fed, and vigilant with only the surrounding forest to keep them fed. She tells them stories of how the world used to be before the unnamed virus destroyed the world, and they tie ropes around their waists to keep them safe from the evil lurking out there. There is a curse on the family, she tells them, and without the prayers carved on the doors and their unbreakable faith in each other, they could succumb and be lost to one another. As the boys grow older, they begin to doubt their mother’s teachings and question the reality of their situation. Shadowy figures in the distance and Mother’s own stories of her past create doubt and strife. When the cupboards are bare and they face a winter of no food, Momma makes a devastating proposal that turns mother against son, and brother against brother, spiraling into a situation that unravels the safety of their remote cabin.

I could point to movies that have similar themes to Never Let Go like Frailty (2001) or Bird Box (2018) or 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), but those comparisons would be misleading and inaccurate. With a compact cast that leans heavily on two outstanding young actors in Jenkins and Daggs, the audience is only privy to information and atmosphere directly on screen. No wide-eyed ingénues these two, the development of the brotherly love and bickering flesh out a story that could easily devolve into a hot mess of jump scares, negligence, and mental illness. Their youth strengthens the plot and adds credence to the overall story. Berry isn’t playing her usual badassed taking names and shooting kneecaps character. She channels a desperate mother terrified of the night and the trees and the emptying larder. She’s fierce and fearful, knowing the only treasures she has in the world are vulnerable to their own capricious whims.

Directory Alexandre Aja doesn’t rely on gimmicks or gotcha twist endings that might otherwise cheapen the creeping build-up of dread over the 101-minute runtime. He’s also not keen on allowing the audience to firmly believe any particular way about how a film should end. Weaving elements of the supernatural and religious fervor, Never Let Go has a survivalist feel with not only the wider world as the enemy but the familiar faces within the cabin. By the time the credits roll, audiences may be left with many unanswered questions and will either love it or hate it.

Personally, I liked it. Light on blood and gore, its strength lies in the unraveling faith this tight-knit family has in one another. Did I have questions? Sure, but they aren’t going to keep me up nights. I was entertained and shocked and fearful, and Never Let Go, despite, or because of its flaws is one I can recommend.

Never Let Go (2024) is rated R for mild swears, ambling corpses, vivid visions, claustrophobic crawlspaces, fly-covered decedents, people getting shot, people falling from windows, sickness, fire, and sucking mud.