Never Let Go (2024) Review: Alexandre Aja’s Return to the Horror Genre Features Solid Performances But Muddled Execution
Never Let Go marks the second time Halle Berry acted in a horror movie since Gothika back in 2003. Teaming up with horror specialist Alexandre Aja for the first time, the story boasts an intriguing premise: In a post-apocalyptic world, an overprotective mother known only as Momma (Berry) has been living off the grid deep in the woods with her fraternal twin sons, Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) and Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and their family dog, Koda. They live in an old wooden house, which serves as their sanctuary and security against the Evil out there.
And here comes the interesting part: Each time they step out of the house, they have thick ropes tied around their waists attached to the property. According to Momma, these ropes are their “lifeline” or the evil forces will possess them if any of them let go of their ropes. They rely heavily on the woods to obtain whatever supplies they can get, even going as far as scraping off the tree bark to be fried and eaten like chips in case they can’t catch any bugs or animals. Momma also happens to be the only one who can see the evil appear in many forms, one of which includes her zombie-like dead mother (Kathryn Kirkpatrick).
We learn that Momma is very strict about what her sons do, which eventually frustrates Nolan, unlike the more obedient Samuel. Nolan starts to question everything’s been going on around them, particularly whether the evil is real or just a figment of his Momma’s imagination. But she keeps insisting otherwise.
Revealing the story further would enter the spoiler territory but let’s just say Aja isn’t interested in playing the post-apocalyptic horror straight to the point. The movie isn’t just about survival as Aja, working from the screenplay written by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby, explores the story from various angles filled with grim fairy tale/campfire tale-like approach, supernatural imagery and faith-based horror tropes.
As I watch the movie, the overall ambiguous nature of the storytelling keeps me wondering whether Momma is being delusional all along or if is she telling the truth. Aja, who is no stranger to pulling the rug out from under the viewers in some of his past movies, notably the controversial High Tension, caught me by surprise once again with a cruel twist at one point in Never Let Go.
This is where it gets interesting or at least that’s what I’m expecting to see where the story would go for the rest of the movie. Aja offers plenty of effective jump scares and tense, yet suspenseful moments in between while Maxime Alexandre’s atmospheric cinematography captures the desolated landscape of the deep woods and Robin Coudert’s score induces a sense of ominous dread. Further credit also goes to Aja for bringing out the best in his actors. Halle Berry delivers an engaging lead performance as the authoritative but caring mother. Her co-stars, Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins hold their own with their respectively strong supporting turns as Nolan and Samuel.
But above-average performances and an engrossing setup alone aren’t enough to overcome the lack of solid execution, particularly the sadly underwhelming payoff. The problem lies in Aja trying to be overly ambitious with the story sprawling with multiple interpretations meant for the viewers to draw their own conclusions. I was captivated by the first half of the movie, only for the story to subsequently lose its grip as it starts to slip away with a padded-out narrative that grows increasingly muddled.
Never Let Go has so much potential that it could wind up as one of the best horror movies of the year. What I have here instead is a half-baked effort that I’ve expected Alexandre Aja’s much-anticipated return to the horror genre since the thrilling 2019 alligator-horror Crawl would score a winner.
