FANTASTIC FEST: ‘Never Let Go’ Gets By On Atmosphere

Never Let Go feels like a fight between an atmospheric, high-tension potboiler and a slow character study that barely reconciles the two halves. Director Alexandre Aja is no stranger to genre filmmaking. Neither is Halle Berry. Aja has made his mark on horror in films like Crawl and his The Hills Have Eyes remake whereas Berry has run the gamut. The X-Men franchise, John Wick – Chapter 3: Parabellum, The Call, and even a bit part in a Kingsman sequel prove that she’s well seasoned in this field. An Alexandre Aja and Halle Berry collaboration should be a match made in heaven, and to be fair, their team-up plays to both of their strengths. But it never fully comes together.

Never Let Go follows a mother (Halle Berry) and her twin sons, Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) and Sammul (Anthony B. Jenkins). The trio lives in an unknown wilderness where a malicious evil that changes shape preys on all except the quaint home in which they reside. To venture outside of the home, the three have to be tethered to the home on a thick rope. If the evil touches them, they run the risk of becoming possessed. To keep their quaint existence intact, they must follow one rule: never let go.

If there’s one thing Never Let Go has in spades, it’s atmosphere. Cinematographer Maxime Alexandre emphasizes the vastness of the forest. The score by Robin “Rob” Givens oscillates between droning synths and tinkling piano music, keeping an unsteady vibe throughout.  Moreover, the “evil” that Never Let Go hinges on is appropriately unknowable. This makes it even scarier. The evil, seen mostly from the perspective of Halle Berry’s character, can take any form. Sometimes, this is as innocuous as an animal just out of the reach of the rope, or it’s a grotesque, vomiting mutilation of a human being rendered by seemingly practical effects.

A lingering question in Never Let Go is whether the evil is real. Alexandre Aja keeps us guessing by sticking the audience firmly in Berry’s perspective during the lion’s share of the horror sequences. But the real credit goes to the performance. There is a lot under the hood in what Halle Berry is doing here. Her actions can be read in a multitude of conflicting ways. Overprotective mother or mentally ill captor of her children? Traumatized shut-in or competent survivor? These questions manifest similarly in the performances of Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins. Your interpretation of these bickering brothers can flip from scene to scene.

Where Never Let Go almost drops the ball is the script. Screenwriters Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby clearly had a winning concept, maybe some solid story beats, but they don’t flow together cohesively. The pacing is a real killer. It’s audacious for a film to label its acts under chapter titles. Filling those chapters with substantial material is another matter entirely. The second act of Never Let Go slows to a standstill, where the already-established daily routines and family conflicts repeat themselves ad nauseam. The tension hits a plateau. There’s nothing fresh to latch onto for a good 20 minutes or so.

Disappointingly, a lot was clearly left on the cutting room floor. Huge hints about Halle Berry’s character’s lore are presented, only to never be elaborated on. In a film with several successful plants and pay-offs, to see such essential questions left unanswered—and not even unanswered in a fascinating way—is just unfinished business. Especially when Never Let Go goes out of its way to give answers to its most pertinent mystery in its third act.

That third act feels like where Alexandre Aja is most comfortable. Never Let Go ups the scare factor hard in the finale, giving the necessary answer to its main mystery without ruining the atmosphere. Aja finishes so confidently that the journey’s worth it. But just only. Never Let Go isn’t the Halle Berry/Alexandre Aja collaboration to blow the roof off, nor is it an outright mistake. All in all, Never Let Go is a decent chiller whose far above-average direction and performance are brought down by an undercooked script and baffling edit.

Never Let Go is playing now in theaters.