‘Never Let Go’ Review: Halle Berry Hangs On For Dear Life In Gripping Psychological Horror Thriller

French director Alexandre Aja has been known as a member of the horror helming fraternity called the “Splat Pack,” named for the extreme violence in their films. Certainly, many of his pictures, from the 2003 breakthrough Haute Tension and the 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes, to his exceptional, and most successful film to date, 2019’s Crawl — in which a family is trapped in the crawl space of their home as alligators surround them during a Category 5 hurricane in Florida (a personal favorite of Quentin Tarantino) — have proved his chops as a genre filmmaker. Now, he steps up to another level with a less gory and more psychological thriller style of film, Never Let Go, in which Halle Berry stars as a mother of twin boys who is traumatically haunted by her own lifelong demons, which she passes on to them in their remote house deep in the woods.

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Working from a screenplay by KC Coughlin and Ryan Grassby, Aja has created an atmospheric dive into our deepest fears with Berry’s June, aka Momma, following in her family legacy’s footsteps, convinced if one ventures too far outside into the unforgiving woods surrounding her lone house, an entity she calls The Evil will pass on the possession with just a touch. She teaches her boys, Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) and Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) to be afraid — very afraid — and should they dare step out into nature, they are always tethered together by a rope, same for her. That, and pet dog Cole, is their protection. Momma has drilled this into their heads, just as she has never been able to shake the belief there are bad things going on out in the world from which she has completely retreated. Over the past 10 years, this family lives off the land in a primitive lifestyle, foraging for food, but Nolan, unlike his brother, who hangs on Momma’s every fear, begins to believe that maybe she has been telling a lie, even as these demons get too close for comfort (including one particularly horrific boogeywoman who seems to keep turning up in a quest to grab the boys).

It all gets very intense as conflict rises and Nolan splits further from the grip — and rope — of Momma and devoted Samuel. When Momma, in an Old Yeller moment if ever there was one, threatens to kill the loyal family dog for food, Nolan goes into a freakout, which ends with him locking her in the barn. As Berry’s role diminishes at this point, Nolan and Samuel are alone and must face the real world that comes right to their doorstep when a stranger (Matthew Kevin Anderson) on a hike hears screaming and confronts the boys to see if he can help them.

At every turn Aja keeps us on the edge of our seats with an exceptional skill to create bone-chilling scares out of almost nothing. The emphasis here is not on piling up the bodies or following the usual tropes of the horror genre, or his own bloody cinematic past, but rather keeping it for the most part (yes, there are a couple of gross-outs) in the psychological realm. Fear is a very strong weapon. Clearly, Momma has issues and it is driving her family apart and diminishing the control she wields.

Both Daggs and Jenkins are outstanding in their film debuts, as natural as kid actors can get, and they really have to carry this film throughout.

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Cinematography by Maxime Alexandre and editing by Elliot Greenberg really add to the lush remote look of this film set in the middle of nowhere. It all grabs you by the throat — the best horror film I have seen this year.

Producers are Aja and for 21 Laps are Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine.

Title: Never Let Go
Distributor: Lionsgate
Release date: September 20, 2024
Director: Alexandre Aja
Screenwriters: KC Coughlin, Ryan Grassby
Cast: Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV, Anthony B. Jenkins, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Christin Park, Stephanie Lavigne
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hr 41 mins

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