NEVER LET GO

(director: Alexandre Aja; screenwriters: Kevin Coughlin, Ryan Grassby; cinematographer: Maxime Alexandre; editor: Elliott Greenberg; music: Robin Coudert; cast: Halle Berry (Momma), Anthony B. Jenkins (Sam), Percy Daggs IV (Nolan), William Catle Georges Gracieuse (Old Man),tt (Father), Matthew Kevin Anderson (The Stranger), Kathryn Kirkpatrick (Momma’s mother), Stephanie Lavigne (The Evil); Runtime: 101; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Alexandre Aja, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Dan Levene; Lionsgate; 2024)

“A good acting performance by the star.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A psychological woodland horror pic on survival that’s rife with evil spirits. It’s directed by the gifted French filmmaker Alexandre Aja (“The Hills Have Eyes”/”High Tension”) and written by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby.

At her parents’ secluded cabin in the woods, the protective widowed single parent Momma (Halle Berry) and her fraternal young sons, Sam (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV), try to elude an evil entity running loose in the world.

The trio stay on the grounds for safety, and whenever leaving home tether themselves to a sturdy rope. Upon their safe return, they go through some personal rituals like praying while touching an ornamental door in the floor and meditating within the small storage space below.

The family bond weakens as there are severe environmental changes, and after one troubling trip away from home the brothers begin to question Momma’s tight control over them to protect them from monsters only she sees.

We root for the family to survive in their grim setting and are bothered when they run low on food, as we find ourselves dismayed by their vulnerability and that the presence of evil spirits and a family curse can divide a happy family.

In the third act, in a film with unnecessary titled chapters, the Berry character deals with her flaws as she tries to keep the family together from these monsters who may be real or not be real. Too bad there wasn’t a satisfying resolution to this atmospheric thriller instead of just leaving it as a good acting performance by the star.

REVIEWED ON 9/27/2024  GRADE: B-
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