Never Let Go

When an unspeakable evil takes over the world, the only protection for a mother and her twin sons is their family cabin in the woods. As long as they are connected to the cabin, they are protected from The Evil. But when one of the boys begins to question if The Evil is even real, their carefully maintained circle of protection is broken, and they must all fight for survival.

A woman known as Momma, and her two young children, Nolan and Samuel, all live in a cabin in the middle of a large forest in a seemingly post-apocalyptic world. According to Momma, a supernatural force known as The Evil has corrupted and destroyed everything, and they are the only survivors.

Momma is besieged with threatening visions of supernatural entities in the forest. Their cabin is the only thing that protects them. Imbued with a spell/blessing that was cast by Momma’s parents long ago, as long as they are touching the cabin, they are safe. But once theyventure out and away from its protective confines, zombie-like apparitions riddled with filth and corruption stalk them, and all it takes is one touch to pass that corruption on to them. While Momma is the only one who can actually see these creatures, she has raised her sons with these stories, so they fervently believe that the entities are real.

In order to keep themselves safe, while foraging and hunting for food in the area around the cabin, they say a daily prayer to thank the house for its protection, then they tie one end of a rope to the foundation of the cabin, and the other end around their waists. This way they are always connected to the cabin’s protective energy.

But when an accident means Nolan has to untie his rope in order to save Samuel, Nolan begins to question Momma’s claims, and as winter sets in, and their small cache of supplies run low, their whole world begins to crumble…

Alexandre Aja’s made High Tension, a pretty good movie that was absolutely ruined by the dumbest twist ever. But on the other hand, they also made Crawl, which was surprisingly fun and I enjoyed quite a bit. So, I was kind of looking forward to Don’t Let Go, but unfortunately, it’s much more like the former than it is the latter.

Never Let Go is a kind of variation on the tropes of The Quiet Place, at least for the first act, and then it becomes a riff on The Thing, all while being one of those movies where the central question is basically: Is it real, or is it all in their heads? Either way, those boys need to go, because whether or not the evil is real, Momma is crazy as a shithouse rat and she is only getting crazier every day. It’s also one of those movies where there’s ONLY ONE RULE, and the characters definitely CAN NOT break it under any circumstances.

But they do. Almost immediately, in fact.

“Muddled” is a good way to describe this film. A hodgepodge of themes that touch on struggling with mental illness, the lingering effects of generational trauma, the dangers of religion and parental smothering and homeschooling, and what may be a COVID allegory too, Never Let Go leans towards a lot of things, but specifically says nothing. It’s a bunch of inferences and lots of ideas, but no real focus. It looks good, the effects are great, but by the time it’s over, you’re pretty much glad to see it done, and then it slips from your mind.

It’s okay to pass on this one.