The Reel Review
A mother and her twin sons live an isolated, survivalist life in the woods, convinced that the world has ended and that an evil entity will get them if they don’t each stay tethered to their dilapidated cabin by a rope when foraging for food. Trouble occurs when one of the young boys starts to question her sanity. Halle Berry stars in this psychological horror/thriller.
The premise starts off well enough, with a clearly disturbed woman whose untreated schizophrenia has subjected her sons to near-starvation for years, living off of nearby animals, grubs and tree bark. Director Alexander Aja (Crawl) plays with the whole “is she crazy or is there really a monster?” aspect, gradually revealing past events that prove that Momma is emotionally unwell, but when a major twist occurs halfway through the film, Never Let Go lets go of any rational storytelling and gets really stupid.
Acting wise, Berry’s one-note performance has a phoned-in vibe to it, with Percy Daggs IV (Solos) and Anthony B. Jenkins (The Deliverance) left to carry the film as best they can. Never Let Go had the potential to be a compelling albeit depressing horror about the perils of unchecked mental illness. But instead it takes the lazy way out, with a frustratingly silly, nonsensical finale.
REEL FACTS
• Halle Berry remains the only Black woman to win a Best Actress Oscar, for the 2001 drama, Monster’s Ball.
• Percy Daggs IV will next appear in the Hulu series Paradise starring Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson and James Marsden.
• Never Let Go was filmed near the town of Hope in British Columbia, Canada.
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