Starring Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV, Anthony B Jenkins.  

Directed by Alexandre Aja

Lionsgate – In cinemas now.

Deep in the woods, a mother has told her children that the world has been taken over by Evil and they are never to step away from their cabin unless they are attached to its structure by a rope, but as her sons get older they start to ask questions.

The joy – and sometimes the downfall – of horror cinema, is the way it plays with its tropes. There are clear rules, and a good horror flick is as much about how it manages our expectations as it is about what actually jumps out at us on screen.

In the opening act of Alexandre Aja’s hugely underrated survival chiller, Never Let Go, Momma (Halle Berry giving one of her very best performances) can see demons that her two imprisoned sons, Sam (Anthony B Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) cannot. The veteran horror geek can be forgiven for thinking, ‘Oh I know what this film is, it’s going to do, this, this and this,’ and settling down happily for the ride.

To say any more would be to spoil a movie that isn’t so much reliant on twists (although there are a few) as about the ebb and flow of how we perceive reality – and indeed evil – itself. Writers Kevin Coughlin & Ryan Grassby are also exploring faith and zealotry as well as the no-man’s land between horror and mental health we’ve become familiar with in movies such as The Babadook and Relic. But if you think it’s just going to be ‘that’ film, think again because it’s far more layered and complex.

In a break with my normal journalistic practice, I have taken a look at what other critics have to say before writing this and there seems to be unanimity that the final act drops the ball. I fundamentally don’t agree. It could be argued that there are at least three obvious ways to end this film, and it stumbles by attempting to suggest all three of them might be happening at the same time, finally plumping for the wrong option. But I wouldn’t argue that. I think Aja, Coughlin and Grassby’s choices are pitch perfect, not least because I’m still mulling it over nearly a day later.

And there are other reasons to admire Never Let Go. The production design and cinematography are superb. The deep dark wood is the stuff of myth, from the terrifying fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm to a Garden of Eden we might find in the Upside Down. Every gnarled tree seems to be alive with forces lurking dark within… or not. Snakes are writhing in the undergrowth, but are they any different from the coils of rope tying the boys to their mother’s fear?

However, what I liked most of all was the film’s disregard for the rules. Horror has a great history of paedophobia but I’m not sure I can remember a chiller that gives its younger characters agency in the way this does, and this leads to some genuinely shocking moments, played with growing conviction by the young leads Percy Daggs and Anthony B Jenkins.

Verdict: I know I like Never Let Go more than other critics. The scares aren’t big, but they are so firmly rooted in character that I was, at times, cowering in my seat. I believed in the fear, and that is very rare. 9/10

Martin Jameson

http://www.ninjamarmoset.com