“Never Let Go” Doesn’t Really Have Much to Say – Movie Review

Even though the latest Halle Berry movie (if you can even call it that) delivered a couple of scares, Never Let Go failed to say anything in a thematic sense.

Spoiler Warning: This review of Never Let Go contains MAJOR SPOILERS. Proceed with caution!

I have been waiting to see Halle Berry in another horror/thriller movie after her work in Gothika (2003), which went on to make more than $141 million at the global box office against a reported production budget of $40 million. And while I was excited to see Berry in Never Let Go, I have a feeling that the movie will fail to materialize at the box office due to a bunch of reasons.

One of the biggest reasons is that I don’t think Never Let Go can be called a Halle Berry film. Yes, she’s in it as a troubled mother (her character goes by the name Momma), but the narrative is more focused on Momma’s two young sons – played by Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins as Nolan and Samuel, respectively. Heck, Berry’s not even in half of the movie, and that didn’t sit well with me as a Berry fan and how the story progressed.

The premise dealt with Momma secluding herself and her two sons in a wooden cabin. According to Momma, the Evil had managed to destroy the world by pitting people against each other, and the only way she and the boys could stay safe was by remaining connected to the house. This meant holding onto the ropes tied to the base of the house while making their way through the dense woods to find food and water. Apparently, the Evil only required a single touch without the rope on to possess humans and have them kill others.

With the boys following Momma’s orders over the years, it made sense for them to start questioning their reality as they grew older. It also didn’t help that only Momma’s able to see the Evil that had the habit of appearing as her dead relatives but with creepy serpentine features.

I do think Berry played Momma well. She’s quite unhinged in protecting her boys, veering very close to being downright abusive. I think her character will make the audience question what should be considered justifiable when talking about parents wanting to protect their kids.

While the film’s secluded post-apocalyptic-esque setting and pacing made for some tense situations (the family running out of food and needing to make a huge decision concerning their pet dog was inevitable), everything kind of took a nosedive for me during a particular moment in the middle of the movie.

When it comes to films involving Berry and kids (The Call, Kidnap), fans expect her to find a way to save them by the end. Berry’s supposed to be the “hero” of the story. However, Never Let Go decided to kill off Momma to raise the stakes for the brothers. And for a movie that featured an Evil capable of changing appearances, an Evil-version of Momma not appearing to confuse the troubled kids even more left me baffled.

Instead of having Berry continuing to be part of the movie as a “different” version of her character, writers Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby decided to write her off (until the final minutes of the movie), leaving me with two kids I frankly didn’t care much about, especially when one of the boys was responsible for Momma’s death in the first place.

Again, with how the Evil operated, it would have made more narrative sense for the audience to be uncertain about Momma’s actual fate and be confused about whether or not the version of Momma appearing during the middle of the film could be trusted. The finale could have been about the sons trying to figure out the identities of their real mother and the Evil Momma. Such a change would have allowed Berry to continue being part of the story and playing a role in saving her kids at the end… something fans expect Berry to do.

Another thing that didn’t sit well with me was the predictable nature of Never Let Go as things progressed. When I heard the premise, I hoped the narrative wouldn’t pan out similar to The Village (2004). Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened, with the only difference being that unlike The Village, the Evil in Never Let Go was actually real due to Momma’s bloodline being cursed because of some unexplained reason.

If I were to assume, I think Momma used to dabble in dark magic and wouldn’t uphold her end of some dark deal she made for some reason. That’s why the Evil decided to come after her and her kids. The ending did state that the sons were still cursed even though they had managed to be rescued from the burning cabin.

Again, similar to how I felt about Berry’s action movie The Union, her horror thriller offering Never Let Go also had the ingredients to create a compelling tale that touched on themes of overprotective parenting, coming of age, and a parent’s mistakes coming back to haunt their kids. But it failed to deliver on said themes (or any theme for that matter) because it opted to go down a completely different and unsatisfying route.

The opening weekend box office for Never Let Go doesn’t look good, with certain analysts putting it in the $4 – $7 million range from more than 2,660 theatres. The film has a reported production budget of approximately $20 million, and it might recoup some of that once it hits digital and home media. But, in my opinion, that’s a low box office opening. Sigh!

I do feel word of mouth won’t do it any favors, especially with how Berry’s Momma is treated in the movie. Unfortunately, Never Let Go can’t be added to Berry’s existing list of “save the kid/s while wearing a distressed wig” films; a list that has amassed a fandom of its own over the years.

I’m disappointed as a Berry fan and a movie critic. It’s one of the reasons I gave myself time to calm my feelings and not rush into writing a review as soon as I finished watching this movie Friday night.

Here’s to hoping Maude vs Maude, which is supposed to star Berry and Angelina Jolie, redeem Berry’s recent track record of films.

Never Let Go was released in the US on September 20, 2024.

Did you watch it? What did you think of it?

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Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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