Imagine a cozy wooden cabin hidden deep in the woods, and it’s supposed to be the last safe spot for a family trying to dodge this creepy Evil. This bad force, they’ll have you know, can look like an everyday person and mess with your mind. Touch it once? You’re forever tainted. Sounds stressful, right? So, their only way to venture into the forest is by holding onto this rope that leads back to their cellar. That’s what mom keeps telling her kids, Nolan and Samuel, over and over. Thing is, only grown-ups supposedly see this Evil.

Now Nolan and Samuel are starting to wonder if Mom’s tales hold up because they’re running low on food and Mom’s struggling big time here; she doesn’t seem as motherly anymore. Picture a mix of The Village vibes with a bit of Bird Box suspense—that’s what Alexandre Aja aimed for in his new movie.

The film has its eerie charm with an “aha!” moment or two but gets tangled up in its own ideas at parts. Feels like one of Shyamalan’s flicks where there’s this deeper meaning at play—perhaps about being a parent or nature versus human world drama—or maybe even hints around racial issues or mental health struggles. It takes itself quite seriously with all this poetic talk about the blessed wood cabin and creep factor scenes (yup, someone eats a little frog). But then again, Aja often shakes things up…
Right from the start, this movie throws in a jump scare as if it’s trying to shake things up because its deeper meaning is a bit too vague. So, it feels like it’s trying hard but fails to be as mysterious and symbolic as it wants. At the same time, it’s not exactly a full-on thrill ride either, even though there are some creepy creatures and cringe-worthy body horror moments here and there.

Toward the end, there’s this whole thing about survival rules that comes back to bite the movie. By the third act, those rules get tossed out like they don’t matter anymore. It makes you wonder why certain things didn’t happen way earlier on. Because of this mess of broken rules and plot twists trying too hard, nothing really surprises you by then. The director pulls one big shocker before the final act that’s supposed to reignite interest but also kind of overshadows everything that follows—making the ending feel underwhelming instead of coolly unconventional.

You’ve got these rituals taught by the mom, a catchy rhyme repeated over and over (enough to get stuck in your head), chapters dividing up the movie, and an eerie forest full of dangers. It’s all there just mixed together in a strange way!
“Never Let Go” mixes a post-apocalyptic setting with dark fairy-tale vibes and folk horror. While Aja knows how to build cool atmospheres, we’ve seen way better in creepy forest settings—like recent films “Gretel and Hansel” by Oz Perkins or “The Witch” by Robert Eggers. On the topic of motherhood, it falls flat compared to deep, emotional films like “Babadook.” The actors give it their all—Halle Berry bravely drops the glam for this role, and the two young actors bring some intensity—but they all deserve a better script. It’s kinda enjoyable in parts but not really something you’ll remember unless you’re super into categorizing horror movies.