Why So Blu?

Never Let Go (Blu-ray Review)

Just in time for the holidays, it seems I have been bombarded with horror films lately.  Funny how that works, right? I have to admit, the films I’ve seen have been campy, tense and interesting.  So now that I’m stumbling upon Never Let Go, Alexandre Aja’s newest entry into scary stuff, where does the film fit in my recent horror leanings.  Halle Berry leads the film along with two talented kiddos.  Read more about the film and DON’T LET GO OF THE ROPE!

 

Film:

 

As an evil takes over the world beyond their front doorstep, a mother (Halle Berry) and her twin sons find their only protection is their house and their deep-rooted family bond. Needing to stay connected at all times — even tethering themselves with ropes — they urge each other to never let go. But when one of the boys questions if the evil is real, the ties that bind them together are severed, triggering a terrifying fight for survival.

Evil taking over the world? Tethering to ropes? Staying connected at all times? To me, this feels like a mental health allegory just from the description.  When we meet Momma (Berry), she is living in the woods off the land in front of her. She hunts and forages during the day, and serves her sons Nolan and Samuel (Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins) breakfast with a side of tree sap. The family is always connected, whether in the house hanging out with their dog Kota or out looking for food while tethered together by rope. They abide by a house rule to recite to make sure that “Evil” has not touched them while they’re out. It’s odd stuff, but this feels normal for the family.

As Momma becomes more paranoid, she begins to worry that the end is near.  She puts her sons into a crawl space in the floor, testing them to imagine a world with no fear.  She asks them if they eventually see nothing.  Once they confirm this, they can come out.  Nolan, having taken himself off the tether and coming away untouched begins to wonder if Momma may just be lying and crazy.  When his questioning becomes mild rebellion, this sends the family into a tailspin as his defiance breaks the bond and the rope tether completely.

As we delve deeper into the odd end-of-the-world aspects of the story, we do begin to question Momma as an audience.  She seems to hallucinate versions of her parents and her sons’ father.  She seems to hallucinate all the evil she speaks of.  So, it would make sense that Nolan starts to wonder why they’re in the woods, dirty and eating tree bark. There is a significant twist to the story and to the ending that I won’t bring up here and spoil the film for you.  I did like the ending as it was, which I can say without giving anything away.

Never Let Go takes some interesting turns getting to its conclusion.  I felt that the overall film worked ok, but it borrows heavily from other films.  Its notion of Evil touching you comes from Fallen, a forgotten but spooky thriller starring Denzel Washington.  The tether reminded me of several things, be it Poltergeist or Stranger Things. And then, the throbbing score, several stylistic choices by Aja and even the opening credits reminded me of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.  I hope that I’m not the other one drawing these connections, because for me that was part of the fun of going through Never Let Go.

Berry, Daggs and Jenkins are a fine trio here.  Berry can often elevate a film based on her commitment to even the silliest movies she’s in.  Her young sons are played with brave intensity and sensitivity that I didn’t expect from them.  They help ground the story with their committed performances.  Alexandre Aja continues to hone a wonderful style and atmosphere in his films, going all the way back to the horrifying High Tensionfrom 2004.

So how do I feel about Never Let Go? To quote my colleague Aaron Neuwirth: It’s fine.  It’s nothing spectacular.  The film has style and good acting, but the story does have a few too many recycled ideas.  It’s also a little bit anti-climactic and predictable.  I love the stab at originality the writers and all involved attempted to create, but they seem to be relying on people not remembering much from movies of the past.  Also, Evil is taking over the world.  Does that mean the world is ending? Are they hiding out in the remote woods somewhere? What does it mean? We also never get the sense that the children can see what Momma does, and so then we immediately side with them while shes having these “visions.”  That’s the stuff of a kook, no matter what type of world you live in.

Never Let Go will provide solid entertainment for people who don’t watch a lot of movies.  For me, the callbacks to other, better films make this one a merely fine survival thriller with solid performances that don’t match up with the story that seems like it was destined to be buried on Netflix sometime in the fall.  As always, I hope that viewers do like the film, and find more to like about it than I did. As it stands, I’ll take merely fine over awful, so fine is a good recommendation on this one!

Read Aaron Neuwirth’s Theatrical Review HERE

Video:

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.11:1

HDR: N/A

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail: The overall look of Never Let Go is surprisingly vibrant despite the color choices.  They’re not the most inspired, but still yield some lovely looks in the film. There is a nice clarity here, showing the film most likely was finished at a resolution higher than the Blu-ray. Most of the film is swathed in gloomy lighting, adding some grit to the nearly flawless appearance.

Depth:  Focus is retained throughout as Aja plays with our eyes with some of his visuals.  We see clearly “evil” moments going on behind our characters and he wants us to! Nothing seems wonky or out of focus here.

Color Reproduction: Greens and browns have a field day in this film.  The lush forest setting and the tatty wooden cabin all play into the color palette, with the occasional pop of color in clothing coming out once in a while.

Black Levels: Blacks are dark and deep, with no issues at all.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones look gritty and grimy and that’s a part of the journey for our characters.

Noise/Artifacts: None

Audio:

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, English Descrpitive Audio

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Dynamics: The Atmos mix for Never Let Go makes effective use of the height speakers to help make the film feel claustrophobic even in a big woodsy setting.  The dynamics are big for the score and sound effects of the creepy cabin and whatever evil lurks in the woods.

Height: Height speakers are used to make the woods full of ambience and “what was that?” sounds.  Inside the cabin, the height channels are a little more subdued, carrying echo, and closing the walls in on you.

Low-Frequency Extension: The synth heavy score by “Rob” is a bass delivery system for certain, while some of the jump-scare moments can pound too.  A helicopter is a source of LFE too.

Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds carry similar notes from the height speakers, such as ambience, off screen noises and a few moments of jump-scare too.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is clear throughout.

Extras:

There are very few extras for Never Let Go. The release comes with a slipcover and digital code along with a bundled DVD.  There is no 4K option at this time.

BONUS FEATURES:

Making Never Let Go: Meet the talented team of filmmakers and learn more about the intricate creative process behind the film’s particular look and atmosphere.

Creating Momma’s House: Take a step inside and learn how filmmakers were able to find and prepare Momma’s house in the middle of nowhere to make the film as authentic and scary as possible.

Deleted Scenes

Theatrical Trailer

Summary:

The horror/thriller genre has been in a creative phase for quite a while now. The films coming out try for originality and gruesome new stories.  I can’t really say that Never Let Go does reach those heights, but I can tell all those involved were trying.  Their efforts don’t go unnoticed for me, but I don’t know about this movie being one I will revisit over and over.  For fans of the genres this is worth a look and at a good sale price, a pickup would be worth it if you love these types of genre mashups.  Halle Berry and the boys are excellent here, but the movie itself could be better.  Technically, the film is very well made, and the visuals and sound deliver even if the story doesn’t always do the same.

Buy your copy of Never Let Go HERE