Halle Berry is the Other Bear from Hell in Never Let Go

The end of the world has been given many incarnations in cinema over the years.  Who can forget the viral Netflix thriller Bird Box where Sandra Bullock shielded her kids from a mysterious force that if one happens to catch its gaze it may be the last thing ever seen?

Now, Halle Berry stars in a new psychological thriller/horror, as an evil takes over the world beyond their front doorstep, the only protection for a mother and her twin sons is their house and their family’s protective bond.

Needing to stay tethered  with ropes, they cling to one another, urging each other to never let go. However, 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.

Watching Berry become like the Piper Laurie in Carrie is a little unsettling, yet speaks the the no holds barred talent she brings to every roe inhabited.  However, it is her two young co-stars Anthony B. Jenkins and Percy Daggs IV who carry this film.  Rarely do audiences witness children carrying the bulk of the film (Bugsy Malone, Paper Moon, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Harry Potter franchise, Home Alone), but when they do it provide some of the most interesting cinema to date as one realizes these talents are gifted well beyond their years.

From being trapped in an underground close to shooting in the woods all hours of the day and night Daggs and Jenkins are spectacular together and with Berry.

Directed by Alexandre Aja, the film is gorgeously shot providing a few jump moments from time to time, some survival scenes involving bugs that will leave audiences a bit squeamish, and yet all will leave the theatre looking at the lengths a mother’s love is tried, tested and true in the most macabre of circumstances.  Most of all, Aja leaves much of the characters and their circumstances up to the imagination, which as a viewer I appreciate.  What I also appreciate is the fact in the past, these types of stories in this genre have not been reserved for Black actors as the leads.  Often, when you see a Black actor in a horror/thriller they are the first to meet their demise within the confines of the story. Kudos to Berry (under her new production company HalleHolly), Aja and Lionsgate for breaking that stereotypical narrative in the horror/thriller genre.

Never Let Go is creepy, suspenseful and emotional thriller that wastes no time getting to the heart of the matter, yet allowing the audience to fill in the blanks as needed.