I do not usually follow production companies, but I am a fan of Blumhouse Productions. Algorithms can be tricky, but social media made sure that I saw the preview for Don’t Let Go, which played a haunting, slower version of The Four Tops’ Reach Out over it. I was definitely the demographic for this movie. I definitely want more movies about uncles and nieces; black people and sci fi. Yes, please. Unfortunately I also watch a ton of movies and could not help noticing that it felt lifted straight from Frequency, a movie starring Jim (Jesus) Caviezel and Dennis (“Oh no does he support Presidon’t”) Quaid.

Still Don’t Let Go had enough of a great cast for me to consider overlooking the similarities. David Oyelowo never gives bad performances even if the movies that he stars in cannot achieve his levels of excellence. Storm Reid was magnificently memorable in A Wrinkle in Time. The respectively play a police detective and his niece who must solve her murder. Somehow he is able to communicate with her in the past, and if they can figure out who killed her, then they can prevent it. I was willing to see it in theaters, and there was not a lot of competition, but it would have taken some effort to get to the theater so the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. Instead I saw it on DVD as soon as it became available for home viewing.

I did not like Don’t Let Go, but the problem could possibly lie in me and not the movie. My respectability politics reared its head so I did not like elements of the story. I could not check myself. Why do her parents have to be problematic? Why do people have to doubt her uncle, consider him a suspect and think that he is crazy? Why does x have to be the bad guy? I apparently really wanted a murder and a close uncle niece relationship with a flawless family. I clutched my pearls when the niece reasonably cursed out the killer.

I am also apparently a moron because anyone except me would expect Don’t Let Go to be a crime mystery primarily, and I kind of hate mysteries because they require viewers to get invested in and know a lot of characters well enough to consider whether or not they are a suspect to understand the movie. I cannot reliably do it. Frequency had a serial killer, which is the kind of crime thriller drama that I prefer, but this movie had a drug trafficking storyline. Drug trafficking storylines bore me, and I avoid them like the plague. Even if it involves international drug trafficking, you will find me nodding off. I just do not care. Once cops started arguing for legalization of drugs, it ruined the entire genre. Popular culture is still acting outdated instead of looking forward and influencing how we should think of drugs and law enforcement. I just cannot whip myself into a frenzy over it even in fiction.

I also hate it when films such as Don’t Let Go has a cop, but he does not do anything that I would do, and it is not my profession. Do not break the crime scene tape. Wear gloves if you are going to touch weapons or investigate. Basically preserve evidence and make sure not to create any that inadvertently would point to you as a suspect.

Don’t Let Go’s run time is one hour forty-three minutes, but it felt longer probably for the aforementioned reasons however it had many objective high points. I really enjoyed the underlying reason for this phenomenon. Movies get the ball rolling with problems rooted in science or the supernatural, and I enjoyed the understated way that it could be explained. The time travel/butterfly elements really worked for me because the main problem with time travel is how can you change the past without affecting the future, and the story explicitly addresses it. Visually I adored the look of the film. The palette was really cold with lots of steel blues and pale greens. The director clearly depicted and signaled to the audience when there was a change in the timeline. It was never confusing.

Don’t Let Go’s stakes were high. The filmmakers established early on that they were not playing and would kill anyone, including the little girl and her dog, if they did not solve the crime! Yes, the dog! ANYONE!!!! Even the uncle was not safe. After the suspect is discovered, there are a string of bodies left in the wake of their investigation. It was harrowing and stressful.

Oyelowo and Reid do a superb job of conveying emotion and getting viewers to care about them in a short amount of time. Oyelowo even does the iconic move of getting weak kneed after finding out about his niece’s murder and just loses it. Reid has to match Oyelowo’s performance since they share the burden of carrying the movie, and she does! They are really better than the movie deserves. While some actors do an adequate job in a movie, others elevate the movie. Reid and Oyelowo belong in the latter category.

Unfortunately I do not think that Don’t Let Go fully considered the emotional implications of its story. The narrative is divided in half-the uncle’s perspective and the niece’s perspective. While I love having girl protagonists, the most disturbing element of the story is that the only person in her life that she can rely on, her uncle, is acting strangely (on the phone), and she is suddenly very alone. I wish that this element was either eliminated entirely or elaborated on. Reid definitely emphasized it, which could be her choice or the director’s instruction. It was powerful, but underexplored. If the family is going to truly be problematic, I wish that it had gone all the way to feel the child’s crisis.

Normally kids in danger in movies does not bother me, but Don’t Let Go did. The niece is an ordinary girl, and Reid is perfect at being strong, clever, but as a kid, not these preternaturally mature and wily kids that only exist in movies. It was hard to watch her in danger. In the second half of the film, the niece also has an additional responsibility than keeping herself alive, and I was annoyed at the writer for making her bear such adult responsibilities that even her uncle, whose job is literally to solve crimes, was stumbling at doing because of the personal nature of the case. Can’t she just be saved? On one hand, it is the mark of a good story for me to worry so much about a fictional character, but on the other hand, I began wondering if it is customary for kids to have similar plot points since I am unfamiliar with the genre.

I cannot recommend Don’t Let Go for subjective reasons, which may not be a problem for the average viewer more accustomed to this genre. The acting and visuals are perfect. If you do enjoy murder mysteries and do not think that the sci fi elements will confuse you, you will probably enjoy it more than I did.