“Never Let Go” (2024) stars Halle Berry as June, a mother of fraternal twin boys, the older, obedient Sam (Anthony B. Jenkins) and younger, adventurous Nolan (Percy Daggs IV). They live isolated in the middle of a moss-covered forest because their mother claims that the Darkness, not to be confused with Amara from “Supernatural,” has destroyed the world, and they are the only survivors. June is the only one can see the Darkness, which takes different forms and usually appears as a dead person related to June’s past. To protect themselves against the Darkness, they must remain tethered to the house by a rope. If they are not tethered, and the Darkness touches them, then the Darkness can possess them. To prove that the Darkness has not possessed them, they must touch the wood and recite the words. Sam is beginning to doubt her, which endangers the family. Is the Darkness real or has the Darkness already touched them?
June loves her sons, but her fear has made her strict and abusive. She is not a hard case because in solitary moments, her visions terrify her, and she shows her emotion, but to them, she is monotone and an unremitting disciplinarian. She clearly does not relish the responsibility. If you are expecting Berry at the height of glamour, don’t. She is far from her feature debut as a crackhead in “Jungle Fever” (1991), but not by much. “Never Let Go” constantly shows her point of view so unlike her sons, the moviegoers know that she is a true believer, and the danger seems credible. If someone told you that they would possess you then make you eat your kids, you too would be wound tighter than the average person under normal conditions.
Like “Arcadian” (2024), “Never Let Go” gives more screentime to her younger costars, and they shoulder their screentime like seasoned pros. The story’s momentum rests on never completely trusting a single character. Everyone seems suspicious. Even though June clearly practices what she preaches, the sons occasionally question whether she is telling the truth, a controlling, manipulative mother or suffering from mental illness. Sam never doubts her, but his devotion and faith comes at a price. He has no qualms about surviving and enforcing his mother’s edicts. The red flags may not be obvious under the circumstances, but with the benefit of hindsight, they are flapping everywhere. If you are a zombie movie fan, then you are familiar with the concept that if you are ready for the apocalypse on the first day, it is not a good sign. Nolan presents as more suspicious early in the movie. He really wants to let go and pushes the limits, which is natural for a growing child, but in their situation, it seems as if he is willfully putting them in physical danger. They are just kids, so they want to believe their mother, but that belief has ramifications on their psychological development and maturity that makes them vulnerable.
“Never Let Go” is the opposite of “Arcadian.” If “Arcadian” framed father as knowing best, then “Never Let Go” is about eternally self-sacrificing, but problematic mothers. Director Alexandre Aja and co-writers KC Couglin and Ryan Grassby create a bleak movie filled with putting children in physical and psychological danger. Even fans of merciless movies may find this movie difficult to stomach even though it pulls one punch at the eleventh hour. The runtime feels longer than it is. The story is divided into three acts: establishing the routine, showing how the routine is disrupted and how the characters respond to this seismic change. It is a thought provoking film that will provoke lots of discussion and launch a thousand think pieces, but it also could turn off people expecting more conventional images of possession and dystopian life.
The sound design rivals “Talk to Me” (2022) and was genuinely disturbing. There was a point when it felt like the sound came from someone in the audience. While “Never Let Go” used familiar possession concepts, the visual approach was almost Biblical but had an antediluvian feel. The mechanics of possession felt sci-fi verging on alien, which made it more disturbing. It was familiar enough not to be confusing without verging on tropey yet innovative enough to still shock without confusing unlike the end, which could confound many viewers, but the filmmakers probably did not intend the denouement to be as ambiguous as it may seem.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
June’s mother, who is not listed on IMDb (come on), saw the Darkness and warned everyone. June’s father (Georges Gracieuse) believed her. June left but returned after she started seeing what her mom saw. It is not the Darkness, but mental illness like schizophrenia which causes visual and audible hallucinations. June’s mom was abusive to her. Eventually it leads to June killing her entire family, including her husband (William Catlett, who played Lala from “Black Lightning”), except her sons, and allowing an innocent lost little girl to die in the forest instead of getting help. There are some cool allusions to “Hansel and Gretel,” which suggests that she may be literally tempted to eat her children, but she loves them enough to kill herself first.
Unfortunately her death leads to a mental break for Sam, especially after he kills The Stranger, aka Cole (Matthew Kevin Anderson), who is real. The guilt causes him to untie the rope. Is the girl that he encounters real? I originally thought that she looked like the girl that June saw, but IMDb lists two different girls. So the last little girl was real until after she ran away. The Darkness is mental illness, and Sam has finally succumbed to it. He showed signs earlier by eating live animals, whispering taunts to his brother, which led to the first rope incident, and seeing visions, which more referenced in the dialogue than depicted in “Never Let Go.” After he falls, the tree bulges, which is the first time.
“Never Let Go” implies that Nolan predominantly sees the visions when Sam tries to burn him alive in the house. Like the Darkness, June has snake characteristics, specifically a tattoo. When he sees the Darkness, it takes the form of his mother, but unlike June and Sam, he can overcome the delusion because June successfully gave him the tools to dismiss the visions when he was locked under the ancient wood floor, which the Darkness is allergic to according to June’s mythology. So he throws his vision of the Darkness in there and imagines a peaceful, nurturing version of the Darkness finally conquered and embracing him. He lets the Darkness touch him, but it does not hurt him. He makes peace with his mother and escapes his delusion. Does that explain the Polaroid? No, it makes the Darkness seem real since we can see it, but we could see June’s delusions as well, so Aja probably wanted to show Sam’s delusions. Both boys are rescued, and the real world still exists.
“Never Let Go” belongs to the expressionist horror category where the horror symbolizes a real-life problem such as inherited mental illness. On one hand, it is great how instead of engaging with delusions and obeying rules, the writers challenge viewers to recognize child abuse and encourage doubting those who commit atrocities because someone seems authoritative and makes it seem necessary to survive. On the other hand, people with schizophrenia have a hard enough life, they do not need the stigma of seeming like homicidal maniacs. Mentally ill people regularly get demonized in the media when they are not more likely to commit violent crimes.
Also Berry is an executive producer, but are there other people of color on the creative team behind the scenes? Black people have the right to have access to interesting roles, including abusive mothers; however, it is hard to ignore the optics of a single Black mother unable to raise Black boys without them becoming a danger to society. They are all sympathetic characters, but I do not have the privilege of enjoying the story in a vacuum without expecting some stigma on even a fictional character not to rub off in the real world.
The dog lives and is probably still running to reunite with Nolan. Hurrah!
