A movie like No One Will Save You has a lot of potential and attempts to take a different route but in the end, literally, it fails to deliver. Much of the movie lacks dialogue with a few lines from the protagonist, Brynn (Kaitlyn Dever) and some other dialogue spoken by people in the background.
There’s a lot of grunts, gasps, screams and even a few moments where it looks like a character is going to say something but the silence is more efficient. Brynn lives on the outskirts of a small-town where she is shunned for an incident that happened back in 2012. The following will contain some spoilers. When she was a child, she got into an argument with her friend, Maude (Dari Lynn Griffin), who pushed her down in anger. As a reflex, she grabbed a rock and stuck her friend in the head killing her. Whether or not she was punished isn’t revealed.
Maude’s father is the police chief so it’s very likely an investigation or coroner’s inquist was held. Brynn also lost her mother (Lauren Murray) since then. And she remains reclusive in her big house. It’s implied she has a crush on the mailman (Zack Duhame), but people don’t like her. This is where the movie has some suspension of disbelief. I’ve lived and worked in towns where people did bad things and people acted like it never happened. I seriously doubt people, other than the parents and immediate family, would hold a grudge for that long. The chief (Dane Rhodes) seems like he’s willing to forgive in a short scene.
But that is one of the many problems with this movie. Most of the characters other than Brynn remain as ancillary characters. One night, an alien humaniod breaks into her house and terrorizes her. This is very intense and scary. Writer/director Brian Duffield films this sequence with such tension that even a slightly comical way as Brynn observes the creature walk makes it more disturbing.
If the movie had just been about Brynn battling an alien in her home for the first 30 minutes as a short, it would’ve been one of the scariest I’ve seen in a while. Then, we get to where the movie falls apart as we realize the aliens are taking over the town and inserting these parasitic creatures with wiggly tentacles into her mouth. It’s a wonderful ode to David Cronenbergian body horror and it will make people squirm.
But then, there’s a lot of confusing scenes involving hallucinations, a flashback to the fatal accident of Maude, and Brynn sees a doppelganger and her mom. But during the probing by aliens, it feels more like the final sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey meets the final sequence of AI: Artificial Intelligence. Not to give much away, but you’ll find yourself scratching your head for the final half hour wondering what the hell is going on.
Dever is one of the most impressive young actors I’ve seen in recent years. In the limited series Unbelievable and Dopesick, she played characters who were victimized by a sexual assault that no one believes happens and a drug addiction that isn’t helped by overly religious parents. And it seems she has a knack for playing young women being put through the ringer. Despite her timid appearance and petite stature, there seems to be a strong woman who can bust out when she needs to. That’s what makes the first half of this movie so damn good because you’re rooting for.
But the second half falls apart. I can understand what Duffield was trying to do by making Brynn an alien in her own community. Yet, I found it hard she couldn’t find one person who wouldn’t want to be with her. Granted, she seems like an introvert herself as she makes models of the town in her home. But like Where the Crawdad Sing where the quriky outcast is protrayed by a beautiful young actress. Dever does what she can with the role but it becomes mostly a reactionary role that just results in her making scared faces.
And while I understand what Duffield was trying to do with the end, it doesn’t mean it was done well. Now, Duffied is planning on making sequels. Just what we need, another film franchise.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 