Directed By Brian Duffield
Starring – Kaitlyn Dever, Geraldine Singer, Dari Lynn Griffin
The Plot – In this captivating sci-fi psychological thriller, Brynn (Dever) is an anxious obsessive who’s been alienated from her community finds herself in an action-packed face-off with a host of extraterrestrial beings who threaten her future while forcing her to finally confront her traumatic past.
Rated PG-13 for violent content and terror
No One Will Save You | Official Trailer – YouTube
POSITIVES
Conjuring something freshly innovative in the confines of an ages old formula is extremely difficult to do, but Duffield and company cleverly construct a home invasion narrative with aliens as the forceful tresspassers, eliciting a high stakes power struggle that endears with it a few surprising qualities to continuously keep audiences guessing. The first of those surprises is in the confines of the dialogue, to which there almost is none throughout the entire film. By sacrificing the single biggest element of exposition that a movie has, Duffield forces his audience to invest in every meaningful visual that the film can properly muster, all the while appraising emphasis in the brilliance of sound design, which with the absence of dialogue feels like it sharply emphasizes that balance of creature influence and anticipatory tension that Duffield so wonderfully imbeds these tensely taut sequences in. Between masterful camera work that not only cleverly obstructs the identities of these elaborate creature designs during the film’s first half, but also artistically measures intrigue and insight from so many different elevations, making these scenically serenic overhead sequences constantly feel like the surrounding townsfolk are being watched and measured by some unforeseen force. Cap this off with Duffield’s expansive screenplay, taking his protagonist through a slickly claustrophobic collision course with guilt and grief, and you have a similar experience to Duffield’s 2020 directorial debut “Spontaneous”, which began as one thing, before evolving into a completely different beast by the film’s meaningfully deep climax. It’s a climax that will resonate differently for everyone, but where it worked for me is in how it redefined these alien antagonists in ways that make them vitally integral to the experience, as well as the unraveling of answers that we receive from Brynn’s own introspective narrative, which brings with it a big reveal that ties the many clues together in a neat package. Brynn is played impressively by Kaitlyn Dever, who takes her biggest step forward as an actress, but without any words to use as fuel for the proverbial fire. Dever’s greatest strength is in her tender vulnerability, conveying fear and sadness in seamless stretches that prove ample for her captivating candor, with a focus that remains by her side through one hundred percent of this film’s attention span.
NEGATIVES
As previously conveyed, “No One Will Save You” has an alienating climax and corresponding ending that won’t appeal to everyone, especially since the defining actions of characters and sequencing of storytelling don’t always seem at eye level with an audience that will inevitibly be confused about some aspects. As to where I personally feel like I picked up on everything thematically that Duffield was going for here, I don’t feel like it was always utilized and accomplished with the most clarity and transparancy to the audience, especially in the film’s final scene, which feels fantastical, but certainly can’t be with obvious evidence in the appearance of Brynn, which debunks the debate immediately. For my money, the scene in question feels slightly over-the-top and even irresponsible to the magnitude of the previous scene and tone of the film that it accompanies, and even if its intention was to represent peace in the confines of a character’s mental stability, tonally it doesn’t feel like it even belongs in the film that it concludes. In addition to this, my appreciation of the camera work cleverly concealing the identities of the aliens during the film’s first act gave way towards too much depiction, which basically absolves these creatures of their enveloped mystique. As the story leaves the confines of the one stage setting by the second act, it does become increasingly difficult to conceal them out in the open, but I feel like the editing is the biggest enemy in attaining such simplicity, leaving these long take sequences on the aliens for what feels like entirely too long. Finally, while much of the pacing of the film’s 88 minute run time feels right at home with maintaining urgency and effectiveness to the material, the structure of the sequencing, primarily during the second act, is far too redundant to maintain the energy it’s exuding, leading to a loss of momentum that does feel crucial, even if the audience doesn’t feel boredom.
OVERALL
“No One Will Save You” isn’t free from judgment, but it is a refreshingly original home invasion angle, which just happens to have aliens as the forceful trespassers. With a dramatically deep performance from Dever, as well as anxiously tense sequences without a shred of dialogue to obscure environmental elements, Duffield dazzles with his most ambitious direction to date, proving that impulses of guilt and grief are anything but alien.
My Grade: 7/10 or B
This sounds really interesting! I like the twist on the home invasion aspect, using aliens as the primary protagonists, and then having the main character be a recluse so there is little to no dialogue just heightens the tension. I’m a little worried about the ending, but overall this feels like a spooky time!
When watching this movie, I kept thinking, I wish they would just unveil more of the story. I feel like I would have cared more about what was going on had I understood more around why the townspeople were
mean to her. It was revealed in the end, so your statement of “continuously keep audiences guessing” is absolutely true. There were things that felt out of place for the time period. For example, no one had cell phones and instead a rotary phone on the kitchen wall. Also, I wanted her to grab that polaroid camera and take pictures lol! I was ok with the ending, it did seem “irresponsible” as you put it. But also interesting that it became some sort of utopia for her. I was suprised initially with the lack of direct storytelling,
dialog and reliance on visual and sound to tell the story, but it worked. Overall, I’m glad I watched it. It was not what I expected but it definitely created tension and mystery which kept me engaged.
I meant antagonists, not protagonists. Sorry.
So glad that you got a chance to check this one out. Despite the familiar appearance of the aliens and the obvious similarities to Signs, this still feels so refreshing and unique since we don’t see many alien movies like this. Dare I say, this is what I actually wanted from Nope last year. It is a shame that the movie trails off to a rather questionable climax which originally left me feeling kind of hollow, but it did improve the more I thought about it. Wish this could’ve been seen in theaters. Excellent review!
Finally caught up with this one. Totally agree with you, making something so fresh and new is really difficult but I thought Duffield and Deaver knocked it out of the park. It’s so interesting that the closest companion to it is probably Signs but everywhere that movie faltered, this one succeeded.
Shout out to some of the camera work and angles too. Really cool and interesting shots and I love how they played with light. Without a word, he gives you an entire world building lore that I really latched onto and was spinning off my own Starro type theories.
Really cool flick.
Your rating hit on the head, even though I rated it lower than you. I was so letdown by the ending and how it all transpired since it started SOOOO strong. I was onboard for the most part. I think that sour taste impacted my score too much, as your review reminded me that this was definitely a different direction of precious alien/home invasion movies. I also didn’t think the ostracization was justified once we discover why. Felt way too extreme given the context and that took me out of it too. I totally get why it is a sleeper hit though, Excellent review and analysis, as always!
Pretty interesting concept and sounds like Duffield brought to life a surprising film. Although the ending seems to have a hard time closing out the film, the rest of it holds it well above water. Definitely want to check this one out sometime.
Feels like it’s been a while since a new alien movie has come out. I’m intrigued by the lack of dialogue and am curious if this would have what it takes to keep the audience interested and understanding the plot. Sounds like they may have fallen short at the end with regard to plot explanation which is something I don’t like in a movie. Will have to check this out
Right up my alley! I’m definitely adding this to my watch list. A B rating for a Sci fi…. heck yeah!!
I know that I had mentioned that I wouldn’t be seeing this due to the lack of dialogue, but I feel like I could give it a shot over the next few days. Your review has me very intrigued by its quality. Well written brother!