IheartCali5882

This film is currently sitting at a 5.7 and I think that's criminally low. Not sure if anybody paid attention to the ending shot but that answers the question in no uncertain terms.

The question is whether or not the danger in the forest is real or just a figment of Halle Berry's imagination. It's a layered, heartfelt story of a woman and her two children living in isolation and what may very well be a case of a mother having ruined her life along with her two young sons due to untreated schizophrenia. Are there scary things in the woods? Are the ropes really protecting them? At different points in the film it's impossible to decide and it does keep you guessing until the end.

Halle Berry is competent as always but the two young actors are real standouts here. They've got some heavy lifting for such young inexperienced actors and they do a shockingly good job. From about the midpoint on they are essentially carrying the film.

Aside from some all around great acting the practical efx on the monsters in the Woods is refreshing. There is some small amount of CGI, but there's plenty of good old fashioned blood and makeup to make these creatures just strange looking enough to be mildly spooky.

Overall Never Let Go has a lot going for it. It's not the first film to toss around the question of whether or not mental illness is at the root of the horror. I admit it's a widely used trope in this genre. But this movie handles it more competently than many others. And again it's helped out by some great child actors. I'll be expecting to see more of those boys in the near future.

Solid 7/10 for me.

The trailer for this film is misleading. The movie is very unserious, but it knows it and it leans into it. The Front Room has a very simple plot, simple dialogue, and no gore. But what it does have in abundance is a sense of humor. Thanks to a great performance by Kathryn Hunter as the elderly mother, this movie is just downright entertaining at the end of the day. You realize about 10 minutes in that it's not going to reinvent the wheel; the writing is not going to be exceptionally clever. But in spite of all that the audience in my theater couldn't stop laughing throughout. So if you're in the mood for some dark humor and camp, it's definitely worth a look. 6.5/10.