No One Will Save You review: Kaitlyn Dever faces her demons and learns that sometimes people can change

★★★★★

Writer Brian Duffield followed the 80s Alien movie playbook to a near T with the middling Underwater (2020). His latest, which he also directs, is as much E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – if subverted by noted fan of this film Stephen King.

Brynn (Kaitlyn Dever) is an anxious homebody rejected by the community of her small Louisiana town. She yearns for connection and community – but be careful what you wish for. Watching her dance alone in the family home, an oasis of calm, we’d be forgiven for thinking her fragile; but woken one night by inhuman sounds downstairs, the course of events that unfold show she’s anything but.

The film’s only five words of dialogue aren’t gasped until more than an hour in, yet the terror and trauma in Dever’s face speaks volumes. Joseph Trapanese’s score dances with her now, punctuated by silences pregnant with the clicks of beings clearly from nowhere near Louisiana.

We’re very much abducted ourselves by Brynn’s descent into hell. Are these creatures just playing with their food? Is there more to this intrigue? What’s that in the clouds? And while we do see more of the visitors than maybe we should, they never feel goofy like the knock-off xenomorphs of your typical CGI heavy creature feature.

With a tonal shift in the final act, we pull back to see the bigger picture. Genre fans will have guessed the trope, but it works here and develops into something rather fun indeed.

No One Will Save You is both a surface level thrill and a wild trip to discuss under the blanket afterwards. At 90 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome either – unlike some.

Ultimately, it’s a story about fitting in, redemption through suffering, and what it takes to be human.

 

No One Will Save You is available to watch now on Disney+ in the UK and on Hulu in the US