Full spoilers for Never let it go continue.
Never let it go is the latest film from the successful production company Lionsgate, a studio known for the great horror franchise. Saw, as well as popular action franchises the hunger games and John Wick (which recently got a preview of Ballerina). Although this creepy survival horror arrived, it gave similar vibes to A quiet placeIt had potential, it really lost steam in the third act.
It's annoying that this seems to be common in new movies. While I'm not entirely opposed to mystery and questions, sometimes it feels like the script is missing something and the result can leave audiences disappointed and hungry for something they can never have. That was definitely the case Never let it go, that caused this big, evil threat and then fizzled out at the end.
Movies shouldn't have to explain too much what's going on, but it's nice when they tell us something to work. For me, Never let it go It was ambiguous to the point of being frustrating, leaving me with more questions than I had at the beginning, which is never a good sign.
Evil, which is simply called 'Evil', is this seemingly great threat that has taken over the world and left mom (even she has no name) and his two children as the only survivors. In the end, we find out that this is a lie and he literally gives no details beyond that. The kids go off to this civilization that they've been protected from their whole lives, and that's it. We don't know what it is, if it was all in his mother's head or if it is some demonic figure isolated in his remote cabin.
The boys didn't get to see The Evil, but it still doesn't explain why it was so central to their lives all these years. Many things didn't add up and despite the good acting and creepy atmosphere, the story lacked the best horror films.
Should we eliminate ambiguous endings altogether?
No no entirelybut it seems that they are being produced in abundance and the result is not always good. But as we have seen throughout the history of cinema, it can be done very well. Take a look at Beginning – one of Christopher Nolan's best films – and its now iconic totem ending. We never find out if Cobb was in the real world or not, but given the richness of the hours leading up to that final shot, the ending is memorable. Frustrating, sure, but it is excellent.
Never let it go We couldn't reach those heights because we barely knew anything about the threat to begin with. There was little to keep the audience interested, if anything I found myself prepared for another scare in which Mom would see another manifestation of Evil, but that had more to do with loud audio cues than my fear of the antagonist. I really don't care if I know nothing about what's jumping out to scare me in the first place. Building traditions is important.
Endings are tricky, but many big-budget movies really struggle to stick the landing. An excellent example of this is the abysmal borderlands, that insulted video game fans everywhere and then fizzled out to an unsatisfying conclusion. Not ambiguous, just bored. Can you tell I loved it? In all seriousness, if you want to read my takedown of Borderlands, here's why I called it the death of good video game adaptations.
It's not all bleak though, 2024 has seen plenty of great movies, and A24 in particular is leading the charge with recent films like I saw the television shine and MaXXXinewhich was one of five A24 movies I couldn't wait to see in 2024, and they both nailed that all-important ending. I just wish the bigger names would do the same.
