No One Will Save You

In the small town of Mill River, Brynn Adams (Kaitlyn Dever) lives on the edge of town in her isolated home only occasionally venturing into town as she's not welcome due to an incident involving her former best friend Maude Collins. During the night, Brynn is awoken by strange noises from in her home that soon prove to be unearthly in nature and a prelude of a bigger nightmare to come.

No One Will Save You is the sophomore feature of Brian Duffield following his 2020 debut Spontaneous. The script was acquired by 20th Century Fox in a competitive bidding war and featured up and coming actress Kaitlyn Dever attached as the lead who'd earned strong acclaim in miniseries such as Unbelievable and Dopesick as well as the 2019 film Booksmart. Largely shot under the radar on a modest budget (roughly $23 million), the movie now makes a rather lowkey debut on Hulu and while it is overall good, I'll admit I did find myself less engaged in the third act.

One of the major defining features of No One Will Save You is that with the exception of one line, the film has no spoken dialogue and this is a purely visual film in terms of creating story and characterization. Kaitlyn Dever has proven herself time and time again as a reliable actress and that's no less true here as she takes what's essentially a one woman show for much of the time and must create a character purely through facial expressions and pantomime and it really works as you get an idea for her character and the situation in her town without a word being spoken. Once the aliens show up, the movie puts its minimalist setting to good use and despite the aliens being somewhat conventional in nature, Duffield finds unique ways of using them (and to a degree justifying their appearance) and we get some really memorable sequences of Brynn either hiding from the aliens or being chased by them. I do have some misgivings about the film especially in how it maybe stretches itself a little much in its minimalist dialogue with a scene towards the middle of the film where Brynn doesn't file a police report (which they try to justify to mixed results in my opinion). The movie also has a third act that tries to tie back to the incident with Brynn's friend Maude and while I think it is better handled than how Signs handled similar traumatic incidents in its take on aliens, it didn't quite hit the mark for me especially with the rather strange note the movie ends on.

It's honestly a shame this movie's been released on Hulu instead of in theaters, because I can see this being exactly the kind of low budget high concept genre film that's begging to be experienced with a full auditorium that would see it perform in the company of films such as Super 8 and A Quiet Place. While I have my personal misgivings about the end result, I applaud Duffield for trying to do something out of convention with the alien sci-fi genre and Dever continues to show what a strong actress she is. That alone makes it worth a viewing in my opinion.

But it's a lot better than many movies out right now and I really liked it. Think Close Encounters crossed with Communion with a dash of 2001 and some interstellar thrown in to boot. Plus it has its own originality. It looks great and moves along at a lovely pace. Kaitlyn Dever carries the movie and does it exceptionally well - its a fine perormance by an actress that will grow and grow and I can see her with a Streep like status in a few decades time - you can see it in her face. To the reviewer who skipped through it and claims there is "not one line" of dialogue... well, that's what you get for skipping.... My one criticism is I didn't really get the ending, as well done as it was, but that may just be me. I have thoughts on it but hopefully some other reviewer will clarify. This would be best seen on a big screen but regardless of where you see it, I think you will enjoy it and find the 90 minutes flies by. It also stays in your head afterwards which I always think is the mark of a good film. Enjoy.

If you're a fan of those movies, you might like this. Just don't expect to have everything wrapped up in a bow at the end. You're going to have to use your imagination.

A beatnik girl battles aliens and her own personal demons. This movie starts fast and keeps it up until the end. No time wasted on back story, dialogue, or technobabble. You have to remember she's just a girl not an Avenger or Wonder Woman although she manages to give a good account of herself. The effects are great and it's tense yet exciting. I don't consider the movie to be full of jump scares, it's just tension packed. It's definitely not for everyone. If you go into it expecting Alien or Independence Day even, you'll be disappointed. I think M. Night fans will be most satisfied with this.

This film pleasantly surprised me. It was chilling and compelling as the story rolled out and I loved the balance of good acting by Kaitlyn Dever and well executed and restrained special effects. All of which was even more impressive since there was barely a word spoken during the whole film, yet a complex plot and a rich character still shone through.

The last scene was a bit twee for me, and I felt it could have been better executed, but I got what they wanted to say with it, so it didn't let the rest of the film down.

This film will appeal to horror and science fiction fans but it's got the legs to capture the attention of a wider audience, too.

I'm so glad I ran into this because it really delivered on all levels to be honest. No One Will Save You is a nice blend of Signs (on steroids) with Faster (2010), a movie that puts the pedal to the metal and leaves it there. No slow downs, no stops, just kept going forward, through and through, like a machine from Mad Max.

Of course, you do have to take in consideration its budget, which wasn't huge, but apart from that, this movie looked great, felt good and was one hell of a ride. A movie where the protagonist takes smart decisions, where the CGI doesn't disappoint and there is even depth to it. I truly liked it, it's not something like The Ritual, but it does come close, because it feels...not claustrophobic but you do feel like you're running out of air. You can clearly notice the good writing in it, action without dialogue felt superb and a great job done by the lead.

No reason to skip it, if you're a sci fi fan or a horror one, get it, view it, and buckle up. It will feel like a roller coaster, taking all the right corners. Amazing job done on such a low budget. Well done guys, well done.

Cheers!