No One Will Save You Review: Kaitlyn Dever Battles Aliens In This Lean, Highly Effective Thriller
Like one of the best "Twilight Zone" episodes never made, here comes "No One Will Save You," Brian Duffield's lean, no-frills alien invasion thriller. This movie doesn't f*** around, folks — after a brief intro setting the stage, we're off to the races, thrust into the middle of an alien invasion. But this isn't the large-scale, city-destroying type of alien activity most films usually showcase. It's a more intimate affair; a stripped-down, no-nonsense thrill ride that understands the assignment. This is economical filmmaking at its finest, and while not everything here works — I'm not sold on the ending, which I will not dare spoil — you have to hand it to Duffield; he knows what he's doing, and does it.
Kaitlyn Dever is Brynn. She lives in a big, beautiful, and secluded house in the small town of Mill River, and she tends to keep to herself. When she spots other people in town, she gets nervous, and in one case, even hides. You might notice that Brynn doesn't say much. In fact, no one in the movie does. "No One Will Save You" is almost entirely dialogue-free, a stylistic choice that only heightens the tension and makes the film more unique. Dever's Brynn is mostly by herself for the majority of the runtime (not counting the aliens), so it makes sense — who is she going to talk to?
Brynn seems stuck in the past. She listens to old records, wears vintage clothes, and spends her spare time penning letters to her former BFF Maude. We catch a glimpse of what Brynn writes: "I will never forgive myself." For what? What happened between these two? Why is Brynn so alone? Before we have much of a chance to mull any of this over, aliens show up and start wreaking havoc.
The Invaders
The aliens come calling almost immediately, and from there, "No One Will Save You" unfolds in non-stop fashion. You might think this is going to be all set in one night, in one location, similar to "The Twilight Zone" episode "The Invaders," which was clearly a big influence on the film. But "No One Will Save You" has more than a few tricks up its sleeve. I won't reveal them, because I'm not a total jerk, and because part of the fun relies on the surprises in store.
As for the invaders, they're effectively creepy and weird. Duffield and company make the smart decision to have the aliens come in all shapes in sizes — while they resemble the standard "gray" alien that has become so prominent in pop culture, these creatures also have their little differences. Some are small, some are tall, and some have long, spider-like arms for extra creepiness. What do these aliens want? Well, it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that Brynn is in danger, and has to deal with the situation as best she can.
Dever wordlessly fights her way through the flick, bringing a palpable intensity to her performance and making us care about Brynn, which is no small feat since she has almost no dialogue. She's a sympathetic character, and as "No One Will Save You" unfolds, we learn more about her, her past, and how she ended up on her own. But we have to earn that knowledge by watching her struggle her way through one harrowing situation to the next.
Going through hell
Is "No One Will Save You" scary? Not exactly, at least from my point of view. But gosh it sure is thrilling. The thrills arise in watching how Dever's Brynn handles herself from one situation to the next. She's a plucky, inventive heroine, and while she has plenty of personal trauma to overcome, it doesn't get in the way of her kicking alien butt. In fact, the experiences that shaped her as a person end up playing a part in how she confronts the terrifying situation she's in.
All the while, the aliens keep coming. They're relentless little buggers, and while their motives are a bit murky, it doesn't matter. We don't need to understand these beings; we just need to know they're on our planet and they have bad intentions. In fact, the less we know about these beings, the creepier they are; I particularly liked how they communicate in strange, machine-like noises, which ties into the film's running motif of little-to-no dialogue.
But this movie belongs to Dever, who is genuinely wonderful here, commanding the screen from one harrowing scene to the next. She's put through the wringer but is never down for the count, and we buy her capableness. She's not a gung-ho ass-kicker; she's just someone fighting tooth and nail to survive through it all. Who can't relate to that on some level? We've all gone through hell at some point, it's part of being human. It's how we handle that type of situation that helps define us, and Duffield has Brynn take clever steps to defend herself, like when she leaves several pots of boiling water on the stove, ready to chuck them at any alien that might cross her path.
Objects move around on their own, lights go on and off, and Brynn's entire house seems to vibrate with menace. While I would've liked the layout of the house to be better established, "No One Will Save You" makes the most of its limited locations, proving you can have big thrills and chills in restricted spaces. "No One Will Save You" is destined for Hulu, which is kind of a shame, because this is the type of flick that would kill with a packed audience; it's the type of midnight movie begging to be discovered by genre fans who want something fresh.
/Film Rating: 7 out of 10