New to stream on Disney+ in the UK and Hulu in the US is the sci-fi horror-thriller, No One Will Save You. The movie – written and directed by Brian Duffield – stars Kaitlyn Dever and tells the story of a woman’s terrifying encounter with extra-terrestrials.
In the movie, Brynn is a young woman who lives alone in a big house in the small town of Mill River. Brynn keeps herself-to-herself, spends her time creating a miniature version of the town out of models, and lives a seemingly content existence.
But one night, Brynn is suddenly woken up by what sounds like intruders in her house. Upon investigation, she discovers there is indeed something lurking downstairs, but it’s not human or animal.
The intruder is an alien and as Brynn later discovers, it’s not the only one. After being subjected to a frightening ordeal in her own home, she quickly learns the aliens have spread out and have started to infiltrate her surroundings.
It’s fair to say No One Will Save You is quite an unusual film. It’s unusual because throughout its 90-minute runtime, the picture is largely dialogue free.
There are grunts, there is some occasional background whispering, and there is a musical score and sound effects, but there’s no conversation. Writer/director Brian Duffield opts to ditch the dialogue, in favour of allowing actions to speak louder than words, making this somewhat of a different feature to many of its peers.
Of course, this isn’t the first modern movie to move away from dialogue-driven narratives, as films such as 2016’s Hush and the two A Quiet Place movies from 2018 & 2020 are also light on conversation. However, as it is fairly rare to not feature words and dialogue in a film, it does beg the question: Does it work?
For the most part I believe it does work, and the creative decision to tell the story this way provides this simple invasion tale with some bite. The lead character’s silence helps to inject tension into the movie, especially during scenes where she is being chased around her home by aliens, and this results in some suspenseful and unnerving sequences.
But does it work as effectively as intended? Hmm, that I’m less sure of.
I don’t feel the ‘silent’ storytelling technique is always warranted. Yes it makes sense not to speak during scenes in which Brynn is hiding from aliens, but there’s no real reason to not let out a few words at other times.
Unlike the aforementioned films such as Hush or the A Quiet Place movies, where there are significant reasons why the main characters can’t talk, Brynn has the ability to speak freely should she wish. By essentially gagging her for 99% of the movie, it becomes quite frustrating that at times that she doesn’t have a voice.
There are a couple of moments in No One Will Save You where the film would benefit from a few words to relieve the tension and to help mix things up a bit. Because this doesn’t happen, the majority of the movie plays out like one big chase sequence that goes on a tad too long, and this is where my attention and interest began to wane.
The film didn’t completely lose me, but I never felt as engaged as it wanted me to be and this is a shame. It pulled me back in when needed, but I must admit my mind did wander on occasion and I genuinely feel a few words here and there would make all the difference.
Putting the dialogue conversation to one side, from a visual standpoint No One Will Save You looks great and the special effects are fairly decent. The CGI aliens look like CGI aliens, but they are effective enough and the movie as a whole has some strong creative flourishes.
The aliens are mostly textbook depictions of extra-terrestrials, but this isn’t a particular issue. The film doesn’t need a new interpretation of aliens to tell its story, it simply needs a credible threat, and that’s what they are.
This is a home invasion horror, with a sci-fi bent, so there’s no real need to reinvent the wheel. The movie does what it says on the tin, and sometimes that’s fine.
Outside of the effects, No One Will Save You also offers up a few emotional beats which tap into a past trauma, and there is some solid acting from lead star Kaitlyn Dever. The runtime just about works for the picture too, and I expect some sci-fi fans will love it.
Did I love No One Will Save You? No, but I did like most of it.
It never quite grabbed me fully, which is a bit of a disappointment, but there is something here which is interesting and fairly effective. So while I wasn’t completely sold on it, I believe it will work well for others, and some may come away from it having had a good time.
Not amazing, but No One Will Save You is a decent streaming title and as we head into October, it should provide enough chills for those who are interested. If this sounds like you, you may wish to take a look.
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