I have never been someone who has been at a loss for words. In elementary school, my report card always had some version of “talks too much” on it. When I was in high school, I got in trouble with one of my math teachers for unending conversations with my best friend. I have always been an extrovert who is energized by being around people. All that said, I do enjoy films that play with dialogue and sound, so I was interested to check out Brian Duffield’s latest movie, “No One Will Save You,” currently streaming on Hulu.
Brynn (Kaitlyn Dever) lives alone in her lovely, well cared for farmhouse outside of town. Her life is quiet, but seems content enough. That quiet is broken when aliens come to her neighborhood and invade the life she has made for herself on the outskirts. She finds she must not only battle these aliens, but also the ghosts of her past in this silent psychological thriller.
The movie gets to the action quickly, throwing Brynn right into a face to face confrontation with an alien. But unlike most movies that focus on a single character, Dever doesn’t talk to herself or to the aliens. Plenty of grunts and screams, and there are a few “no’s” scattered about, but for the most part this film relies on the visuals and Dever’s performance to tell us what is happening.
And Dever absolutely delivers in this. She has an immensely expressive face, and she uses everything at her disposal. I have enjoyed just about everything I have seen Dever in, and this is no exception. She strikes me as someone to watch going forward. It can be hard enough to carry a film alone, and she does it without dialogue. Don’t sleep on Dever, I guess is what I’m saying here.
This movie doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to the aliens. The UFOs look like stereotypical UFOs. The aliens look like the aliens we’ve seen in so many movies before. Duffield even includes the bright white light tractor beam. But the effects for this are well done and the way he puts the story together is unique enough that I didn’t mind it was largely how we come to expect the alien invasion type movies.
The story is relatively straightforward, but there is enough to keep the viewer watching. There are a few mysteries that are revealed as the story unfolds and I enjoyed it. The end felt like it dragged on a scene or two too long, but overall, the pacing for the movie is steady and engaging without being overwhelming.
Alien invasion movies usually play on the fears of something that can’t be understood. “No One Will Save You” plays on that theme in a unique way, and is a not-so-subtle reminder that we should make efforts to understand those who seem incomprehensible. It’s probably more pleasant than having an alien take over your body.
ALISE CHAFFINS is a Morgantown writer who reviews a movie from a streaming service every Saturday and one newly in theaters every Sunday. Find more at MacGuffin or Meaning on Substack.
