No One Will Save You | Review by: Benjamin Garrett
A home invasion thriller with a major emphasis on the invasion, No One Will Save you provides good old fashioned extra-terrestrial thrills. No filler or fluff to be found here, just a girl trying not to get abducted or killed by aliens invading her house.
This is like Signs meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with a dash of A Quiet Place. It’s lean and functional, with minimal setup before getting right to the main event. Some may say it’s too simplistic, but if you’re looking for a concise little sci-fi thrill ride, this delivers exactly that. It gets weirder and wilder as it goes on, which ultimately means it gets better the further in you get. There were a handful of times I thought the movie was about to end, but to my (pleasant) surprise, it carried on in unexpected new directions.
There’s virtually no dialogue throughout the movie, placing emphasis on sound design and visual thrills. The alien design in particular is appropriately chilling, especially in the way their bodies move and contort. The score is eerie in a somewhat retro sense, but also bombastic and sweeping when the moment calls for it. There’s also plenty of creativity to be found in the cinematography, with some exciting long takes that heighten the intensity quite well.
The lack of dialogue also means a lot rides on Kaitlyn Dever’s shoulders. We know she’s a hell of an actor, but the absence of dialogue shines a spotlight on her physical and emotional performance. It’s a testament to her range as an actor that she can convey more through a silent performance than many actors could through spoken words.
As short as the movie is at only 93 minutes, I feel like it’s still spread a bit thin. There seems to be this imaginary requirement for movies to hit that hour and a half mark, but in the world of streaming releases, it’s unnecessary. We’ve seen some great movies recently like Shiva Baby that prove extra-lean is sometimes better.
No One Will Save You ditches dialogue in exchange for lean science-fiction thrills. It effectively proves that sometimes less is more, showing us how a little creativity and a great performance can go a long way.
3.5/5
Review by:: Benjamin Garrett
