I wouldn’t say No One Will Save You is the reason I live in a high rise in a city, but it’s not not the reason. If you live in a remote part of the world, “What will you do when the aliens arrive?” is a legit question to consider. And if No One Will Save You like Kaitlyn Dever’s poor Brynn, you might really have to extra prepare for what might be coming.
Brynn lives in director Brian Duffield’s Small Town, USA. Alone in her childhood home, Brynn wanders about town waving at all the neighbors, but strangely none of them return the warmth towards her. After yet another unsuccessful day making friends, Brynn goes to bed sad and frustrated…only to wake up to strange noises outside, AND inside her house. And it’s not a possum.
The big swing, that will be clear after about 30 minutes is that No One Will Save You has no real dialogue. Poor friendless Brynn has no one to talk to, even when aliens arrive in her home. But that silence really helps amplify the tension permeating the movie. As we learn more about the extra terrestrial capabilities, I personally started to lean forward, wondering how Brynn was going to get out of this pickle, silently maneuvering around the creatures invading her impeccably designed home. Duffield does a good job also making Brynn make mostly smart decisions to get us on her side as we find out the more, um, unsavory parts of her character. These choices help switch up the movie when we run out of steam on one of the multiple home invasions, giving Brynn new problems to solve. But as fits the poor young woman, society as a whole has turned their back on her, meaning she’s forced to fend for herself even as her predicament becomes more and more untenable.
The movie will also end up being yet another reason Kaitlyn Dever is one of our great actresses working today. Her range of characters is pretty impressive, recently doing the exact opposite character to this one in Rosaline. Here, Dever has a really complex part to play. She’s technically our hero, defending her home from invaders, but we also learn why the town doesn’t really like her, very justified on the town’s part. And yet, there’s an innate likeability from the years of sadness Dever carries at such a seemingly young age that gives the movie at least a little emotional heft as the aliens close in on her.
Brian Duffield, I like the swing. In what will be a glut of scary stuff coming out in October, something daring like this stands above the lame classic reboots and boring boo films. I also like the concept of Kaitlyn Dever becoming Hulu’s movie queen, churning out 1-2 films a year and officially planting her flag in Landgraf’s quality enterprise, confirming her own talents at the same time.