A Recap of The Movie ‘Never Let Go’

Written by Michael Lee

*All Media used in this article is courtesy of Universal Pictures

Photo Courtesy of Lionsgate

Cast & Crew Interviews: ‘Never Let Go’ (2024)

Plot Synopsis

‘Never Let Go’ (2024) Trailer ● Video via Lionsgate

A child narrator begins the film, by telling the tale of his mother: how the evil first came to her as a snake when she was a young girl. Then, it took other forms to torment her. But she was a good girl, she listened to her parents, stayed inside the house, and didn’t let evil touch her. Because if evil touches you, it makes you do bad things.

The mother suddenly awakens from a terrifying nightmare, hearing a loud croaking frog in her yard. They live in a thick, secluded woodland, deep in the heart of an overgrown forest. She attempts to capture the frog but is interrupted by what appears to be a demon, moaning loudly, his hand outstretched, as if to grab her. She does not leave the porch steps.

She checks on her two sleeping children, Samuel and Nolan, telling them they have a ten-minute warning. The children believe that because they have love inside of them that is why the evil wants them so badly. The evil wants to turn them against each other and then ultimately, force them to kill each other. Because of this, the family travels from the house by way of interconnected ropes, citing a prayer to it every time they travel outside of the homestead. Never let go, they say in unison, committed to keep themselves safe from the evil at bay. The mother can see varying figures populated in the forest, all with forked tongues and dead gray skin.

The child continues, saying that the evil has overtaken everyone but the world was already bad before, and that’s why the evil came. No one but them is left alive and the world is apocalyptic. We learn that their grandfather built the house to seclude his family far away from the so-called evil. The grandmother began to feel a presence and refused to leave the house, so the grandfather built a system of ropes so the grandmother could hunt and explore.

The family only leaves the home to hunt and gather food. The youngest boy, Nolan, attempts to cut his rope and gather a robin’s egg but his brother, Samuel, stops him. Nolan hears Sam say that their mother loves him more, but Sam denies saying anything. Nolan messes with the rope by stepping on it and Sam is injured, and he becomes free of the rope, falling into a ravine. Nolan alerts the mother by whistle, and she rescues them from being touched by an old lady with a forked tongue

They return to the house and the mother attends to Sam’s injuries. While on the patio, the mother is being watched from the forest by several figures, and the land is inhabited by snakes and frogs. She informs them of her first encounter with the evil over their meal, which is a skinned frog and various insects. She warns her children about the evil and the importance of the rope, telling them not to let go.

Later, Sam and Nolan are telling each other stories and Nolan asks if he noticed anything about the evil, anything strange that happened in the forest earlier. Nolan is scared that their mother will kill them if they are touched, just like she killed her husband and parents. Sam denies this, and the two fall asleep.

The mother is again on the porch, sharpening a blade, as she is approached by the evil, disguised as her late husband. The evil talks to her about letting go eventually, and when she does, he will be there. The evil takes many shapes, each attempting to lure the family out.

Nolan again begins to question if the evil is real. As the three descend fast into starvation, distrust forms between Nolan and Sam. Nolan starts to doubt his mother when she suggests eating the family dog, but Sam stands firmly beside her. Their mother too is becoming increasingly paranoid and she begins to distrust her children, holding them at knifepoint, forcing them to pray, or locking them in the cellar, worried they have been touched by evil.

Later, the mother encounters her dead mother in the woods, and worried that she cannot stand up to her mother and will be infected by her evil, she takes a shard of glass and slits her own throat to protect her children. After her death, it does not take long for Sam and Nolan to discover that the world is still very populated. During a roped foraging, the two boys encounter a hitchhiker in the woods and worried that he is infected with evil, Sam kills him.

Sam also turns on his brother, setting their home on fire leaving Nolan unable to escape. Sam then takes a smiling picture of himself with a Polaroid. Camera: Nolan does eventually escape the home and both boys are rescued by medics. As the film closes, we are shown that picture of Sam, and in the foreground, a hand of Evil, as the screen fades to black.