Studies have suggested that as much as 93% of communication is non-verbal. In any given situation we can read vastly more information from body language, tone, and context.
So when you learn that horror movie No One Will Save You has only one line of spoken dialogue within its 93 minute runtime, don’t be concerned.
In the face of a home invasion, Kaitlyn Dever has voice in abundance.
What Is No One Will Save You About?
Brynn (Dever) lives alone in her childhood home, morning the loss of her mother.
She enjoys her work as a seamstress but lives a solitary existence; no one in the local town will return her smiles or acknowledge her waves.
Director Brian Duffield (The Babysitter, Love and Monsters) paces the opening to ensure we are fully in support of this lonely but upbeat young woman. And then night time falls.
Blending home invasion stress with alien invasion confusion, No One Will Save You very quickly puts Brynn in a series of terrifying situations.
Noises downstairs; blurred movement barely perceived; silhouettes that just look wrong. It’s clear early on that an extra-terrestrial is scuttling about the place.
The tension isn’t from the unknown, it’s from Dever at all moments trying to contain her breathing, and shrink back unseen.
Dever superbly rises to the challenge of shouldering an entire movie. With barely any other characters, beyond the star-soaked strangers striving to take over, Dever’s myriad of internal thoughts have to be right there on her face at all times.
Her sweet natured introduction makes the terror that comes hit all the harder.
No One Will Save You Official Trailer
Is No One Will Save You Worth Watching?
Duffield uses every camera language technique in the book to ensure that visually the story is always being told.
Tracking bird’s eye shots and other voyeuristic angles convey the helplessness of Brynn’s situation, especially because most other shots are essentially from her perspective.
Claustrophobic zooms twinned with point-of-view-blocking angles trap her in, whilst otherworldly lights and sounds reenforce the unknown nature of the assailants she struggles to avoid.
90 minutes of pure ‘Ahhh!! Get out of my house!’ would soon bring diminishing returns. No One Will Save You sets up early on that there appears to be a reason why Brynn is shunned by the town and slips in titbits of information along the way.
Duffield’s frequent use of otherworldly tractor beams present a physical challenge for Brynn and a visually striking one, but that she has also been locked in by her past gives extra power to her efforts to fight, reconcile, and break free.
The tropes of home invasion / alien movies are legion, but a dash of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a pinch of Hush, dollop of Home Alone, and a sprinkling of any big eye, small mouth alien design you care to think of are all packaged up to bring out the best of all ingredients.
And just when you’ve gotten used to all that, Duffield kicks it up a notch with a nail-biting ‘how can she possibly escape this one?’ last act.
No One Will Save You set Twitter (or ‘X’, if you must) ablaze with praise on release, considering it seems to have arrived with little to no promotion.
A superstar turn from Dever ignites the fuse laid by Duffield’s design, and keeps you clinging on throughout the resultant boom.
Hold on tight to your chair, lock the doors, make sure you know where your sharps are, and let this joyous movie’s iridescent brilliance engulf you.
Words by Mike Record
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