“No One Will Save You” wastes no time getting started. After a short preparation, the action gets straight to it: a home invasion that is actually an alien invasion. What follows is an incredibly tense, surprisingly calm mix of science fiction and horror, just right for an autumn evening at home.
The film — now streaming on Hulu — comes from writer-director Brian Duffield, who has previously written similar genre twists like “The Babysitter” and “Love and Monsters.” It centers on Brynn (Kaitlyn Dever), a young woman who lives alone in a large, isolated house and is – for reasons that only become clear much later in the story – either ignored or hated by virtually everyone in town. But she stays busy making clothes, building a model village and writing letters to her childhood friend.
They only get a brief introduction to Brynn and her quiet life before things go south. At first glance it seems like a burglar broke into their house one night, but it turns out to be a tall, lanky alien with telepathic powers. It’s really scary; The alien moves in a disturbing manner, twisting and contorting its body and making a sort of clicking noise that is very, well, alien. Brynn barely makes it out alive.
What’s impressive about this first encounter, however, is that it’s just the tip of the iceberg. From there, No One Will Save You expands its scope without going off track. The alien threat is growing, and – as the film’s title suggests – Brynn is completely on her own as her neighbors (including the police) won’t lift a finger to help. At its best, the action mirrors the most intense moments of Steven Spielberg’s 2005 adaptation of “War of the Worlds,” transforming an ordinary home into a besieged alien war zone. There’s even a touch of Home Alone.
The film also does an excellent job of maintaining its mystery. The aliens are never explained in detail; In fact, there is hardly any dialogue in the film. The story is cleverly conveyed through the world itself, along with Dever’s excellent performance. Likewise, the other big secret – why everyone hates Brynn – is only hinted at until the end. While it never strays too far from its original concept, No One Will Save You still manages to keep the twists and turns hard to predict. It’s best to know as little as possible.
Well, it’s a film meant to be streamed, and there are a few points where that’s obvious. This mainly depends on the computer graphics and special effects; The creature designs are cool, a mix of classic Aliens and Slenderman, but the final product looks unrealistic, lacking the details that would make it fit into an otherwise real setting. This is especially true when you rarely get to see an alien up close. Something just doesn’t look right. It’s as if the technology can’t keep up with the artists’ ideas.
Nonetheless, “No One Will Save You” is a delightful surprise and arrives just in time for spooky season. It’s a tense, focused thriller with a unique concept that it continually builds on. The ending is a little, well, strange, but the journey there is wonderfully intense.
No One Will Save You is now streaming on Hulu in the US and on Star Plus and Disney Plus elsewhere.