No One Will Save You

In the vast sea of stars there must life out there other than our own. In the decades of film there have been dozens and dozens of encounters with alien life. But for every E.T. that captured our hearts there are five other extra terrestrials bent on eating our hearts. The alien invasion film kicked into high gear in the 1950’s with classics like The War of the Worlds, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. And in the 2000’s those pesky aliens were still at it in films like War of the Worlds, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. (heh-heh). Most invasion films, especially as of late have really leaned on the horror element of such an encounter of the fourth kind. The latest film by writer/director Brian Duffield explores an alien invasion of a more personal kind.

Brynn (Kaitlyn Dever) lives alone in a peaceful part of Ohio. When she does venture into town, she is filled with anxiety over her interactions with the townspeople. Even hiding when she sees the parents of a childhood friend. Her home is where she maintains a simple and isolated existence, which is interrupted one night when a gray alien enters her home. She survives the violent encounter and rushes to get help, but what she discovers is that there is something more sinister going on in her small town than she realizes.

Dufferfield brings several interesting elements to No One Can Save You some familiar and some familiar, but to other genres. They are not blended together seamlessly but all are done well enough to keep you engaged. Where a film like Signs deals with trauma and grief up til the aliens show up in the last 30 minutes, here they show up in the first 10 minutes. The trauma and grief come along through a series of encounters in and around her home, each more terrifying than the last.

Dever turns in an intense and bold performance as Brynn. She does so much with a look and even when she is running in terror from the unbelievable, she brings a sense of realism to her surroundings. The themes explored get very heavy as the finale comes roaring in as the invasion becomes more and more serious. I really feel the end of the film will have people lean one way or the other, with not much in between. But most of what leads up to that is so satisfying and filled with genuine terror some might forgive the ending. I for one dug it for its boldness and ode to a classic form of storytelling we don’t see much of these days.