Never Let Go | 2024 | R | – 1.7.5

Why is “Never Let Go” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong violent content and grisly images.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes some non-sexual partial nudity, a woman dying from her throat being slashed, a man dying from an arrow shot in his back, several scenes of people becoming weak when starving, several scenes of people being threatened by zombie-like beings, a dog threatened with a crossbow, many discussions of evil and the way to avoid being touched by it, discussions of the end of the world, several arguments, and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A woman (Halle Berry) and her two young sons (Anthony B. Jenkins and William Catlett) live in a remote cabin in the woods, constantly fearing the outside world and believing they are haunted by ever-present evil that may touch them at any time. Also with Stephanie Lavigne, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Christin Park, Percy Daggs IV, Mila Morgan and Georges Gracieuse. Directed by Alexandre Aja. [Running Time: 1:41]

Never Let Go SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A woman sits in a bathtub and we see her bare back and shoulders as she bathes (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A photo of a woman shows her wearing a low-cut top that reveals cleavage and a short skirt that shows her bare legs to the upper thighs. A woman wears a low-cut tank top and we see cleavage and her bare shoulders.

Never Let Go VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A woman tells her young sons that they will need to kill their dog to eat the meat because they are starving; one boy protests and they yell at each other; the child holds the dog and pleads with his mother not to kill the dog as she takes it to the shed and points her crossbow at it; her son uses a machete to cut the rope wrapped around her waist, he slams the shed door after the dog runs away and the woman yells breaking the glass windows trying to get out as a zombie-like woman threatens and approaches her; the woman uses a shard of glass to cut her own throat (we see blood pour from the wound and she falls unconscious to the floor and dies).
► A boy steps on another boy’s rope causing him to fall down an incline and his foot is caught in a tree root breaking his ankle (we hear a crunch and the boy yells in pain); the boy hears noises coming from shadows, panics until his mother and brother help him back up the hill, they huddle together as a zombie-like creature with grey-tinged skin, dark-colored goo smeared on her chin and a snake-like tongue moves toward them grumbling and snarling (the injured boy is seen with a splint and bandage on his ankle later). A man speaks to a young boy asking if he is OK and where his parents are; the man turns to leave when another boy points a crossbow at him, and the boy shoots him in the back (we see blood); the man runs away chased by one of the boys that follows him to where he lies bleeding out (the man spits and gurgles blood trying to call for help) and struggles with one boy over his backpack. A boy swings a machete at another boy and the second boy runs into another room where the first boy blocks him in with heavy furniture; the first boy sets curtains in the lower level on fire and leaves the cabin causing the boy that’s upstairs to cough and gag as he climbs out on the roof, and then back inside to get downstairs where he hears his mother talking to him from behind a curtain; the house crumbles and the boy pushes his mother into a compartment under the floor where he wrestles with her and holds her close until she transforms (her back and head open up and a snake-like creature pushes out) and then disintegrates and floats away.
► A young girl approaches a young boy asking if he has seen her father and they speak briefly before she sees a body in a shed and runs away; the boy chases her and sees something with many hands climbing a tree, then climbing down behind him and the young girl appears next to him but not in human form; something crawls off her and into the boy’s mouth as he thrashes on the ground and his face turns blue-tinged. A boy hears noises in the cabin and follows the sounds upstairs where he finds his brother seated on a bed and he doesn’t react when the younger boy calls his name; a dark stain spreads (with squishing sounds) on the ceiling about the boy on the bed.
► A woman armed with a crossbow searches for animals to kill for food; she hears a crow cawing and imagines the bird pecking at her son’s face and pulling out his eye (we see the boy’s bloody face as the eye is pulled out); she then sees the boy standing in a different place and his neck snaps and she screams. We hear loud slobbering and smacking of lips and a woman turns around to face the camera with blood on her face and mouth (it isn’t clear what she was eating). Something moves in the woods outside a cabin as a woman reaches into the grass to quiet a frog; the croaking of frogs intensifies in the distance and a low growling and roaring comes from behind her as we see a person with a snake-like tongue reaching toward her and she rushes back up the stairs and into the cabin. A woman sees a menacing-looking person standing outside her cabin in a few scenes. A woman tells a story about a young girl calling to her for help in the woods and that the woman returned later to find the child dead and decomposing (we see the child screaming for help, and changing into a skeleton). Two boys argue and fight on the ground and one punches the other in the face a few times leaving him with a bloody nose. A helicopter and emergency medical personnel find a young boy in a compartment under a completely burned-out cabin in the woods and fly him and his brother away for medical attention.
► A young boy’s rope is pulled and he is dragged on the ground toward a well and the boy screams and wakes up with a start; he finds himself outside where his mother grabs him and takes him back inside forcing him to repeat a phrase several times and puts him in a hatch under the floor where the boy pleads with her saying that he has to urinate (we see his pants wet from urine later). Something makes noise in a shed and a boy goes to investigate; he reacts to the odor of a dead body when he opens the shed door. A boy walks through thick woods alone and finds a road; he calls for help with no response.
► A young boy shoots a squirrel out of a tree with a slingshot and stomps on it (out of view); he holds the carcass over his head, another boy cheers and we see the animal skinned and cooked in a pan with caterpillars and centipedes later. A boy holds a small frog in his hand and puts it in his mouth; he chews it and we hear a crunch. Two boys and a woman cut the bark off trees and the woman fries them in tree sap for them to eat. A young boy climbs a tree to find a bird’s nest and the eggs have all hatched; he sees one unbroken egg on the ground and tries to reach it but his rope holds him back so he threatens to untie his rope and he and his brother argue about it. A woman tells her young sons the story of “Hansel and Gretel,” as we see their supplies, their food and their garden slowly dwindling.
► A woman yells at her young sons and holds a knife on them ordering them to repeat a phrase to be sure that they were not touched by evil. A woman yells at her young son and says, “Have you lost your mind,” and “Use your head.” A woman talks about evil and tells her boys it’s “gonna get ya’,” causing one boy to jump. A woman hears a man’s voice outside her cabin and he speaks to her, eventually telling her that sooner or later, “I will make you eat your babies.” A woman has her young sons climb into a hatch under a cabin floor and “cleanse their souls” by imagining them turning evil and finding their way back. A young boy talks to his brother about their mother killing their father and grandparents because evil got them. Two boys each say to the other about their mother, “She loves me more,” in a few scenes. Two boys talk about needing to leave their house to find food and help their mother. People talk about evil making you do bad things if it touches you, like killing each other. A woman tells her two young boys about the outside world having ended when everyone killed each other. A young boy’s voice describes evil having come to a woman as a snake. A woman says, “The world was bad.”
► A woman has a snake tattoo on her back and a young boy asks her about it. A photo of a boy shows an unidentified hand on his shoulder. A boy reprimands his younger brother when he feeds their family dog; the younger boy insists that they are not the only ones that are hungry.
► Someone walks nearby as a woman walks through dark misty woods in a few scenes. A woman hears voices in the wind as she walks through the woods. A woman wakes with a start when she sees the skeleton of a child in the woods and it moves and screams at her. A woman hears a creak in the floor while she is bathing and sees her young son standing in the shadows; she then takes him back to bed (he seems to have been sleepwalking).
► Two young boys and a woman wrap a heavy rope around their wrists and repeat a phrase, then wrap the rope around their waists every time they leave a cabin believing that staying connected to the house will keep them safe from evil; they walk in separate directions searching for food. A woman sharpens a knife and we hear the metal dragging on the stone as she rocks in a rocking chair.
► Frogs are seen in woods and on rocks in a stream in a few scenes. Wriggling bugs are shown in trees in a few scenes. A boy finds a very large snake skin in the woods.

Never Let Go LANGUAGE 5

 – At least 1 F-word, 2 scatological terms, 2 mild anatomical terms, 1 mild obscenity, name-calling (strange, hobo, brutal, bad little goat, stupid), 1 religious exclamation (e.g. God have I missed you). | profanity glossary |

Never Let Go SUBSTANCE USE

 – None.

Never Let Go DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Isolation, starvation, mental illness, evil, survival, luck, pain and suffering, truth, susceptibility to fabrications.

Never Let Go MESSAGE

 – It’s hard to protect yourself from what you consider evil.