Time: 93 Minutes
Cast:
Kaitlyn Dever as Brynn
Director: Brian Duffield

Brynn finds solace within the walls of the home where she grew up until she’s awakened one night by strange noises from unearthly intruders.

I heard about No One Will Save You, an alien invasion movie starring Kaitlyn Dever which was put onto Hulu/Disney+. While I have some issues with it, on the whole it was pretty good. 

Something I heard going in was that No One Will Save You didn’t have any dialogue, and this was definitely a distinct choice. I don’t think that it was necessary for this movie, and there are times where it can be a little contrived and forced. However, it is done well, and they do very well at telling the story visually. The movie starts off as a home invasion thriller but with an alien as the invader, before slowly expanding in scope. The movie is fairly short at 90 minutes but weirdly, it might’ve been a bit too long. Considering its minimalist approach, it felt like it should’ve been closer to an hour in length. While the first half of the movie is pretty strong, it does lose some steam towards the third act. There are some choices made that don’t always work, and it eventually began to feel a little underwhelming. Early on, it is established that there is a conflict between the protagonist and the town, eventually it’s explained but it only raises more questions, on top of everything happening with the aliens. In this section, they leaned more into the character drama instead of the alien invasion stuff, and I’m not sure that it succeeded in that aspect. That said, I do like the ending of the movie.

As far as acting goes, it really just comes down to Kaitlyn Dever in the lead role; much of the movie is anchored to her, and she carries the movie very well. Even without any dialogue, she conveys so much of her character through her expressions and body language.

The movie is directed quite well by Brian Duffield. The camera movement is solid, and Duffield mostly knows when to show things and to not show things to generate the most suspense. The sound design is effective too, and the lack of dialogue certainly helps it shine more. The visuals effects are quite good considering it’s a $23 million budget film. Some people might be a little mixed about the alien designs, especially with how they take clear inspiration from classic alien designs. However I thought they generally worked, they are portrayed in a way that made them unnerving. With that said, they are at their scariest in their earlier appearances, mainly because the movie purposefully didn’t give you a clear look at them. As the movie progresses, the film does utilise plenty of clear close ups on them, and they really lose their scare factor.

While it is a bit too long, No One Will Save You is overall a really good and effective alien invasion sci-fi horror, well directed, and carried by a great lead performance from Kaitlyn Dever. It’s unfortunate that it was dumped onto a streaming platform because it was good enough to be in the cinema, well worth watching.