‘No One Will Save You’ is Visual Storytelling at its Finest [Review]

As a movie fan, I love a good screenplay. I love the art of witty dialogue between characters. I love watching actors perform monologues that enhance the character and move the story along. I love the humor and humility that can come from words being spoken by the performers. After watching No One Will Save You, I realized that I had lost sight of what makes movies so great, and that is pure visual storytelling.  2001: A Space Odyssey doesn’t have any dialogue for the first and last twenty-five minutes of the movie, but the onscreen visuals tell you so much more than any spoken words could. Robert Redford doesn’t speak to anyone in All is Lost, and gives one of the best performances of his career. Sometimes less can be more. No One Will Save You, starring Kaitlyn Dever, is a sci-fi horror alien invasion movie with absolutely no dialogue, and it is brilliant…

No One Will Save You is written and directed by Brian Duffield, who has mostly made his bones as a screenwriter (The Babysitter, Underwater, Love & Monsters), but now having directed a few movies (Spontaneous and No One Will Save You) has solidified himself as someone who is very capable of helming a movie while wearing both hats, as a writer/director. Duffield’s filmography is a great indicator that he has a really good feel for storytelling, and has consistently churned out material that is entertaining, fun, and thrilling. Even though most of Duffield’s movies are R-rated, they are all actually pretty lighthearted, with dark elements of course, but he seems to gravitate towards having a fun time at the movies, more so than bumming out an audience with bleak material. No One Will Save You is a great addition to Duffield’s already impressive filmography, especially in the genre…

No One Will Save You opens with Brynn, played by Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, Last Man Standing), a recluse, who lives in a beautiful remote cabin on her own. Right from the start, we learn that Brynn has recently lost her mom, and is an anxiety riddled young woman who clearly yearns for connection with anyone outside of her home but lives a very isolated life after being ostracized by the community for a mysterious reason. Brynn has a model community that she toys with in her home and goes about her life living a lonely existence. We learn so much about Brynn just by watching her moseying around her house, going through her daily routine, and right from the jump it is impossible to not have both sympathy and empathy for her. A really impressive feat to have that effect without even saying anything. Of course, Brynn isn’t alone for long, as a rogue alien makes its presence known on a quiet night in her home. Brynn is awakened by noises downstairs, and after going to investigate, sees a six and a half foot alien, with a small mouth and big dome just roaming around her living room and kitchen. Now what is great about this scene and segment of the movie is that we have no idea the extent of this alien invasion. Is this just one alien making its way to earth? What is it doing in Brynn’s house? Is it a full-blown invasion? Hard to know because 1. Brynn is cut-off from the community and shares no dialogue with another character, and 2. the story is told completely through Brynn’s point of view. From this point on, Brynn has to scratch and claw for her survival, without the help of anyone, hence, the title…

Kaitlyn Dever turns in a star-turning performance as Brynn. Her ability to speak with her facial expressions, and to evoke an emotional response by doing simple things like dancing on her own, sewing and playing with her model community is very effective. As the core mystery of her murky past starts to unfold, the pain she carries is so devastating, and Dever does a great job of portraying such a broken and lonely soul who yearns for a life with some human connection. Expecting big things from Kaitlyn Dever going forward…

As the movie continues to play out, it was not just Dever’s performance that is noticeably effective. The direction from Duffield and overall visual presentation of the movie is so unique. From the blocking of all of the action sequences within the house, as well as outside of the house and excellent extra-terrestrial special effects, No One Will Save You checks all the boxes for what works so well in the sci-fi and horror genres, while also staying totally original and unlike anything else.

The way the aliens move and communicate with telekinetic abilities is refreshingly simple and visually (and audibly) stunning. The decision to eliminate dialogue seems bold, but all of the human characters, as well as alien characters, are able to communicate with their expressions, sounds, or actions so well that it is impossible not to recognize the nuance and depth of each character. Whether it is Dever, other characters she encounters, or aliens speaking alien gibberish, you can hear the dialogue in your head without any words actually being said (or understood, in the case of alien-tongue). Again, sometimes less can be more… 

Obviously, other alien-invasion movies like Signs and Close Encounters of the Third Kind come to mind as easy comparisons, mainly because of the subtextual familial and emotional drama that seems to present just as much of an obstacle as the alien-invasion does. But those aforementioned movies rely heavily on family bonding to overcome the conflict, No One Will Save You is actually the story of a girl without that connection, battling loneliness and isolation on her own. The concurrence between Brynn’s obstacles, one being an internal battle of mourning and yearning for connection to go with the external conflict of the alien-invasion, leading to the conclusion of the movie where both roads intersect, is a fascinating angle to tell this story…

One random thing really struck me while watching No One Will Save You, and this is a bigger picture observation. Why do aliens as we know them share the same visual characteristics? Are we just going to collectively concede that they are real, and this is what they look like? I thought the aliens were visually stunning in No One Will Save You, but I couldn’t help but wonder why that specific look is what we are going to continue to roll with when portraying aliens on screen. Makes you think these things actually do exist. It’s an effective portrayal but might look nonsensical down the line when aliens actually do invade and look like Blobfish or Hammerheads with legs. I just find it interesting that we have all agreed that aliens look a very specific way, give or take a few features. Just something to think about…

Overall, I think No One Will Save You was an incredibly enjoyable movie, fun and scary, with a finale that is effective and will leave you a little punch-drunk. Without the dialogue, No One Will Save You can be a bit disorienting at times, in a good way. By the end, I had a hazy understanding of what happened in the finale, but the enjoyment I got from the well-executed technical aspects and performance throughout the entirety of the runtime had me feeling satisfied. The finale was oddly confusing in a practical way but is easier to comprehend emotionally. No One Will Save You is most definitely a worthwhile experience, and is a great example of pure visual storytelling at its finest…

Wicked Horror Rating: 8/10

No One Will Save You is available via Hulu, as of September 22nd, 2023.

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