Never Let Go had a lot of promise but I’m tired of bad Hollywood endings

Halle Berry holds her on-screens sons, played by Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins

(Image credit: Lionsgate)

Full spoilers for Never Let Go follow.

Never Let Go is the latest movie by hit production company Lionsgate, which is a studio known for the huge horror franchise Saw, as well as popular action franchises The Hunger Games and John Wick (which recently got a trailer for Ballerina). Although this creepy survival horror hit, which gave similar vibes to A Quiet Place, had potential, it really ran out of steam in the third act.

It is annoying that this appears to be a common occurrence with new movies. While I'm not entirely opposed to mystery and questions, sometimes it feels like the script was missing something and the result might leave audiences disappointed, and hungry for something they'll never get to have. That was definitely the case with Never Let Go, which teased this great, evil threat and then fizzled out at the very end.

The evil, which is just named 'The Evil', is this apparent great threat that has taken over the world and leaving Momma (even she doesn't have a name) and her two boys as the only survivors. By the end, we find out this is a lie, and it literally does not elaborate beyond that. The boys go off into this civilization they've been sheltered from their whole lives, and that's it. We don't find out what it is, if it was all in their mother's head or if it's some demonic figure isolated to their remote cabin.

Should we completely do away with ambiguous endings?

Leonardo DiCaprio as Cobb, looking at his spinning top totem in Inception — *Inception*'s final scene is an example of an open ending done right. (Image credit: Warner Bros)

No, not entirely, but they do seem to be happening in abundance and the result is not always good. But as we've seen throughout film history, it can be done very well. Take a look at Inception – one of the best Christopher Nolan movies – and its now iconic totem ending. We never get to find out if Cobb was in the real world or not, but given the richness of the hours that preceded that final shot, the ending is memorable. Frustrating, sure, but it's great.

Never Let Go wasn't able to reach those heights as we barely knew anything about the threat to begin with. There was little to keep the audience engaged, if anything I found myself braced for another jump scare where Momma would see another manifestation of The Evil but that was more to do with loud audio cues than me being scared of the antagonist. I don't really care if I know nothing about what's jumping out to scare me in the first place. Lore building is important.

Endings are tricky, but many big-budget movies are really struggling to stick the landing. A prime example of that is Lionsgate's abysmal Borderlands, which insulted video game fans everywhere and then fizzled out into an unsatisfying conclusion. Not ambiguous, just boring. Can you tell I absolutely loved it? In all seriousness, if you want to read my takedown of Borderlands, here's why I called it the death of good video game adaptations.

It's not all bleak though, 2024 has seen plenty of great movies, and A24 in particular is leading the charge with recent movies like I Saw the TV Glow and MaXXXine, which was one of five A24 movies I couldn't wait to watch in 2024 – both of which nailed that all-important finale. I just wish the bigger names would follow suit.

Lucy is a long-time movie and television lover who is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes. She has written several reviews in her time, starting with a small self-ran blog called Lucy Goes to Hollywood before moving onto bigger websites such as What's on TV and What to Watch, with TechRadar being her most recent venture. Her interests primarily lie within horror and thriller, loving nothing more than a chilling story that keeps her thinking moments after the credits have rolled. Many of these creepy tales can be found on the streaming services she covers regularly.

When she’s not scaring herself half to death with the various shows and movies she watches, she likes to unwind by playing video games on Easy Mode and has no shame in admitting she’s terrible at them. She also quotes The Simpsons religiously and has a Blinky the Fish tattoo, solidifying her position as a complete nerd.

Should we completely do away with ambiguous endings?

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