Luke McWilliams gives his review of the 2019 film, Don’t Let Go, starring David Oyelowo and Storm Reid.
Homicide detective Jack Radcliff (David Oyelowo) receives a call from his niece Ashley (Storm Reid) as her ne’er-do-well father, and Jack’s brother, Garret (Brian Tyree Henry) has forgotten to pick her up. Soon after giving his brother a stern talking to, the entire family is killed. The distraught Jack is then amazed to receive a call from Ashley!
Time manipulation movies are now a subgenre in sci-fi, starting with 2000’s excellent Frequency. Using asource of technology, a person from the present can communicate with someone in the past to alter said present, usually within the trappings of a murder-mystery framework.
Foregoing action, the movie is wrapped in the film-noir genre. The locations are industrial, the colour desaturated, and a sense of gloom lingers throughout. The loving relationship between Jack and Ashley serves as the only real light. It is then easy to understand Jack’s grief and drive to rescue her through this fortunate time abnormality, and his choice to not even question it.
With the appearance of a name actor, and an unfortunate script hiccup, it may be quite easy to pick the ‘who-dunnit’ prematurely. However, David and Storm’s performances ground the sci-fi drama and sweep you up into the tense mystery.
Verdict: While taking abit too long to kick off the sci-fiangle to the point that the movie feels as if it is jumping genres, Don’t Let Go is an enticing family drama. 3 stars.
Don’t Let Go is streaming on Netflix.
- Luke McWilliams | themovieclub.net
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