While I’m not wholly enamored with No One Will Save You, writer/director Brian Duffield continues his streak as one of the more exciting filmmakers tackling genre fare. The string of Spontaneous, Love & Monsters, and his latest science fiction hair-raiser all brim with heart in unexpected places. That said, No One Will Save You is the most ambitious of the bunch and with the least payoff. The moody, nearly dialogue-free alien invasion flick traces its inspirations from Amblin to 10 Cloverfield Lane, and while its minimalist approach keys into creepy unknown anxieties about our extraterrestrial neighbors, Duffield’s signature dose of emotional heft floats away into the clouds this time around.
Kaitlyn Dever heroically carries what’s essentially a one-woman show as townie Brynn Adams, a lonesome soul fighting off bug-eyed gray trespassers. That’s…pretty much it. She’s seen scribbling letters to a presumed deceased Maude Collins before the flying saucers appear, but then sci-fi terror begins and Duffield channels everything from Signs to The McPherson Tape. Brynn dashes around her creaky wooden childhood home, Brynn hides from alien entities, and Brynn flees from an unknown fate should the cosmic outsiders catch her in their spaceship tractor beams.
The craftsmanship behind No One Will Save You showcases Duffield’s strengths with restricted resources. Visual effects studio DNEG nails the creation of traditional X-Files-lookalike aliens down to their bulbous craniums and slender-freaky figures, but that’s only one component. Duffield does a splendid job collaborating with cinematographer Aaron Morton to frame his interstellar guests as stalkers, often peering just out of frame before swelling in size and entering with emphasis. No One Will Save You adheres to a golden creature feature rule by showing Brynn’s adversaries early and never shying away from full-screen reveals, which wafts an appropriate air of confidence. As Brynn cowers behind refrigerator doors or turns her hatchback into an impromptu firebomb, the aliens always hold their impressive on-screen presence. That alone should stir excitement.
It’s impossible to compliment No One Will Save You without praising Dever, who conveys oodles of tension through darting eyes surveying every inch of the shadowy household for alien skin. Dever has to present Brynn’s fragile mental state and mounting physical duress with little more than whimpers or squeals given the lack of written dialogue—a challenge she rises to meet. Dever’s ability to play girl-next-door precious, like a porcelain doll in peril of shattering, makes a petrified Brynn’s miniature battles against extraterrestrial threats much more engaging. The mousy, pocket-sized sweetheart turns into a blood-stained final girl who refuses to bow? It’s hardly uncharted territory, but Dever exceeds expectations.
Unfortunately, No One Will Save You has trouble marrying the film’s self-assured message with subplot themes around a tragedy that befell Brynn’s childhood. Duffield’s bread-and-butter tastes less decadent this time, as the film veers into flashbacks that dislodge the painful memories which drove Brynn to a life of rural solitude. No One Will Save You spills its intentions in the title as Brynn learns more about the alien race probing her thoughts, but there’s a sloppier come-together moment as Duffield introduces town hall dance choreography into a finale that doesn’t quite find its rhythm. Brynn’s epiphany plays strangely flat against the UFO absurdity—a rare empathetic misstep for the filmmaker.
That’s the difference between good and great. As an alien action-horror experience, No One Will Save You executes thrills and chills that question humanity’s instinct to hate what we refuse to comprehend. As a genre hybrid that elects to find a sunnier disposition to the otherwise apocalyptic invasion unfolding around Brynn, Duffield isn’t his usual self when plucking heartstrings. I really do appreciate the swings he takes in his storytelling, always sneaking in a powerful emotional throughline no matter how despicable the material, but No One Will Save You lacks said power. Perhaps he was bound to stumble sometime, but even at that, other filmmakers would be lucky to consider No One Will Save You their hiccup.
Director: Brian Duffield
Writer: Brian Duffield
Starring: Kaitlyn Dever
Release Date: September 22, 2023 (Hulu)
Matt Donato is a Los Angeles-based film critic currently published on SlashFilm, Fangoria, Bloody Disgusting, and anywhere else he’s allowed to spread the gospel of Demon Wind. He is also a member of the Hollywood Critics Association. Definitely don’t feed him after midnight.