No One Will Save You (2023)
This mostly gets some points for trying to do something different, but sadly it fails to deliver. A horror film without almost any dialogue is a concept I can get behind. Similarly, monster movies often rely of hiding the actual monster from view and let what is unseen drive the viewers imagination. So simply showing the alien with no restriction and out in plain sight is another bold choice. But doing stuff like that also sets the bar pretty high for actually delivering something unique and different. Something else needs to catch the attention and inflict at least some “horror” into the viewer. It sadly totally failed on that for me.
The primary thing I think goes wrong here is that it breaks a couple of clichéed conventions, but then just uses all the others. They just don’t work at all now. Like seeing the alien screaming up close at the camera several times is totally pointless, because the alien has been established as something we can see in practically broad daylight. Without dialogue we need some other techniques to get the story going, but we mostly just see weird shit happen for about an hour with no sense of direction or purpose. Just a mashup of typical horror monster chase scenes with some paranormal environmental effects.
The end sort of wraps things up in a really tragic way, which I actually kind of liked. At least the idea they were going for. There was potential for some existential dread with how things end, but when the first 80 minutes is completely lacking in any sort of emotional response or atmosphere, there is nothing to pick up.
Rating: 2