'No One Will Save You' Is an Alien Take on UFO Tropes

Directed by Brian Duffield

Starring Kaitlyn Dever

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

BY Alex HudsonPublished Oct 3, 2023

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In the last few years, reports have suggested that conspiracy theories about government coverups of alien visitations might, at the very least, have a little more merit than previously assumed. No One Will Save You, therefore, comes at the perfect time.

Unlike Nope's unique spin on UFOs, No One Will Save You offers a very traditional take on aliens, who are depicted as long-fingered humanoids with bulbous grey heads and big black eyes, using tractor beams to leave crop circles and lift people into flying saucers. I half expected them to pull out an anal probe.

Writer-director Brian Duffield sets No One Will Save You apart with the very unique narrative choice to have almost no dialogue in the entire film. Booksmart's Kaitlyn Dever stars as Brynn, who is on camera almost every moment as the only proper character.

Brynn lives alone in a gorgeous rural home — something that's unusual for such a young woman, and the reasons for which are gradually explained using shots of gravestones and glimpses at the letters Brynn writes during her ample time spent alone. If it weren't for the gravestones establishing the modern setting, No One Will Save You could have taken place at any time in the past few decades; Brynn has a rotary phone and a record player, living her life in an isolation that's almost unheard of today.

Dever commands the screen as the only character of note, doing a good job at wordlessly conveying awkwardness, guilt, melancholy and fear — although No One Will Save You isn't nearly as concerned with developing its narrative as it is providing lots of cat-and-mouse escapes from the aliens who repeatedly invade Brynn's house at night. Numerous scenes resemble Jurassic Park's Velociraptors in the kitchen, with the tension bubbling over into full-blown frights during a particularly well-orchestrated scene in a shadowy basement.

After so many low-key thrills, No One Will Save You's ending is a curious tonal shift from the retro spookiness of the rest of the movie, but it's a fittingly bold choice for a movie that doesn't compromise its premise, making this a unique mashup of familiar baddies and adventurous storytelling.
(20th Century Studios)

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