Never Let Go (2015) Reviews

• Hitchcockian with an extra dose of heart and spirit.

  clarelouisecooper2017-04-17

  A psychological thriller with action and a heart. Brings Hitchcock to mind with the way the intensity mounts building tension upon tension. Loved the strong female characters; this film pays tribute to women and motherhood whilst giving a friendly nod to Taken, with its premise and roof jumping acrobatics. Howard J. Ford steps it up a notch from the average action thriller incorporating his unique take on the psyche and weaving in symbolism and spiritual elements. Skimming the surface is not for him. Angela Dixon's multi-layered character is extraordinarily portrayed. Why give a speech when a look can convey so much? All this in 90 minutes. Impressive. Looking forward to the next Ford film.

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• one of the best independent films i have seen in a long time.

  actormarczammit2016-10-12

  Well, all i have to say is wow, i really love the film, i was on the edge of my seat all the way through the film. i think the direction of the film was brilliant Howard did the best he could to bring out the best he could with the film. Angela was perfect for the role, really delivered the character to her depths with a sublime performance. one thing i loved about the film a'lot is the story line was brilliant, a mother figure fights to get her child back, if there's one thing i find so annoying about films is when a woman who is a bad ass, a strong minded woman, fighting for survival, it is all then taken away because it ends up becoming a male (lover) that she is fighting for and her drive, fight to survive and live for. and for once it was not about this. she is a mother, who is trying to be a hero for her child, and it was brilliant. Brilliant job from everyone involved.

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• Don't trust any of these glowing reviews. The film is appallingly bad

  ponderato2018-04-02

  I never write reviews here, bur this time my indignation has pushed me to do it. This film is rubbish, and all of these reviews must have been written by friends and family of the cast of this terrible mess. It's a ridiculous plot that must have been written in the back of an envelope after a few beers. The acting is painful to watch, the action scenes are amateurish at best and the script is full of cliches and makes no sense. There's a lot of crap films like this out there, the annoying thing is that the perpetrators get away with publishing all of these glowing reviews on IMDB. I normally trust reviews on this site, but it looks like I need to be more careful.

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• Living proof of how great a gutsy Indy film, with a female lead can be.

  azanti00292016-11-27

  I had been invited to the London premiere of Never Let Go, a film that had been making some noises on the Indy scene for a couple of years. Sadly I was out of the country so had to miss the screening but caught up on it with a DVD purchase. Indy films of this nature are often a risk, but this one really delivered and much credit must go to the Writer / Director Howard J. Ford and his leading lady Angela Dixon. Dixon plays Lisa Brennan and ex intelligence / Security operative, whom, following an affair with an American Senator who looks to have a good run to the Whitehouse, has just had a baby with. Depressed and needing a break she travels to Morrocco with her young child and finds herself falling foul of traffickers whom steal her baby. From there its a race against time to get her back before she disappears for ever. Never Let Go is an extremely well made the film. The lingering organic nature of the photography always implies that a darkness lurks beyond the facade of every door and alleyway, while the cast all fulfil their roles with great enthusiasm. The film really anchors on the performance of the leading lady and relative unknown Angela Dixon who does an excellent job here. Playing her role with conviction and making her character credible which would have faltered in the hands of a weaker actress. It's not often you see a film like this with a strong female protagonist in her 40s and that is entirely in the films favour. There is nice support from Heather Pace, (You may recall her from London's Burning) playing a work colleague trying to assist her friend from afar back home and the local sympathetic lone female police officer, (Played by Sanita Simms) does well to stand out and make an emotive presence despite having very little dialogue, proving once again that a part is never about the number of lines you have. The film is not perfect and at times plausibility is pushed to the limits (Though not as far as in Taken 2, so this can be easily forgiven) and some of the fight choreography felt adequate rather than accomplished and clumsy in places, while the villains were a little one dimensional and at times I found myself wanting to know more about them but this is not a film about the bad guys it's about a mother's desperation to rescue her child at any cost. Despite these minor niggles I was thoroughly engaged through out and the film moves along at a cracking pace. To have shot the film for a budget of around 150K is nothing short of incredible and an impressive achievement. Watch it with an open mind and I think you will not be disappointed. I am certain we will see more of Angela Dixon after this movie.

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• What a mess!

  MigLancer2018-01-27

  A new mother that obviously has some medical issues, goes on holiday alone to a Muslim country. It looks like a cheap holiday, based on the taxi used. The troubles start from there... Who does that?!!!! The plot has holes the size of the ones in the ozone layer! I only watched it because the chase was mildly entertaining and wanted to see how more messy the plot would get. The acting is not great, direction is ok, but hard to work with this story line! The only really bad movie I watched to the end. Straight to video trash - in this case, dumped on Netflix, who are not doing themselves a favour, having crap like this on their list.

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