Plus, check out the first trailer.
Never Let Gobrings a whole new meaning to the termsafe house.
She gave Momma the strength and fragility she needs to weave a tight bond around her sons."
Anthony B. Jenkins, Halle Berry, and Percy Daggs IV in ‘Never Let Go’.Liane Hentscher
Liane Hentscher
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What, exactly, are those monsters?
Are the snakes we glimpse in the trailer real or symbolic?
Halle Berry in ‘Never Let Go’.Liane Hentscher
Below, Berry does answer lots of other questions about the film, previewing thrills both physical and psychological.
Of course, this is just a very big thread.
How does that factor into their situation?
HALLE BERRY:That’s a very good metaphor.
The boys were born in this house, and they’ve never left this house.
And so they’ve grown having to live completely off the land.
So they’ve been living a pretty rough life.
They’re tethered to the ropes because the ropes are what keep them safe.
There’s essentially evil in the world and being connected to their house is their safety… their survival.
If the rope gets broken, then they’re very vulnerable to the evil that’s inhabiting the forest.
The big question for me, for Momma, is: Has Momma been driven crazy?
So I think what you question about Momma is, is she really crazy?
Was she always crazy?
Was she driven crazy?
And thebigquestion is: Is everything real or not?
Is what she’s seeing real?
Has she gone mad?
And when they start to question her, that’s when things start to go awry.
Momma loses control of her boys and then things go crazy.
You mentioned that this hasn’t always been her existence.
So should we expect flashbacks?
Do we see life before?
We had a huge story, a whole backstory of what her life might’ve been.
And you’ll find out parts of what her life was throughout the movie.
You’ll learn information.
There’s not a lot of flashback, but you will learn in pieces who she might’ve been.
[Laughs] You see dad in the course of the movie… You will come to understand dad.
That was our only set.
We spent day in, day out in the middle of the woods in this house.
It would be a very rough lonely, in some ways existence.
And we experienced that all together.
We see that things get physical at times.
Were there any injuries?
They didn’t have the influence of society and other children; they didn’t have teachers.
So essentially, she was their teacher in every way.
How did they keep you on your toes?
[Laughs] Well, it’s possible for you to imagine.
Keeping them focused for long hours, that’s always the challenge when you work with children.
They can only work so many hours a day, but it’s keeping them focused.
And with this schedule, it was very tight.
They were really very talented.
So it was a challenge to find them.
In addition to the physical aspects, there are psychological thrills here at play.
Well, they had their parents there, which is always the best.
The lines got blurred and there were some scares, and you always have to protect children from that.
Alexandre Aja has such a great resume when it comes to these types of films.
Why were you most excited to work with him?
I’ve been a fan of his work, and I knew that he would elevate this genre.
I knew that it wouldn’t be just classic horror.
Of course, you have all of that, but it would also be elevated and be real storytelling.
There’s a real backstory to all of these characters.
There’s a theme of the movie it’s about generational trauma.
That’s one of the things that attracted him to this film as well as me.
There’s a quality that I knew he would bring to it.
And I knew it would be beautifully shot.
I knew that he’d be very thoughtful in those ways.
That’s what I was talking about.
No, I did not skin a live squirrel.
And the boys did not eat real frogs either, but you’ll think they ate real frogs.
