Warning: This article contains spoilers fromNever Let Go.
InNever Let Go, the ties that bind tear a family apart.
What at first presents itself as a survival horror, though, slowly unknots itself with twists and turns.
Anthony B. Jenkins as Samuel, Halle Berry as Momma, and Percy Daggs IV as Nolan in ‘Never Let Go’.Liane Hentscher
When the food runs low, Nolan begins to question if the Evil is real.
Is there a tangible Evil out there?
Or is it merely a manifestation of deep-seated generational trauma now passed down to the boys?
Halle Berry as Momma in ‘Never Let Go’.Liane Hentscher
I think the Evil is as real as you think it is, Aja tellsEntertainment Weekly.
Hes hesitant to share his own analysis of the ending, pointing to multiple audience interpretations.
The movie has so many layers."
At the core is a tale about a mother and her sons.
One of them believes everything she’s saying, and the other one is questioning and doubting.
Okay, but what was that creature, then?
Was the hiker’s daughter real?
Aja answers all of that and more below.
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Liane Hentscher
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: To kill offtheHalle Berry during the movies halfway point was bold.
Was there a back-and-forth about that?
ALEXANDRE AJA:It was in the script from the beginning.
I had the chance to discover it as an audience member and be surprised.
We always stuck to our instinct.
For me, the movie is a fairytale.
It is a story told through images, and every image has an involvement.
In the end, one is going to be safe.
The other one will never manage to get free and will always be on that rope.
Was the hikers daughter he encountered real or a figment of his imagination?
She is completely a figment of his imagination.
This is where the script was so smart because it plays with your expectations.
When the hiker shows up, the instinct is, oh, the Evil is not real.
But then it’s like… what?
In the middle of the night, she walked miles?
And he says, To protect me.
She took a step toward him and said, To protect you from what?
Whats the significance of that?
For me, it’s clear that Samuel didn’t say it in the first place.
But somehow it’s the subtext, or the tension, that’s between those two brothers.
What were some of the references for creating the demon that Nolan battles?
It was white and slimy, and quite unexpected.
That was a snake reference.
When we see grandma and grandpa, there is that snake skin that you see under the human flesh.
And by embracing her, the demon crumbles and disappears.
That was the key, the center of the movie.
Everything was building to this moment.
What do you think the future holds for the brothers after their rescue?
I think Nolan is free.
When he says, We are free, I think he is.
I think he did the work.
There were a lot of conversations about this ending, about should we have another ending?
I couldn’t imagine another ending where Nolan was not free and Samuel was not still under the influence.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
