You’ve gotta love Halle Berry. If only for the fact that she is the only actor to have ever given an acceptance speech for a Razzie award (“I want to thank Warner Brothers. Thank you for putting me in a piece of shit god-awful movie."), But as well as that she’s also supported the genre with some of her roles over the years, in movies like Gothika (2003), Perfect Stranger (2007), The Call (2013), and the Extant TV series (2014). So the idea that Berry is starring in a “survival horror” film directed by Alexandre Aja (Crawl, Piranha 3D, etc) is an appealing one. Originally due to have been called Mother Land, the production has undergone a number of changes since the script was acquired by Lionsgate in August 2020. Filmed in Vancouver (typically the go-to location for creepy forests) in 2023, it has since premiered at Fantastic Fest in Texas and opened in the US on the date originally set for Saw XI. Now it’s opened in the UK, so it seemed only right to never say no to a screening.

 

Set in an indeterminate time frame, the opening scenes (and in fact whole setting) introduce Berry as a troubled woman in a remote location, who is only ever referred to as “Momma”. The people who refer to her as such are her two boys, Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) and Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins). The three of them live in a ramshackle cabin and are besieged by a malignant force known simply as “The Evil”. According to Momma (who would never lie, surely) the world has come to an end outside of the forest where they reside. The Evil has apparently possessed the rest of humankind and caused them to kill one another. Momma and the boys have only survived due to the cabin being made of blessed wood (or something), complete with protective prayers scribed into the doorframe. As such, so powerful is this protection, that the family can forage safely for food as long as they remain connected to it by sturdy ropes that they must “never let go”. As food dwindles and starvation approaches, one of the boys questions the existence of the evil force and what exists outside of the woodland. So what is really the truth?

 

Those tickled by Aja’s excesses in Piranha and High Tension, or the hi-octane scares of Crawl, might be surprised by the emphasis on emotions and the fairly restrained attitude to horror in NLG. It’s very much psychological in its tone despite the occasional open wound and monstrous image. It’s also one of those films that you’ll continue to think about some time after the credits roll. You may well also come away with definite thoughts about the meaning, only to scour the online world to find that other people have utterly different takes on it (ain’t that the way with everything though?). Some people like that about the movie, some people absolutely hate that sort of thing and have slated it as a result. So, “Marmite” experience ahoy then.

 

One thing that can’t be argued about though is the strength of the performances. Berry is, perhaps almost inevitably, rather brilliant as Momma. An incredibly complex character with lots of teases about her background and her exploits whilst bringing up the boys in hardship. There’s the snake tattoo on her back, not to mention the pictures she’s got squirreled away, and the disturbing stories she tells. We know she’s indirectly responsible for the death of a girl, but was it a necessary action based on the fact she was possessed by Evil? Whatever the truth is there, we also gradually learn that she is directly responsible for the demise of several family members, and it was all to protect her babies. It’s a very strong showing for Berry, who puts a lot of thought into the emotions shown and the complex relationships with her sons. What is perhaps a little surprising is the strength of the performances of the two boys. They carry just as much of the story (if not more so) than Berry but suffice to say that the two young actors (Daggs and Jenkins) are quite simply superb in the roles.

 

Bearing in mind that this is (almost) just one location and a three-hander when it comes to the cast and shoot, it still carries a lot of meaning and subtext. Naturally, there is the potential of otherworldly presences and perhaps more if Momma is incorrect about the situation. But you shouldn’t expect a straightforward supernatural or extraterrestrial siege movie, in the style of A Quiet Place or Night of the Living Dead, although it does seem to lean into that style and tone at times. Despite some very creepy shots of “somethings” in the forest (some of which have naturally been spoiled by trailers *shakes fist at a movie studio for the 893rd time this year*), it never becomes a movie version of “From”. What it does do, and impressively so, is create an overall feeling of dread which stays in place from the first shot to the closing credits, and that’s comparatively rare these days. There is absolutely no doubt that all characters are in danger of death (or worse) from the events they’re caught up in and despite the young age and innocence of the two boys, they’re certainly not exempt from cruelty. The question that crops up is what are they capable of?

 

As with a lot of films, The Substance being the most recent example of this, the horror has a subtext which can’t be ignored. There are obvious themes of paranoia and abuse that are covered effectively, as well as issues around nature vs. nurture, mental health, and the extremities of parental protectiveness. Because of that, it’s difficult to see it as simply a popcorn horror movie, with an obvious threat and just good guys fighting against a big bad. The studios, director, and cast have made a point of calling it a “survival horror”. But it’s only that in the broadest possible sense, with starvation being as much of the equation as bile-spewing ghosts or multi-limbed weirdos. If you prefer something with more directness or “realism”, then this might not be the experience for you, hence some mixed reactions from critics and cinemagoers.

 

Aside from the interpretative qualities, the visuals are gorgeous in places. The moss-strewn forest gives it an old-world Grimm fairy tale feel, something that is acknowledged when Momma tells the (hard-boiled) story of “Hansel and Gretel”. This primitive setting and tone also feels refreshing with the only piece of “modern” technology being a Polaroid camera. Back-to-basics is the key here as fungus, frogs, and wood-bark (!) are consumed to delay the inevitable, making it almost feel like a post-apocalyptic fable in the style of The Survivalist or The Girl with All the Gifts. That, along with the subtle scares in the background (and one or two in the extreme foreground), makes it worth recommending. Still heartbreaking in parts, and breath-catching in others, this is a surprisingly subtle excursion into existential horror that will make it stand apart from the more obvious scarefests that are screening or imminent at this time.

 

So, it’s very likely to be a love-it or hate-it experience for many and certainly something notably different from Aja (and Berry). By the way, isn’t it weird that we now live in an age where actors like Berry, Demi Moore, and Hugh-Frickin’-Grant are in films that are definitively called horror? Weird, but great. Anyhoo, this is an offbeat and weirdly hypnotic take on the end-of-the-world-by-monsters sub-genre (or is it?) and balances nicely between fearful and thoughtful. Berry and the boys are terrific. If it does meander a little too much, and generously ladle on splodges of ambiguity, you’ll still be thinking about it when you leave and take away your own reading of what’s just happened in front of your eyes. And there’s always room for that type of horror on the big screen.