Momma’s Connection & If It’s Real

Warning: Major spoilers for Never Let Go ahead

Alexandre Aja’s new supernatural horror movie Never Let Go is driven by the presence of a mysterious entity known only as “The Evil”, and its true nature is left ambiguous for most of the movie’s runtime. Starring Halle Berry in her return to horror and newcomers Percy Diggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins, Never Let Go weaves an anxiety-inducing tale of isolation that digs into themes of trauma, grief, and faith. After years of being trapped in their house, Halle Berry’s Momma and her two sons go toe-to-toe with The Evil that seeks to destroy their family as it did with the rest of the world.

In the explosive ending of Never Let Go, the shapeshifting entity finally reveals itself in earnest, but the mysterious nature of The Evil isn’t resolved in a simple manner. There is no exposition or narration that provides details about its origins or how it works, and as a result, the audience is left guessing to some degree. However, there are enough clues littered throughout Never Let Go to draw some conclusions about The Evil.

Momma’s Backstory & Connection To The Evil In Never Let Go

Her Belief In The Evil Stems From Past Trauma

The audience is provided small clues about Momma’s history, but using context and some inferences it’s possible to piece a more complete picture together. The house in which they live is actually the house she grew up in, and with prayers carved into the very walls and floors, it’s clear her upbringing was intensely religious. The trap door in the floor that she locks the boys in was likely a punishment that was inflicted upon her at one time, and the scars on her back are reminiscent of religious punishment as well.

While Momma fled the house that she was tormented in as a youth, she returned after seeing how evil the wider world could be. The Polaroid that she shows her sons is of her in decidedly revealing clothing, implying she lived a more debauched life in rebellion of her traumatically strict religious upbringing. The snake and spider tattoos further point to her involvement with unsavory characters as a young adult.

Momma believes to her core that the Evil is real, and the power of her belief is what convinces her sons that it is as well. However, they have been sheltered from the Evil for their entire lives, and don’t have any real experience with it beyond what their mother tells them about it. Momma’s experience with real world evil is the driving force behind her belief in, and visions of the horrible monsters manifested by the hallucinated Evil. It’s clear she has some deep-seated trauma that may have driven her to the point of mental illness.

Signs The Evil Is Real In Never Let Go

There Are Clues Left Open To Interpretation

While Momma and her two sons are clearly unreliable narrators, there are a few moments that point to the Evil being a real entity. When Sam loses his rope and breaks his ankle, he appears to be approached by something unseen that casts a shadow and causes a terrible noise. Nolan later finds a massive snake skin, and while a real snake is shown in the forest, it’s implied that it could be a manifestation of the Evil, which takes on other snakelike humanoid forms.

Their food supply is also ravaged by what Momma describes as a particularly harsh winter, although it’s tough to disseminate what would make that winter any more difficult than others. The location of the forest they’re in is not given, but there are no true wintry conditions ever shown. While crops can obviously die in climates without snow, it’s implied the Evil may be responsible for hurting their food supply, and driving them all closer to the point of possession via hallucination and mental weakness as a result of starvation.

Finally, Nolan has a physical interaction with the Evil in what appears to be its truest form. Nolan ultimately tackles the Evil (which was initially masquerading as Momma while the house burns down around them) in the form of a grotesque, humanoid snake monster into the basement where he and Sam had spent hours reflecting on their own beliefs. The monster is gone when Nolan is finally rescued, but for the first time in the movie, the skeptical Nolan is touched by the Evil.

Why There’s Doubt About If The Evil Is Real In Never Let Go

All Characters Are In A Fragile State Of Mind

The unreliable nature of Momma, Nolan and Sam is well-established by the time the now-showing Never Let Go reaches its third act, and the Evil penetrates their home and causes Momma’s suicide. Momma has many of the classic symptoms of mental illness born of trauma, which may have contributed to drug use as an adult as a form of coping with that trauma. While Momma is infected by decades of trauma, her sons have been tormented almost as severely as she was in her youth. Momma shows them love and affection, but they are still isolated and taught to live in fear.

Additionally, all three characters are legitimately starving after the winter ravages their food supply. Malnutrition can cause hallucinations, and combining their existing paranoia and traumatic upbringing with several days or weeks without food, the visions of the Evil that they see could have absolutely been a symptom. Sam’s “possession” by the Evil in the form of the hiker’s daughter could have just been his mind finally breaking as a result of the mental and physical strain.

Never Let Go’s Director Confirmed If The Evil Is Real

Alexandre Aja Gave A Surprisingly Straightforward Answer

Aja providing both evidence that the Evil is real and clues that it’s all in the characters’ heads is very intentional; he meant for the movie, and certainly Never Let Go’s ending, to be ambiguous. In an interview with Gizmodo, Aja laid out how he viewed the Evil as he was working on the movie, and how he wanted the audience to interpret the events laid out in the movie. Aja explains that the movie is about belief and faith–not just for the characters, but for the audience as well.

It’s the belief that makes it real. Is it real in an objective way? And this is a big spoiler but personally, I don’t think so. Because in that case, why would a rope protect you from it? It’s really about faith. It’s really about what you believe.

Momma believes deep down that the Evil is real, to the point that she is willing to commit suicide in an effort to keep her boys safe from it. Aja juxtaposes moments where the Evil is depicted as a real and terrifying entity with moments of clear doubt that there is anything in the forest at all. In a way, he leaves it up to the audience to determine whether the movie they watch is a supernatural creature feature, or a psychological thriller. It’s all about how the viewer interprets the events of Never Let Go.

Source: Gizmodo