Halle Berry can’t let go of psychological thrillers.
The Oscar winner turned up in Las Vegas on Wednesday during Lionsgate’s studio presentation to promote its new film, Alexandre Aja’s Never Let Go, which brings Berry back into a genre she explored more than 20 years ago, in earlier work like Gothika. But this one pushed her to new limits.
Set for release on Sept. 27, Never Let Go centers on a mother and her twin sons as they try to protect themselves from evil lurking in and around their home. Needing to stay connected at all times — always by a connection of ropes — they hold tight to one another and never let go. However, one of the boys questions if the evil is real, triggering a terrifying fight for survival. Anthony B. Jenkins, Percy Daggs, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Christin Park and Stephanie Lavigne also star.
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Aja directed from a script by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby. He also produced alongside Dan Cohen, Dan Levine and Shawn Levy with Berry, Dan Clarke, Connor DiGregorio, Holly Jeter, Emily Morris and Christopher Woodrow serving as executive producers.
The trailer, which debuted in the theater today, showed Berry and her two fraternal twins living a gritty off-the-grid life in a remote house in the woods, seemingly after an apocalyptic event. A voiceover explains the plot further as one of the boys says, “Nothing could hurt them as long as they stay connected to their home.” At one point, Berry says to them, “I know this life has been hard on you boys since the world ended. But the evil out there is clever. One touch without a rope is all that it takes. Never let go.” Later, she doubles down by saying, “That rope is your lifeline. Never let go. Say it.”
Onstage with Lionsgate motion picture group chair Adam Fogelson, Berry said she took on the role because she’s a “bona fide adrenaline junkie” who has always loved these kinds of movies. “As a child, The Shining was one of my favorites. This gave me an opportunity to be a part of a world that I’ve never seen before.” The vibes looked similar to other postapocalyptic films like Bird Box and A Quiet Place.
“These boys have never left the house that they were born in for 10 years,” Berry continued. “Right away, it was a creepy environment. I was challenged to bring reality to what that would be like. What does mothering look like in a house in the woods with no one around?”
It also required that she learn some survival skills. “There was no electricity, no lights, my character skinning squirrels, and they’re eating bugs and frogs — raw frogs — in the woods. It was a challenge,” Berry said, noting that there was “a little bit of Method acting” going on. “I had to really skin a squirrel. These things wildly challenged me to create some reality within this world that felt so foreign.”
Berry also said she leaned on her own life as a mother of two. “It’s everything,” she said of using personal experience to inform her work. “Since I became a mother 16 years ago, playing these kinds of roles has wildly excited me,” said Berry, who also had a sweet moment onstage acknowledging that she won an Oscar for working with Lionsgate on Monster’s Ball. “With this movie, it reminded me how I would protect my children with my life. We often say, ‘I would take a bullet for my kids.’ Would you take a knife for your kids?”
Never Let Go hits theaters on Sept. 27.
