Sunday, 29 September 2019

Don't Let Go (4 Stars)


Jack and Garrett Radcliff are two very different brothers. Jack is a policeman. Garret is a drug addict. Garret's daughter Ashley dislikes her father, so she has a strong relationship with her Uncle Jack, She rings him every day to tell him what's going on in her life, sometimes asking for advice, sometimes just chatting. Jack is unmarried and doesn't have any children of his own, so Ashley is a substitute daughter for him.

One day Ashley is hysterical when she calls Jack at work. There are gunshots in the background, and then the call is cut off. Jack drives to Garrett's home and finds the family dead. The official verdict is that Garrett shot his wife, his daughter and finally himself while he was high on cocaine, but Jack finds clues that someone else was responsible.

Ten days later Jack receives a phone call from Ashley. She's somehow calling from the past. She says it's August 25th, four days before she was killed. Jack doesn't want to scare her by telling her what will happen, but he gives her instructions which will help her avoid being killed. Everything she does differently has an immediate effect on Jack's present day life, sometimes dramatically. For instance, Jack is killed while investigating the murder case, but then Ashley's life is saved two weeks previously, so Jack returns to life.

But it's only a partial change. Ashley was killed a week later, so Jack has to help her to avoid her second death.


I'm well aware that this review is more detailed than what I usually write about new films, but I don't consider that I've given away spoilers. A lot more happens in the film. I decided to write in more detail than usual in order to show what sort of film it is. It doesn't actually involve time travel, but the cross-time communication creates similar dilemmas. It doesn't involve parallel universes, such as the ones created by time travel in Marvel Comics. It's a single timeline which can be changed, the same as in "See You Yesterday".

Some of the things in the film were difficult for me to understand while I watched the film. I thought that there were possibly mistakes. When I sat thinking about the film at home, before beginning to write this review, I realised that everything is logical within the parameters of the film's philosophy of time. This is a better film than "See You Yesterday", and I already look forward to watching it again.

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