In No On Will Save you, Brynn, played by Kaitlyn Dever, is a social outcast who must face an alien invasion on her own. Or as IMDB so eloquently summarized, “An exiled anxiety-ridden homebody must battle an alien who’s found its way into her home.”
This however, is just the packaging. Inside is a tale of a young woman who, despite the weight of immense grief, guilt, and trauma paired with massive rejection, has this enormous inner strength rooted in her will to live. This is probably what intrigues the aliens so much about her. Why after all she’s been through, would she even want to survive this? Why won’t she just give up? With essentially no dialogue, this story accomplished quite a lot.
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***
Let’s discuss the aliens in “No One Will Save You“
First, I just need to say: Those friggin’ TOES! What were those, long thumbs? Double-jointed finger-feet? When those thumb-toes plopped down next to her, joints cracking with every movement as they hoisted themselves up and traipsed around unbothered… I’m still cringing.
They’re based on the grays, so they have that classic look about them, with unique characteristics added. The creatures are solid, they all look great. I was more impressed with the decisions made when developing them in the first place. The abilities align with claims made by actual abductees.
- While these invaders are the same race, they do have varying characteristics – mainly due their shapeshifting abilities.
- They cause electrical disruptions and seem to have telekinetic abilities that, to anyone experiencing it, would appear to be violent poltergeist activity.
- They are parasitic in nature, part of a hive mind, and telepathic. They are capable of possessing human beings (they have to trick the person into going along with it).
- They can be Doppelgangers if you won’t let them possess you. Full on, Doppelganger, not a freckle out of place. Meant to kill the original, step into their life and take over with no one noticing a difference.
Hmmm… all these characteristics almost sound … dare I say it? Demonic.
What are these aliens after?
Why are the aliens invading? Well, we don’t know the deal with their home planet, but the intent seems to be as simple as a change of address for them. Of course, for humans, this means a double invasion, as these new inhabitants don’t just want the planet, they want to occupy their physical bodies as well.
They aren’t wiping out the human race and setting up shop in the rubble. They are leaving their current forms, possessing human bodies, and stepping into the existence already in place. After one of these squiggly parasitic beings enters, they mind-merge with the collective.
What does that mean for humans who get taken over?
The possessed humans are still there somewhere. It seems the aliens have the ability to occupy them with false realities built from memories – locking them into a dream-like state. Technically, they could regain control and take their lives back…. If they knew they needed to. (Hint, Hint)
Why are the aliens so interested in Brynn?
Brynn first catches the attention of the fleet when she accidentally kills the alien explorer assigned to her house. A second is sent, then a third… How does this one girl keep avoiding their clutches? Why can’t they posses her? They have to figure her out.
How does it end?
The final act has the aliens finally capturing Brynn. One of the tentacle parasites enter through her throat and at this point the poor dear is just exhausted with it all. They beam her up into the mothership where the whole gang is able to watch her memories play out. We find out why Brynn is the town outcast and what happened with her childhood bestie Maude, the person she is constantly writing to throughout the film.
Why does everybody hate Brynn? What happened to Maude?
Maude shoved Brynn during an argument in the woods. Brynn fell down on the ground, grabbed a rock, and came back up swinging it. She hit Maude on the head with it, delivering a fatal blow. While she didn’t mean to kill Maude, her actions resulted in the girl’s death. The whole town wanted nothing to do with her after that.
Throughout this replay, Brynn is able to sympathize with her younger self, offering child-Brynn comfort that turns into self-forgiveness. Something she thought she’d never accomplish or deserve.
Finally seeing Brynn’s inner world doesn’t quiet the alien’s fascination.
The aliens finally see everything in its entirety. They know her story, how she’s treated, and how she romanticizes things like a kid. She’s even built this miniature, picturesque town in her house. She’s been alienated this whole time. Her desired way of life is apparently not far off from their own. They find her relatable and intriguing. Essentially, they watched her story like a reality television show and were hooked.
According to Writer/Director Brian Duffield “There is a real curiosity about Brynn, and as they start to figure things out about her, they kind of want to know what happens next in her story.” This is what brings us to the ending many are voicing a bit of confusion about.
Unpacking the ending of “No One Will Save You“
Just what did happen next? What we see unfold at the end is a bit strange to say the least. After seeing what led to Brynn’s reclusive existence, the aliens give her the romanized version of the town that she’s always dreamed of. The one she built in her models.
We see her happy new life, where she waves and the greeting is actually returned. Blissfully dancing, showing off those moves she’s been practicing alone in her house. Now she has plenty of dancing partners to choose from. Every single one of them is possessed, of course. Brynn is the only human left. The rest of the town’s inhabitants are alien-controlled but Brynn seems to be living her best life alongside them.
“She finally gets something that she didn’t think she would ever deserve, and I like the idea that this kid who has gone through so much had a really happy ending, as strange as it may be.” Duffield said.
This ending could easily be interpreted as a fantasy they created for her. That she’s really trapped in her mind, occupied with this strange new world while some freaky, spindly “other” wears her like a skin-suit.
However, this is not the case, as Duffield confirmed, “I love horror movies that have a real slap-in-your-face ending, but I liked Brynn too much to slap her in the face. She gets her ass kicked a lot, too, but a lot of why I wanted to make the movie was to have that ending. Even when I didn’t know what that ending was, I knew I didn’t want to kick some poor girl’s ass for 90 minutes and then put a slug in her mouth, permanently.”
Ok, so he didn’t want her to end up a pod-person, but clearly, he thought about it. Maybe the ending was meant to work both ways… just in case he changed his mind.
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