If you know what you’re getting into, No One Will Save You is a fun and wonderfully quirky watch. It’s essentially an arthouse film with all the aesthetics of a classic alien abduction story. If you’re expecting Signs or A Quiet Place you will be disappointed as like any arthouse film, it doesn’t give you all the answers.

Brynn (Kaitlyn Brynn) enjoys her solitary existence in her secluded childhood home. A mysterious incident from the not-too-distant past has made her an unpopular figure in her town. One night her harmonious isolation is disrupted by a mass alien invasion. Armed only with her wits and whatever she can get her hands on, Brynn does everything to keep the invaders at a distance.

The Style

Yes, you’ve read the headlines right. There is almost no dialogue in No One Will Save You. Characters communicate with facial expressions, hand gestures and the occasional grunt or moan. It’s not a silent film in the classic sense as there are no title cards, however, it totally exploits the visual aspect of cinema in telling its story. Everything, including Brynn’s history, is suggested with images, which, from a writing perspective, is an admirable feat.

The production design is like that of 2013’s Evil Dead in that you can’t exactly pinpoint what era it takes place in. The houses, clothes and cars in Brynn’s town have a vintage pizzazz that could be reminiscent of the 50s’, 60s’, 80s’ or even the early 2000s’. 

The absence of dialogue definitely sets the film apart from the many homages to 50s’ sci-fi we’ve seen in the last three decades. It certainly makes up for the film’s cliché choice of subject matter.

The Themes and the Horror

No One Will Save You is about trauma, a contemporary but frankly worn theme in modern horror. Fortunately, the film’s handling of the issue is far from worn or cliché, which is very commendable because if the style was just as banal as the substance, the film would earn of one of the worst adjectives a horror film could receive; boring.

In a typical horror about trauma, we would learn about our protagonist’s trauma via flashback or a dramatic dinner scene. Since No One Will Save You has no dialogue, the film has to visualize its exposition in a way that’s clear but not obvious.

Throughout the film, you, as an audience member, almost become a detective trying to decipher Brynn’s past with the images you’re shown, whether there’re photos in Brynn’s home, the letters she writes or the way the locals behave towards her. This silent storytelling creates a participatory experience that’s quite rare in horrors with dialogue.

If you’re like me and you get the heebie-jeebies from old-school alien abductions, like those seen in V/H/S/2 and The Fourth Kind, then you’ll like what No One Will Save You has to offer. The film has its own take on the world renown grey alien design but don’t fret, that’s not the only alien you’ll encounter. This species of alien has multiple breeds, some larger than others, that Brynn has to avoid, which makes for some incredibly tense chase scenes. In addition to different breeds, the aliens have fleets of flying saucers, looming over the town creating some chilling images.

While the choice of subject matter may have not been the most inspired, the film’s stance on the issue of trauma certainly is. I won’t give anything away but all I’ll say is that the title has a more direct meaning than you’d expect.

It’s not for everyone but I’d recommend it for everyone. Out of all the cheap VOD alien abduction horrors that’ve been released over the past 10 years, No One Will Save You is by far the most poignant and involving.

I give No One Will Save You a complimentary 7 out of 10.

The vector blue beam effect in the thumbnail is a design found on vecteezy.