For those who are in to suspense crime thrillers lilke myself, I am sure you have heard of the (somehow under-advertised) film "Don't Let Go", which was released in theaters August 30th. I admit that my expectation going in to this movie was fairly high, because of the powerhouse acting I anticipated from David Oyelowo and fresh-faced newcomer Storm Reid. To that end, I was not disappointed in the least bit. Oyelowo is gripping and execeptionally convincing as the devastated police detective who finds his entire family murdered- including his young niece Ashley (Reid), who he was very close with. You feel every bit of his confusion and frustration as he is trying to figure out what is happening and how, especially as he continues to get calls from Ashley after her death. You get an equally captivating performance from Storm Reid as Ashley, who is unknowingly helping her uncle solve her own murder from two weeks in the past.
That being said, the concept of this film and the overall plot are quite intriguing, yet not executed or fleshed out enough for this movie to stand out beyond the leading characters' perfomances. The relationship between the two is the only part of the story we really get to see played out in full, which causes the movie suffer due to the great potential the story had to be so much more. Maybe it needed a longer run time, or maybe the pacing of the story needed to be changed in order to fully have the effect a movie like this should. The mystery of the investigation is lacking, and does not fully come together in a satifying way, leaving the ending less on a mind-blowing note and more on an indifferent one.
If the unravelling of the murder and offender had been given more time or attention, this could have been a pretty fantastic film. Instead, it is quite jumbled and confusing, seeming to care more about getting to the end result than allowing us the journey of getting there. This is by no means a terrible story or film, but is a prime example of how incomplete or rushed story telling makes a huge difference in the overall viewing.
As mentioned before, the acting is phenomenal, and that alone makes this movie honestly worth the watch. However, if you are looking for a more intense and complete ride with a crime thriller, I would suggest something more like "Prisoners" or "Mystic River."