Netflix has added Don't Let Go, a 2019 sci-fi movie starring David Oyelowo that split audiences and critics.
Having always loved time travel as an idea for both movies and books [I especially enjoyed the Stephen King JFK novel "11/22/63"], Don't Let Go's plot is one that was always going to interest me.
Detective Jack Radcliff (David Oyelowo) is stunned when he gets a phone call from his niece Ashley (Storm Reid). Why's he shocked? Well, she's just been brutally murdered! Now, Jack is in a race against time with his niece to save her from her future and prevent her from being shot dead. Can they work together to prevent the inevitable from happening?
Also in the cast are Alfred Molina as Jack's boss Howard Keleshian and Brian Tyree Henry as Ashley’s father Garret. Now, like all time travel movies and books you have to accept the idea time travel is possible within whatever time travel rules, the writer sets. If you can't get your head around that and think it’s silly then Don’t Let Go won’t be for you!
Audiences were on board, and the movie scored a very decent 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, critics largely loathed it, explaining its cruelly low 42 % score. But, there were some positive reviews, with the Chicago Reader praising Storm Reid’s "brilliant" performance and commenting that "for genre fans not yet burnt out by time-travel spectacles, Don’t Let Go might be worth the watch." The Times wrote: "It's profoundly preposterous, often snortingly stupid, but also strangely enjoyable."
Don't Let Go ultimately performed modestly at the box office, making a small profit on its $5 million budget. It's a movie, then, that a lot of people would have missed the first time around, and now is the perfect chance to catch it on Netflix.
If you find the time travel concept fascinating and have watched Back to the Future once too often recently then Don’t Let Go has to be worth a watch. David Oyelowo is such a great actor, who I've loved ever since his break-out role in the British spy show Spooks, his name alone makes it worth a stream. It also has a nice speedy run time of 1 hour and 43 minutes meaning it won’t outstay its welcome.
Don't Let Go is available to watch now in the US, having been added on Sunday, February 16. UK fans can rent it via Prime Video or other streaming sites.
