Film Review: YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME: A Terrifying Tale of Horror That Will Keep Audiences Riveted Throughout [Tribeca 2023]

You’ll Never Find Me Review

You’ll Never Find Me (2023) Film Review from the 22nd Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a movie directed by Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell, written by Indianna Bell and starring Jordan Cowan, Brendan Rock and Elena Carapetis.

You’ll Never Find Me is the rare type of horror movie that will simply “wow” audiences who love scary movies because of how terrifying the images are and because of how expertly put together it is. While watching it, there is plenty of intense suspense sprinkled in its sometimes simplistic but horrific story line. This movie is every bit as good as the original Don’t Breathe which is a movie that seems to exist in the same dark world as You’ll Never Find Me. Expertly crafted by filmmakers Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell, this new picture is certain to give its audience a kind of initial sinking feeling for its main female character who is played to perfection by Jordan Cowan until the movie reveals it has some cards up its sleeve which it plays quite well.

Brendan Rock plays a weathered man named Patrick who lives in a trailer home. He’s not the most attractive guy but he doesn’t necessarily look like pure evil either so it’s hard to know what to make out of his character as he is interrupted by a knock on his door one night. It’s pouring rain outside and a woman known in the credits as The Visitor (Cowan) has shown up seeking, as Bob Dylan said, “shelter from the storm.” Patrick lets her in.

Allen and Bell expertly build tension through inspired direction. During a recent Q+A that occurred after a screening at this year’s Tribeca Festival, Bell (who wrote the script) stated she was influenced by the A24 horror film offering, It Comes at Night. While that 2017 picture had its moments, there is nothing in it that comes close to the genuine creepiness that You’ll Never Find Me projects in its last half hour. Tension is built during the opening stages of the movie that is unparalleled in much of the horror we see in movies today. Allen and Bell conjure suspense like a roller coaster ride and once the secret of the film is unveiled, the movie is sheer dread for the viewer to behold. But, this is the best possible way for a spooky film like this to unfold. This is the type of movie best experienced late at night with a crowd in a movie theater. You’ll go back and forth wondering if you can trust either of the two main characters too.

Without revealing who does what to who, there are some ghastly images present in the movie as well as some fantasy scenes that add depth to the disturbing nature of the themes the movie explores. When asking the filmmakers about the meaning of the film’s title, it was confirmed there are two ways to interpret it. You’ll Never Find Me could refer to either of the two main characters. One who is living a confined life in a trailer and another who is away from her element and trying to get out of some bad weather. Perhaps, she has people out looking for her. Or maybe not. Either one of these characters could have a dark side. You’ll have to see the film to see which one.

Somebody in the movie becomes poisoned late in the picture. Without giving away other spoilers, the way the scenes late in the picture take flight become like a nightmare come to life. The setting of the film is appropriately portrayed. From power that goes out to the occurring storm to lights going on and going off again, all the techniques the movie uses may have been done before but rarely up to the level they are used in You’ll Never Find Me.

Cowan and Rock are like a dream team here in the way their characters create the thrilling experience the movie becomes. Rock is frighteningly solemn and Cowan evokes deep mystery in a compelling performance. This film provides scenes that will get under your skin and then some. Like Don’t Breathe, the action could be dark at times, but because of the finely created tension all throughout the movie, one will easily be able to follow the story line in You’ll Never Find Me as it toys with the audience going back and forth between possibilities until the truth is finally revealed. That truth also has fiction in it too as the audience is asked by the filmmakers to decide what is real and what is in the warped imagination of one of the central characters at hand here.

You’ll Never Find Me is one of the best horror movies of 2023 so far. While it’s essentially a two-character piece, there may be an apparition or two present in the picture to promise any horror movie fan a nightmare or two after viewing the film. It’s an entertaining, haunting and dark piece of film-making by two directors who are now on the map as superb creative talents to watch.

Rating: 8.5/10

Leave your thoughts on this You’ll Never Find Me review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more Tribeca Film Festival news can visit our Tribeca Film Festival Page, our Film Festival Page, and our Film Festival Facebook Page.

Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page.

Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, Mastodon, and Flipboard.