Don’t You Let Me Go (2024) – Written Review

After her best friend’s wake, a woman travels back to a weekend they shared to relive experiencing her friend one last time.

Plot Summary

With Elena’s recent death, Adela longs for the joy Elena brought to her life. So, after a dreary wake, she takes a sudden and random opportunity to travel in time, by at least ten years, to spend a weekend with her friend one last time.

Cast and Characters

Character’s Name	Actor’s Name
Adela	Chiara Hourcade
Elena	Victoria Jorge

Adela

Not much is said about Adela. She was one of Elena’s best friends, isn’t great with confrontation, and enjoys a good novel now and again.

Elena

Elena was a quiet force to be reckoned with. She was widely beloved, a vegetarian, and while depicted as a tad bit paranoid, this didn’t stop her from forgetting to lock and close the front door.

Review

Our Rating: Mixed (Divisive)

Good If You Like

• Watching female friendships with the occasional talk of boys but very minimal focus on them.

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Highlights

It Let You Into Who Elena Was

Many films start with the death of a character, and then they talk about them, rehash memories, and leave you feeling disconnected from this wonderful person they’ve spent most of the movie going on about. With “Don’t You Let Me Go,“ you are given the gift of meeting Elena, connecting with her, and even experiencing the same grief Adela is processing.

Mind you, nothing over the top happens. It is just a weekend of drinking, dancing, eating, and hanging out with a friend and her kid. Yet, watching Elena be with her friends reminds you of the difference between making memories or just finding something to do.

On The Fence

It’s Hard To Say You Got To Know Who Everyone Else Was

Adela and two other ladies who are Elena’s friends, who mourn her and will carry her existence in their memories, will be strangers to you. They exist for you to know, Elena, but who are they as individuals?

This isn’t answered. We know one has a child, Adela has a pending breakup with a boy in the past, and one of the ladies has a beef with the other. But, beyond that, whether past or present, nothing is said or revealed which sticks. This can feel odd since you’d think we’d not just learn about the dead member of the friend group but also about each member in order to connect who they were in the past with who they are during Elena’s wake. 

Yet, the wake seemingly is just added fluff to help the film cross the hour mark and maybe put a brighter spotlight on Elena, for what makes a character more noteworthy than starting off by telling you they are dead?

Background Information

Film Length	1 Hour 11 Minutes
Date Released	June 9, 2024
Distributor	Film Festival – Tribeca Festival
Director(s)	Ana Guevara, Leticia Jorge
Writer(s)	Ana Guevara, Leticia Jorge
Based On Work By	N/A
Genre(s)	Comedy, Drama, Young Adult, Non-English (Spanish)
Content Rating	Not Rated