We all wish that there were things we could go back to the past and undo. I’d venture to guess that is why so many people are fascinated with the idea of time travel. Being able to turn back the clock on one particular day could change the lives of many people. In Don’t Let Go, Detective Jack Radcliff (David Oyelowo) comes upon this opportunity at the best/worst possible time.
Jack is uncle to an incredibly intelligent teenage niece named Ashley (Storm Reid). She’s extremely close to Jack due to the fact that her father and Jack’s brother (Brian Tyree Henry) are prone to be irresponsible. He has a propensity to drink a lot of alcohol and to go off of his bipolar medication. At the start of the film, Jack picks up Ashley at the movies because she attempted to contact her father and mother (Shinelle Azoroh) to no avail. Jack takes Ashley out to eat at a diner. He tells Ashley he’ll talk to her dad. The next day, Ashley called Jack to tell him that her dad has greatly improved, and she has a new bike, and her room was painted. Jack was busy working during this call, and the next one he receives is from Ashley, who is obviously under some sort of extreme duress.
“…he starts receiving mysterious phone calls from what appears to be Jessica’s phone.”
Ashley, her mother, and father are all murdered. Jack is apoplectic with grief. He relies on his partner, Bobby (Mykelti Williamson), to help him get through the great emotional difficulty set before him. Against the advice of Bobby and others, Jack decides to work on his brother’s case. It is around this time that he starts receiving mysterious phone calls from what appears to be Jessica’s phone. At this point, the film switches gears entirely. There have been a lot of comparisons to the film Frequency, and the plot point is essentially the same. Ashley is contacting Jack from the past, and through speaking to her, he could make the murder disappear. Naturally, Bobby and the captain of their squad, Howard (Alfred Molina), think that Jack is not thinking clearly due to his circumstances.
"…films with black actors in the leading roles definitely should be seen"
