Look at that featured image up there. If you’re a horror fan, you’re almost guaranteed to find that picture irresistible, so it should come as no surprise that I was instantly intrigued by I Will Never Leave You Alone. I’m a sucker for anything ghostly or monstrous, so even before I knew what this movie was about, I was pretty sure it would be right up my alley. I just had to check this film out, and now that I have, I’m happy to report that I was not disappointed.

I Will Never Leave You Alone was written and directed by DW Medoff, and it stars Ken Trujillo, Katerina Eichenberger, Emma Anne Wedemeyer, and Chris Genovese. The movie follows Richard, a mute prison inmate whose lucky day has finally come. He’s getting out of the slammer, but there’s a bit of a catch. He has to stay in a supposedly haunted house for six days to clear it of any lingering spirits, and if he doesn’t finish the job, he’ll be sent right back to jail.

It seems like a pretty easy gig, but as you can probably guess, Richard has no idea what he’s getting himself into. Almost immediately after he arrives, the guy begins to experience some odd phenomena he can’t quite explain, and soon enough, he learns that a dark presence really does inhabit the property.

From that brief plot synopsis, it should be obvious that I Will Never Leave You Alone relies heavily on its lead character. Sure, there are a few other people who pop up from time to time, like Mike the caretaker and Richard’s dead wife Emma, but they’re just bit players. The weight of this film falls almost entirely on the man stuck inside the house, and thankfully, he’s up to the task.

On the surface, you might think this guy’s inability to speak would make him hard to connect with, but writer/director DW Medoff gets around that with ease. Most obviously, I Will Never Leave You Alone features numerous flashbacks to a time when Richard could talk, and those scenes do a lot of the heavy lifting for the character.

They provide the emotional foundation for this entire movie, but I have to be honest, I wasn’t a fan of these scenes initially. For about the first half of the film, they feel pretty homogenous. Richard drinks and does drugs, his wife gets mad at him, and they fight. It’s the same basic concept over and over, so after a while, I got tired of these breaks in the main narrative. They took me out of the film a bit, and every time the story flashed back, I couldn’t wait to return to the present.

But soon enough, Richard’s backstory begins to take shape, and these scenes become absolutely captivating. I can’t go into specifics without spoiling some of the movie’s surprises, but I can say that this character’s past is utterly heartbreaking. He’s been through some stuff (and that’s an understatement!), so you can’t help but feel way more for the guy than you ever thought you would.

What’s more, when I Will Never Leave You Alone switches back to the present, actor Ken Trujillo conveys enough emotion through body language and facial expressions that you never mind his silent stretches. In fact, there are a few scenes, especially in the final half hour, where he manages to really embody the pain Richard has experienced throughout his life, and unless you have a heart of stone, those moments are nearly guaranteed to move you.

That great lead character almost single-handedly makes I Will Never Leave You Alone work, but the rest of this cast is pretty good too. For instance, Katerina Eichenberger, the actress who plays Richard’s wife, does some excellent work in the flashbacks (especially the last few), and Chris Genovese has a surprisingly emotional mini-monologue as the housekeeper.

On top of all that, we also have to talk about the horror in this film. By and large, it’s fairly typical haunted house stuff, like unexplained noises, things moving on their own, and creepy figures in the background, but it’s executed so well that the lack of originality won’t bother you. To take just one example, there’s a brief scene where Richard reaches for a light switch, and unbeknownst to him, a demonic-looking hand is reaching for his.

I won’t tell you how this scare plays out, but trust me, it’ll have you on the edge of your seat. It’s one of many moments that prove DW Medoff’s legit genre chops, so if you ever see his name attached to anything else, take it as a positive sign.

Last but not least, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the deeper themes of I Will Never Leave You Alone. This movie is all about depression, trauma, and the terrible power of unrestrained grief, and it uses its horrific premise to paint a striking image of how these struggles can spiral out of control and affect the people around you. It’s bound to hit home if you’ve ever gone through intense suffering yourself, and let’s be honest, who hasn’t been there at least once or twice in their lives?

I definitely have, so I Will Never Leave You Alone really resonated with me. It’s the best kind of emotional gut punch, and if you get a chance to watch it sometime in the future, I definitely recommend that you check this film out.