Halle Berry has been a bankable movie star for over 30 years, dating back to her co-starring role in the 1992 Eddie Murphy film, Boomerang. Lately, though, it feels as if the Oscar winner has been coasting on reputation alone, starring in and directing the middling Bruised, and having lead roles in the forgettable Moonfall and recent Netflix movie, The Union.

She’s looking for a comeback of sorts in the new horror/thriller, Never Let Go. Berry plays Momma, who lives in a cabin in the woods with her two sons, Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV). The family doesn’t have access to food other than what they can grow and catch, and it’s clear their supply is dwindling. Matters aren’t helped by the fact that anytime the three of them want to venture outside of the house, Momma insists that they tie a rope to their bodies, which only allows them to go so far.

Momma maintains that there’s an evil presence in the forest, and if they ever let go of their ropes while outside, they will be infected by the evil. Both sons are initially shown to trust fully in their mom’s beliefs, but Nolan soon becomes skeptical and starts testing the boundaries. Is there actually evil all around them, or has Momma succumbed to a mental illness that will bring them all down eventually?

Written and directed by Alexandre Aja, the film initially seems like it will be suspenseful, with Momma and her boys doing whatever it takes to survive, whether there is an actual evil presence or not. But after a solid start, the story starts to become repetitive, as there’s only so much you can do with one location and three characters. While their hunger plight does move the story forward to a degree, it’s not enough to make it fully engrossing.

Then there are the standard, and somewhat silly, scares Aja throws at the audience. Apparitions that only Momma can see appear to her as zombie versions of her dead mother, father, and husband. Since they can’t see them, the boys don’t react in the slightest anytime the ghosts make an appearance, lessening the fear factor. The ghosts also have weird, snakelike tongues that they waggle in what’s supposed to be a menacing way, but the gesture is more comically weird than spooky.

Aja lays a lot of the story on the boys’ shoulders, and even though both actors have decent professional experience at such a young age, it proves to be too much dramatic weight to put on them. The anxiety, uncertainty, and anger that they’re asked to display would be a lot to ask of much older performers, and when they’re occasionally forced into scenes alone, the film grinds to a halt.

Berry has always been a very emotive actor, and while that has served her well in other roles, it doesn’t work at all in this film. Her character is required to be hysterical much of the time, and the lack of warmth or empathy toward the kids makes Momma less interesting. Jenkins and Daggs are good in small doses, but they’re not ready to be the actual stars of a film like this.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where Never Let Go went wrong, but a bit more information or perspectives from outside of the house might have been warranted. As it stands, the film falls flat for most of its running time, a big problem since the point of it would seem to be to make it tension-filled and scary.

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Never Let Go is now playing in theaters.