We live in an age of “content”, even though I despise that term and don’t use it on purpose to describe any movie or a TV show. However, many films are treated as such, especially on streaming services, so you have to sift through a lot of “content” before finding something great to watch. Some movies get great exposure, whilst others fall through the cracks due to so much “content” everywhere. And Fall seems to have amassed almost cult-like status over a very short period of time because of its gripping premise. So I had to see it for myself one evening.
I can see now what the hype was about. Fall is one of those films that can be split into two very uneven halves. The first half is everything that happens before our two characters get stuck on that tower, and the second is everything that happens after they get stuck. Because the first 30/40 minutes, I was annoyed by everybody and the movie itself for being predictable and full of painfully dumb characters… Basically, pick an unflattering adjective, and the chances are, Fall has got you covered. However, they understood the assignment in the second part of this movie, and once they get stuck, the tension feels real. Sure, the film still has some awful dialogue and many predictable moments (even though there was one turn I should have seen coming, but I didn’t; more about it later), but I didn’t care as much because I was on the edge of my seat, often literally.
I didn’t think I had problems with heights, but I discovered I might have. But I would never climb an old TV tower that’s almost 2000 feet long (over 600m for most of the world). As you can presume, those scenes are as tense as it gets. Fall knows how to build these scenes of upcoming danger and hopelessness and throw in anxiety-ridden climbing scenes you will remember for some time. In a weird way, this movie is almost a miracle, as at the beginning, I gave zero fucks about either of our protagonists, but the moment they get stuck… Well, I still didn’t care about either that much, but I was rooting for them (mainly one).
Since I referred to them several times, let’s talk about our protagonists. We follow Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner, who are roughly in 95% of all scenes of this movie. Sure, we have a random Jeffrey Dean Morgan in here as well, but I swear he must have shot all his scenes in two days maximum, given he is in roughly three minutes altogether. Over time, I found myself liking Grace’s character more despite her not being in charge of her decisions for most of this film. She is, effectively, pushed to action by her friend Hunter, played by Virginia, who brilliantly portrays one of the worst types of person there is – a YouTuber. No, I am joking, of course, but she is this self-centred, Instagram-famous wannabe who fancies herself a bit too much, and the movie wants to give her some reasoning behind that, but nothing about her character worked for me. I found myself rooting less for her and more for Grace’s character almost by default, especially towards the end when Becky (Grace’s character) must act, or everything is lost, without going into spoilers.
But I will hint at something, and that is the above-mentioned plot twist I didn’t see coming. I thought it was clever, and once I thought about everything in my memory, it all made sense, so I take it that if I were to rewatch this movie again, this turn (or twist) would work. But I can’t shake the feeling that the only reason this twist is in this film is to make it easier for our character(s) to stay likeable and not make tough choices. That’s all I will say.
Again, Fall is an interesting film, and I will understand any rating because it all depends on how willing you are to ignore many bad aspects of this film. From the awful dialogue to our protagonists, neither is as likeable (for different reasons), to the ending, which felt rushed. I must mention that, as I love when movies know when to finish, there is nothing wrong with that, and I always appreciate it. But there is such a thing as skipping over a few pages just to show us the ending. For as much as we spend our time with our protagonists, this movie’s resolution felt… sudden. It felt like they suddenly ran out of money, so they just shot something quickly during the final day and didn’t get the chance to go back and do some additional pick-ups. What a weird choice.
Writing this, I still have to emphasise the point that from the moment these two get stuck until this sudden end, this might be one of the most nerve-wracking movies I have ever seen. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tense throughout most of it, and despite all these flaws I have mentioned above, I was in the moment with them. I felt every wind gush; I felt every (attempted) climb… This movie succeeded where (I believe) it counts the most and delivered on its premise. And that’s the reason my final rating is much higher than you might imagine, given how I spent most of my review “bashing” this film. What can I say? I will forgive any movie much easier if it gives me something unique despite many flaws, and Fall delivered some of the tensest moments of my moviegoing life.
Overall, Fall is a fascinating movie that will test your anxiety. It will also test your patience before our protagonists get trapped; you can believe me there. But if you stick with it and won’t switch it off when it gets too intense, you might go on a journey you won’t forget any time soon. Is Fall a perfect movie? No, by a mile. Is it one of the most entreatingly nerve-wracking movies I have ever seen? Yes. Would I recommend it? I would say yes, but… If you are looking for an unpredictable story or one with likeable characters, you might want to skip this one. But if you don’t expect anything else than one of the tensest experiences of your life, give this movie a chance.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke