Fall (2022)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, August 12

PG-13 Running Time: 107 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • YOU GUYS!?!?!? This movie is bonkers.

  • The cinematography and practical use of visual effects is quite impressive, while also utilizing “Deep Fake” technology to eliminate more than 30 “F” words in the final cut and allow the film to pass for a PG-13 rating.

  • This is one of the silliest movies I’ve seen in awhile, but I was literally cringing, squirming, and gripping the arm rests.

NO

  • Those susceptible to vertigo, a fear or hesitation with heights, or struggle with disorienting views of distance, stay far away. Fall is not made for you.

  • There’s a part of me who thinks this might be the worst movie I’ve seen this year. And yet, a part of me also loves every single moment of it.

  • I can’t even begin to speak on this, but I have to imagine there are free climbing enthusiasts and other rock and mountain climbers who will take some issue with the “techniques” used by our two main characters.


OUR REVIEW

Fall. The cinematic adaptation of the proverbial cat being stuck in a tree. 

Except…instead of a cat, we have two 20-something women who love to free climb. And instead of a tree, we have a 2,000 foot tall radio tower with a small platform that these women can sit on while contemplating all of the decisions they have made to get stuck in this particular situation.

While that seems dismissive, I don’t necessarily mean to throw Fall to the wayside. Although, this is one of those head-scratchers of a film where you cannot help but catch yourself saying, to no one in particular, that Hollywood has to have now completely run out of ideas.

That is…until you find yourself getting hooked into this ridiculous and inexplicably intense little movie.

Somehow director Scott Mann wrings nearly two hours out of this thing and those who are subject to vertigo or fearful of heights should stay far, far away. Fall is, at times, a brutal sit because of how unnerving everything looks and feels. Largely a two-hander, Mann makes us believe that one wrong move could likely mean a freefall to death. As a result, we cannot help but root for our main characters to find a way out of this ludicrous situation.

Have I mentioned they climbed the tower by choice?

One year removed from a tragic accident that changed her life forever, free climber Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) has spent the better part of that time depressed and grief-stricken. Her best friend and climbing buddy, Hunter (Virginia Gardner), turned those events into an opportunity to make herself a social media climbing influencer. Her daredevil stunts and selfies, always with an abundance of cleavage no less, has amassed her a substantial following. Now, with a chance to honor Becky’s grief and loss, Hunter convinces Becky to get up, get out, and climb once more. 

And so, naturally, they choose a 2,000 foot radio tower in the middle of a desert. 

Determined (I guess that’s the word for it), the besties have their cell phones charged. The drone rests at maximum power. There’s one backpack for the both of them (hmmm…) and naturally Hunter opts to wear Converse for the climb. A climb, incidentally, free of the burden of any harnesses, protective equipment, or really any good sense whatsoever.

Once the film begins this phase of the story, the dizzying heights, embedded close-ups, and frequent dips and swirls from acclaimed cinematographer MacGregor compel us to have a visceral reaction to what we are seeing. In addition to impressive camera work, the visual effects, outside of a bizarrely presented opening sequence, largely appear to be seamless and immersive,

If one abandons logic and rational thought, Fall becomes a film you can sink your teeth into. Somehow, it is downright impossible to not be cheering, gasping, and rooting for these two nitwits to survive their plight, made all the more untenable when the rusted out ladder gives way and collapses out from underneath them.

As the friends desperately try and find a way out of their predicament, Mann and co-writer Jonathan Frank invent scenarios where the women constantly are placed in death-defying peril and have to “MacGyver that s**t!” Nevermind that Becky hasn’t climbed in a year, yet has astounding arm and grip strength and stamina. Don’t think about Hunter being able to dangle from her arms for an unconscionable amount of time without getting tired. And wait, are those vultures?

Eventually we get to the melodrama, with one genuinely surprising twist. Mann buffers this by presenting palpable danger in the simplest of ways. Falling asleep on the platform is one example. A strong wind gust might be another, though wind oddly has minimal, if any, impact on these two. From a technical standpoint, these scenes are executed so well, your heart may just beat right out of your chest.

None of this should work at all though. When Fall’s final act arrives, it is a howler. And also, somehow, perfect.

When Hunter and Becky begin discussing which WWE wrestlers were their favorites growing up, as they gasp for breath and don’t know how much longer they can make it, I threw up my hands, gave up, and clapped out loud.

With a brazen disregard for common sense, everyone involved just embraced this, believed in it, and went for it. You should as well. For all that someone invests in this, Fall more than pays back that investment, delivering one of the goofiest, silliest, and most outrageously entertaining films of the year.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mason Gooding

Director: Scott Mann
Written by: Jonathan Frank, Scott Mann
Release Date: August 12, 2022
Lionsgate