Fall - Film Review

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After losing her husband, Dan, in a climbing accident, Becky is distraught. Less than a year later, her best friend, Hunter, encourages Becky to join her in a crazy stunt for her social media channel. Hunter wants to climb a decommissioned television tower out in the desert and suggests that they scatter Dan's ashes from the top.

Hunter agrees, and they make it to the top of the tower, but then find themselves stranded there, over 2000 feet (about 600 meters) from the ground, when the ladder falls.

Fall (2022) is a survival thriller that is definitely not for anyone with a fear of heights. It was written and directed by Jonathan Frank and Scott Mann (director of The Tournament). Grace Caroline Currey (from Shazam!) is convincing as the terrified Becky. Mason Gooding (from Scream VI and Let it Snow ) is Becky's husband, Dan, and Virginia Gardner (from Halloween 2018 and Marvel's Runaways) is the brave, but irritating Hunter.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

I was very impressed with the two lead actors, who apparently did their own stunts up on a smaller, but still scary, tower, and I found parts of the movie very tense. However, the stupidity of the premise bothered me. Having lost her husband the way she did, Becky's reluctance to go climbing again is completely rational, and there is no real need for her to 'face her fear' by doing something recklessly dangerous. But then, perhaps the viewer is supposed to think that, since Hunter actually has a more complex motive for wanting Becky to come with her.

I had this song in my head for the first third of the movie:



Setting aside why they decide to climb the tower at all, it's annoying that two experienced climbers weren't better prepared for the adventure. They could have worn gloves to protect their hands from the rope and rusty metal, brought more rope, or brought more than one bag containing water. Most importantly, they should have told at least one other person where they were going to be and to raise the alarm if they weren't back within 24 hours. Yes, I know, it wouldn't be much of a movie if all the characters acted sensibly, but it still gives me the irrits when they're this silly.

Equally annoyingly, there are a couple of seemingly obvious solutions to the women's predicament that they didn't think of. Firstly, although they didn't have enough power at first to fly the drone to get help, they could instead have used it to lower Hunter's phone gently to the ground, where there was reception, to send out a message. Secondly, while I'm not a climber myself, I would have thought it would be possible to climb down the tower by wrapping the rope around it a couple of times and sort of shimmying down bit by bit. But I suppose these kinds of ideas are easier to come up with when you're sitting all cosy under a blanket on your couch, than 2000 feet in the air in the desert wind.

I did like that for the majority of the film it was just the two women on screen, and that they had to figure out how to survive using their own resourcefulness and eclectic skill set (even including pole dancing experience). The premise may be silly, but at least it's original.

Fall is an unusual survival thriller, sure to terrify anyone who doesn't like heights. It is available on DVD.



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More articles by Jennifer Muirhead:
Carnifex - Film Review
Nicolas Cage Movie Marathon Part 1
5 Horror Movies From Around the World
3 Horror Movies With Time Loops