Fall (2022) Emotionally contrived with White-Knuckle Thrills (Review)

Today the subject on the table is Fall, a tense and self-contained survival thriller directed by Scott Mann, which sees an ex-climber named Becky in a depressive episode after her husband dies in a climbing accident. In an effort to raise her spirits, her friend Hunter suggests that they both climb a 2000-feet high abandoned radio transmitter. If you’ve seen the poster for the film, you have probably noticed that they do get up there – and then the ladder collapses and they have no way of getting down.

I mentioned the poster in the synopsis there as this film has easily one of the most striking posters I saw this year (see bottom of review). It’s a pretty simple image all things considered, but that one shot of two people stuck at the top of a sky-high radio tower in a barren landscape definitely piqued my interest before I had the chance to watch the film.

The beginning of the film is surprisingly downbeat and gloomy. We actually get to witness the rock-climbing accident that killed Becky’s husband Dan, and not only do the actors sell it, but the camerawork itself also does a wonderful job of giving every viewer of the film vertigo, a feeling that (believe me when I say this) lingers until the credits roll. Despite some dodgy CGI when we’re focusing on Dan, it never took me out of the moment.

We also meet Becky’s father, who is probably the most notable piece of casting in the film. He is played by Walking Dead alumni Jeffrey Dean Morgan and I do wish we actually had more scenes with him as he’s a great addition. The dialogue is a little generic, with all of that typical “I’m here to help you” and “it’s ok not to be ok” slogans that we’ve been hearing a lot of in the media recently. However, Morgan is really good in the minimal time he is in the film.

It doesn’t actually take us that long to get to the climb, which surprised me as typically films like this go into great detail explaining the minutiae of the climb to every last detail. It was refreshing to see this film cut to the chase and say “We’re climbing a 2000ft high radio transmitter, let’s go” and just take you along for the ride, and if you’re an adrenaline junkie this will no doubt satisfy your desire for high-octane entertainment. There’s a real sense of pace to the first half, and although the acrophobia is all the more overwhelming, the initial climbing scenes are really fun. You really feel like up there along with the characters, and even if these scenes don’t explore much intense emotion there is still a great feeling of catharsis when Becky and Hunter actually arrive at the top. Also, I do really like the short scene after this where Becky scatters Dan’s ashes from the top of the tower. The dialogue is again quite simple, but I think that Grace Caroline Currey (Becky) sells the emotion very well and it provides a more subtle counterpart to the start of the film where her trauma felt more overblown.

The danger and suspense kick in when the ladder collapses underneath Becky and Hunter, we get about 25 minutes of non-stop tension and it’s easily where the film is at its peak. It feels contained and surprisingly realistic. What I do admire about Fall is that although the initial premise of them being trapped at the top of the tower does require a suspension of disbelief, the rest of the film actually doesn’t. Becky and Hunter have to make do with the equipment they have to try and get down.

An element I really liked is the idea that Hunter updates her social media about her situation so that her followers can get help, but the top of the tower has no signal. So, they stuff her phone in a shoe and lower it down to one of the satellite dishes, listening to hear the phone ping for messages. This is a plot point that only survival movies made in the last 10 years can get away with, but still, I found it quite refreshing that these characters aren’t dumb – they are adept, resourceful and use their wits and skill to try and get help.

The second half of the film is home to many of the issues I have with this film. Although I did enjoy it, I’d be lying if I said the attempts at pathos and emotional storytelling are consistent. I mentioned earlier the scene where Becky scatters her husband’s ashes as a positive, but after the first scene – where we see Dan’s fatal accident – we cut to nearly a year later where Becky has descended into alcoholism, a type of “cinema grief” which has gone past cliche to be a stereotype. I wouldn’t say it’s the fault of Currey as I think she is mostly pretty great, but the way that this is presented plays a lot like if you asked a GCSE drama class to present a woman using alcohol as a coping mechanism. That may sound quite harsh, but the point I’m making is that if Becky’s grief was explored more subtly rather than having several shots of her just downing a glass and hysterically crying, I might have become more emotionally attached to her situation.

Also, there are an absurd amount of contrivances that occur in the second half of the film to keep our main characters trapped on the top of the tower. A distress flare fired by Becky brings the attention of two guys living out of a trailer, who proceed to steal Hunter’s car. An attempt at writing a distress note and flying it by drone to a motel is stopped when the drone is hit by a truck. These moments are undeniably tense but the overall story isn’t advanced.

I’m also not a fan of how the film concludes. The way that it concludes plot-wise is actually quite clever, but after the distressing ordeal Becky has just gone through, it felt like we were missing an extra couple of minutes or an end coda. Considering how much the film is emotionally anchored in the ideas of Becky conquering her fear and coming to terms with Dan’s death, the emotional resolution ends up coming across as undercooked.

However, the film succeeds most when it is delivering on the premise of high-octane tension, and when Becky and Hunter are struggling to survive on the tiny ledge, where it is tremendously good fun and well-directed. Fall is, for the most part, a really tight and fun survival thriller that makes the most out of a minimalist setting with some inventive camerawork and two really strong leads. It does occasionally lean too much into generic tropes and the pacing is inconsistent in parts, but I did have a lot of fun and there were many twists and surprises to keep me engaged. Fall is a flawed film but a definite recommendation.

Fall (2022)