I have a weak spot for an “actually could happen” horror film that plays on social phobias that many of us experience. When one of these movies is based on actual events, my interest piques even more. The best example I can give is the 2003 film Open Water, which, despite its poor Rotten Tomatoes audience score (33%), struck a chord with critics (71%). I loved Open Water, but one of the two friends that I went with hated it, saying how frustrated he felt by it. Though “inspired by true events” of a married couple that, through an inaccurate head count by the dive boat crew, were inadvertently left behind in the middle of the ocean during a scuba diving excursion, what we witnessed for the next 80+ minutes was a fictional tale of what may or may not have happened. What we experience with our two leads is the despair of being stranded in shark-infested water until (spoiler…they don’t make it) they are either eaten alive, die of thirst, etc.; what could have happened was they hit collided heads when they each leaped off the dive boat and died instantly. I understand that. It didn’t stop me from being fully engrossed in the film or its first of two sequels.

I felt that same exhilaration while experiencing Scott Mann’s (Heist) suspenseful Fall (a terrible and unmemorable name). The film’s first scene is similar to the Sylvester Stallone classic Cliffhanger. While there are no similarities between the two movies from that point on, we see the unexpected death of a skilled rock climber and experience the toll it takes on our lead characters as we advance. In Fall, Dan (Mason Gooding – Scream, Booksmart) plummets to his death in front of his adoring wife Becky (Grace Caroline Currey – Annabelle: Creation, Shazam!) and their best friend Hunter (Ginny Gardner – Project Almanac, Monster Party).

Cutaway to a year later, we discover our protagonist, Becky, hasn’t even begun to move on from the tragedy. Overcome by her grief, she hides in a gloomy, sullen apartment where dirty dishes in the sink are only surpassed by the number of empty bottles of alcohol lining the counters and tables. We see Becky call Dan’s cell phone number more than once so she can hear his voice on the other end, a cycle that seems to drive her deeper into her grief. Her father, James (Jeffrey Dean Morgan – the fabulous Negan on AMC’s The Walking Dead), does his part in showering her with love but still giving her the appropriate space to process. James did not always see Dan in the same light that Becky did. When he tells her that Dan would not continue to mourn if the roles were reversed, it strikes a nerve with his daughter. Is she upset that he was so direct? Or is there some truth in what he says?

Hunter has become a YouTube sensation, live broadcasting her mountain-climbing adventures to her fans. Her latest challenge is climbing 2000 feet atop a remote, abandoned radio tower. She persuades a reluctant Emily to join her. She could scatter Dan’s ashes at the top of the tower.

Fast-forward a bit, and the duo parked their SUV outside the chained fence, trekked the two miles to the door, and began their climb. This film will play on those fears if you fear heights (as I do). You may feel a gulp in your throat, or your palms begin to sweat as they slowly climb towards the platform at the top of the tower that barely has enough room for each of them to sit down without their legs extending over the edge.

How long was their expected excursion supposed to take? After a hearty breakfast at the nearest town’s diner, Hunter assures Becky that they will be back in time for lunch and won’t need to bring any food. How unlucky for them when, upon their descent, the rigidity ladder that we witnessed loose bolts popping out of as the girls climbed ultimately crumbled and crashed to the ground. Not depleted of resources completely, the two must use what they have (including cell phones, a drone, and some climbing rope) to ensure the best rescue.

Movies such as Fall can quickly come across as more comical than suspenseful. Mann did not allow that to happen here. The film was hampered by poorly written dialogue lines more than anything else, which, ironically, could have been the most fixable. Morgan was miscast as James. He was on the screen for less than five minutes in the entire film. Seeing him took us away from the movie more than anything else. I immediately thought of his terrific character in The Walking Dead and wondered why he was in this film. He was fed more drivel lines than Becky and Hunter combined (not good). Morgan aside, the chemistry between Becky and Hunter was better than I might have expected with a movie such as this. We’ve got a pair of likable people trying to overcome their shared tragedy. Unexpectedly, Mann incorporates some neat foreshadowing techniques while exploring his prevailing themes of sorrow, loss, fright, betrayal, acceptance, bravery, and more. It’s much more profound than a film like Open Water, which is why it has resonated so well with critics (73%) and audiences (79%).

Fall was ambitious in approach and clever in its execution. This could have easily been a 90-minute movie (its runtime is 107 minutes), but I don’t know what I would have taken out. To my surprise, it never felt long or drawn out. How much could be accomplished while stranded on a five-foot platform at the top of a 2000-foot structure before we either started to lose interest or the film became absurd? I was never bored. I did not feel the movie was becoming too convenient in its storytelling. This is credited, first and foremost, to Mann. Still, we must recognize the ability of our two leads to carry a mostly dialogue-driven movie to a somewhat predictable conclusion, but different from the way we may have anticipated.

Plot 9/10
Character Development 7.5/10
Character Chemistry 7.5/10
Acting 7.5/10
Screenplay 7.5/10
Directing  8.5/10
Cinematography 8.5/10
Sound 8.5/10
Hook and Reel 9.5/10
Universal Relevance 8/10
82%

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