Fall, the newest entry in the thriller subgenre of single-location, anxiety-inducing situations, is like spinning a wheel labelled with people's greatest fears and landing on acrophobia. The film will be agonising for anyone afraid of heights but could otherwise be a bit of a bore for someone looking for thrills that go beyond that. Aside from the predicament at the movie's heart, character development and story development aren't very necessary for films like Fall, and Fall isn't particularly successful either. The Lionsgate film tries to stand out from similar works with predictable twists and one annoying character, but it falls short of the heights that its central characters aren't (and shouldn't be) frightened of.
Fall centres on Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner), who are climbing a rock face with Becky's husband Dan at the beginning of the film (Mason Gooding). Becky's favourite activities, pole dancing and free climbing, are abandoned as she wallows alone at the bar after Dan tragically falls and dies. Hunter eventually arrives with a proposal to ascend a 2,000-foot radio tower. Her primary motivation is to capture Becky hanging from the brink on a drone video for her 60,000 fans. The ladder falls as Becky and Hunter climb to the top of the defunct tower, leaving them stranded more than half a mile above the desert with no access to water or cellular connection.
Sadly, it doesn't really change the genre much. One revelation, which is meant to pack an emotional punch, is foreshadowed from the beginning in a way that will make it clear to astute viewers what's going to happen. Even though a different twist is less visible, it doesn't quite work as intended. When thrillers like these are better served with fast runtimes that don't allow for much thought in between their compulsory story points, Fall's nearly two-hour length also makes the circumstances feel drawn out.
Fall centres on Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner), who are climbing a rock face with Becky's husband Dan at the beginning of the film (Mason Gooding). Becky's favourite activities, pole dancing and free climbing, are abandoned as she wallows alone at the bar after Dan tragically falls and dies. Hunter eventually arrives with a proposal to ascend a 2,000-foot radio tower. Her primary motivation is to capture Becky hanging from the brink on a drone video for her 60,000 fans. The ladder falls as Becky and Hunter climb to the top of the defunct tower, leaving them stranded more than half a mile above the desert with no access to water or cellular connection.
Sadly, it doesn't really change the genre much. One revelation, which is meant to pack an emotional punch, is foreshadowed from the beginning in a way that will make it clear to astute viewers what's going to happen. Even though a different twist is less visible, it doesn't quite work as intended. When thrillers like these are better served with fast runtimes that don't allow for much thought in between their compulsory story points, Fall's nearly two-hour length also makes the circumstances feel drawn out.
