The Fall review: Palms are sweaty

The Fall is a movie that has an almost identical opening to the rather dumb, but fun, movie Vertical Limit. It’s directed and co-written by Scott Mann and is heaps of fun.

Spoilers ahead

It starts with some idiots, because that is exactly what people who climb sheer mountains are, climbing a sheer-faced mountain. Included in said idiots group are Becky, Shiloh Hunter and soon to be mincemeat, Dan. Dan and Becky are married so when Becky watches her love fall like a rock to his death she’s pretty traumatised by it. I know this because we see exactly that.

A year later Becky is hitting the bottle more than an 80s Rockstar while also alienating her father. She’s an absolute mess. Which is just the right time for Hunter to come and beg her to go on another, absolutely bonkers, climb. Because that’s what you have to do to get over the death of a loved one. Face your fear. Still not sure how climbing a really high tower allows you to face the fear that a loved one is going to die in front of you. But I’ll allow it. This leads Hunter (Virginia Gardner) and Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) on a wild adventure that has them climbing a 610m tower in the middle of a desert.

Mom’s spaghetti

I really like movies like this. They are there for one reason, and one reason alone, to make you sweat. And holy hell did the first half of The Fall accomplish that! I sat with my heart in my throat, my palms sweating, and arrythmia from hell. Though that may have had something to do with the over-salted popcorn I was eating. I was in heaven.

This indie movie is a gem that only hit the cinema because test audiences loved it. Interestingly, the original had a lot more swearing, which makes sense. If I was about to fall 600 meters to my death I wouldn’t be screaming fudge. In fact, they removed over 30 F-bombs and had to use deep fake technology to make the actors’ mouths look right! Why would you do this? Well, that sweet PG-13 brings in more people. And it seems to have worked, as it’s budget of only $3mil brought in over $8.3mil*.

Two parts

You can break The Fall down into two parts. The first half is the tension and adrenalin section. The climbing of a 600m tower, the back drops and characters leaping into thin air takes your breath away. The sound score is also really well done, with some excellent use of silence.

The second part is far more introspective as you learn dark secrets about Hunter. Some spoilers ahead as I need to unpack just a few things about the ending. So be warned. I literally give you the ending!

While the first half does an excellent job at terrifying you, the second half calms down and chooses to go into an almost nightmare like dream. Hunter’s confession that she had an affair with Becky’s now deceased husband certainly doesn’t come as a shock. There are plenty of tells before. Hunter’s crying when his ashes are scattered. Her longing looks in the opening scene; I picked up on that well ahead of the reveal. Hunter’s death was well done but certainly nothing new. It’s almost identical to the movie 47 meters down. Becky hallucinates her friend’s presence so that she can do what she needs to do. And holy moly some of what comes in the second half is dumb.

I don’t know, what do you think?

Firstly, people, vultures do not attack! They are carrion birds, for gods sake! They feed off dead animals, or dead friends who have cheated on your dead husband. Not live humans with a cut that’s infected. The moment that started happening my suspension (heh) of disbelief was strained. We’re also given too many indicators that Hunter has died, which ruined it for me. I did like that the roles reverse with her passing. Becky starts taking more chances while Hunter’s ‘spirit’ seems more cautions. I liked that subtle shift because in a movie like The Fall, very little is subtle.

I was left absolutely baffled by the ending though. It just… stops. And Becky has been saved. How? How on earth was she saved? We’re left to figure that out while wondering why they didn’t use the opportunity to scare us witless with more vertigo, nightmare fuel.

For people who enjoy their heart beat increasing and their palms sweating, the first half of The Fall delivers. it also delivers two great performances from its leads. The second half, while interesting in its exploration of Becky and Hunter’s friendship, is a marked tonal shift from the first. And with an ending that makes little sense, it’s gets a a lower score than I would have liked to give.

7/10

*At the time of writing this