Fall (Theatrical and Uncut Version) [Blu-ray]

Fall is directed by Scott Mann who also wrote the script with Jonathan Frank. The DVD has an audio commentary from which I have culled some technical information.The plot: incredibly simple, three climbers, Becky (Grace Caroline Curry), her husband, played by Mason Gooding, and her best friend Hunter (Virginia Gardner), are climbing a rock-face, when the husband falls to his death. Not surprisingly Becky goes into free-fall (no pun intended), and drinks a lot, aggravating her already strained relationship with her father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who did not like her deceased husband.51 weeks later, Hunter shows up, with the proposal that they scatter the husband's ashes from the top of a 2,000 ft radio mast - in order to bring closure, not just for Becky, but Hunter as well and reactivate Becky's love of climbing. They successfully climb the tower, which consists of three sections, the first a triangular structure, with an internal ladder, then a round pillar to which the radio antennae are attached, with an external ladder, leading to a small platform, on top of which is a 30' pole on top of which is a warning light to alert aircraft. They scatter the ashes and attempt to climb down which causes the corroded ladder to the column to fall away, trapping them 2,000 ft above ground - Becky's back-pack falls off and is caught in one of the antenna, 50 or so feet below them. it holds their water and the remote control for the drone they have been flying. The action sequences for the rest of the film are the consequence of their attempts to use their mobile phones to alert anyone of the danger they are in, to get their water and the remote control for the drone. They are experienced climbers, they do not panic but they are making decisions in extremis - they are fallible and they make mistakes.Much more important is what you learn about the two women and what they learn about each other, confined on a 3' platform. This film could so easily just become another Hollywood film where "women are driving the narrative", where they "have agency" and are "strong and independent". In other words they could have been given the emotional depth of cardboard cut-outs. To begin with, although men are almost completely absent from the film, Becky is defined by her relationship with her dead husband and with her father - she has sacrificed the one for the other. Hunter is an adrenaline junky. She lives for extreme thrills and pushes Becky as far as she can physically and emotionally go. She also lives for and through her internet blog: in which she depicts her life as one of boundless adventure seeking and excitement. She uses the drone to complete a blog at the top of the mast (to publish later as there is no signal). As the film progresses the viewer realises that she is defined by her audience (which I guess is mainly men). She pulls her tee-shirt lower and tells Becky this is "click-bait". The climb actually meets Hunter's emotional needs as Becky's. Hunter is also bereaved and she is where she is because of the dead husband and Becky is there because of Hunter. This puts their relationship under considerable strain.A theme running through the film is that technology in itself does not solve problems. The mast is in itself superannuated technology - it is rusting away and serves as a roost for vultures. At 2,000 ft their phones do not send signals and the drone is not able to alert the outside world. After trying to use Hunter's phone (they do not know whether it was able to send a signal), there is no response and Becky says caustically to Hunter, "perhaps your 60,000 followers are not bothered". It is not just the technology that lets them down - so do the only humans who pass by, and their sisterhood breaks down.There is a twist that I did not see coming (indeed I thought everything that happened thereafter was impossible, which is why I listened to the audio-commentary - however on viewing the replay the last part of the film is possible).A final word about how the film was made. It was costed at $2 million dollars, but ran significantly over - on a limited cinema release it made $21 million. The main reason for the overspend was the coronavirus lock-down, which trapped Becky in California and her father in Carolina - meaning their scenes had to be shot in two locations using body doubles and splicing (if we splice anymore). The mast is replicated by building three towers, the top 30', a 50' and 100', on top of a mountain - meaning that the visual back-drop is prospectively correct. Drones were used for the vertical and panoramic shots and were often operated by the actors (it is harder to fly a drone towards something than away from something - hence a lot of the drone shots are in reverse). The three actors are all reasonably competent climbers so they do most of the action themselves with the guidance of some professional free-climbers. Grace Currey is also a trained dancer and physically climbs the 30' mast in close to 'real-time'. Apart from coronavirus the film overshot because extreme changes in weather - much of it was so hot that the actresses could only work in 20 minute stints and on other days storms blew through. one scene is filmed during one of these storms. No one was allowed to climb the mock masts when the wind was in excess of 20 mph - which it often was. CGI is used mainly to remove the safety wires and any free-climbers supporting the actresses and I guess the vertical shots which show the 'whole' tower. It also had to be used to fake lip movement when the studio insisted that the numerous F-words were removed and replaced by 'freking'. I have seen the CGI criticised, but it was good enough for me - after all the tower is not moving around and pretending to Kung-Fu fight!Most importantly, despite their failings I think most viewers will like these two and want them to survive.

The first thing to say about Fall is that it's well worth watching. The film is exciting, the acting is more than adequate and there is a neat twist that I didn't spot coming. I soon realised, though, that similar twists have been used in other movies which I won't name, so as not to give anything away.In short, 2 young female climbers decide to scale a disused 2,000ft high TV mast in the Mojave desert on the one-year anniversary of a personal tragedy. When events take a turn for the worse they need to figure out a way of summoning help or getting down from the top of the mast. Their attempts are ingenious and resourceful with mixed results. All the time their water is running out and they have no food. If you're scared of heights then be aware that the effects are terrifyingly evoked and it's edge-of-the-seat stuff.A really solid film which left me asking just two questions at the end. 'Fraid I can't say what my questions are in case I reveal too much. Highly recommended viewing.

Two twenty something girls looking for adventure decided to climb to the top of an old long abandoned television transmitter tower; a good half mile into the sky. It's old, it's rusting and they have not bothered to tell anyone where they are going. Why the tower's owners did not take down part of the lower ladder to prevent this sort thing from happening is anyone's guess. So they get to the top and, you can see this coming, the entire rusty ladder collapses leaving these two trapped at the top with no way down. Stuck in the middle of a desert with the nearest civiliasation (a diner) a good few miles away. The days are hot with sun blazing down, and vultures circling awaing their next meal, and the nights are freezing cold. How are they going to survive with just about 50 ft of rope, a little food and a small drone to take selfies at the top of the tower. This is a real nail-biter of a movie, with the added delight of a twist in the middle that you will simply not see coming and puts a whole new perspective on their situation. The Blu Ray contains both the theatrical cut, the potty-mouth uncensorered cut, a director's commentary and a good in-depth making of featurette. I thoughly enjoyed all of this. Excellent.

Absolutely terrifying.

Fall is a great and frighteningly realistic horror/thriller that will give you edge of the seat anxiety like few other movies, its a survival movie, but not like the usual ones of airplane crashes or being stranded out in water.Made on $3M budget the director does a great job, and with perfect filming, visuals and acting, it is added to my all time favorites list. Highly recommended.

This was mostly great. The major part of the film was hugely suspenseful, particularly if you have a thing about heights, and my heart was in my mouth at several key moment.Where I felt the film fell down (no pun intended) was towards the end, and I thought that the 'big twist' was a little unbelievable. I don't want to give any spoilers, but come on, could that have really all happened in the way it did? And the thing with the ring?!And Jeffrey Dean Morgan was... Well, the two girls could teach him a thing or two about acting.

This is a brilliantly shot film and the actors, all young people, played their parts well. It is extremely tense! You might think the idea is a one-trick pony but no, the thrills keep coming! The only reason I've given 4 stars instead of 5 is that I was so anxious ALL the way through the film, my toes felt like they were curling and would never straighten again 😢 so for that reason I really can't say I enjoyed it. (Mind you, I've always hated heights.)I recommend this to anyone who wants to be on the edge of their seat and uncomfortable throughout!