You know, it's funny how some of the most interesting and compelling stories can emerge from the most simplistic of Concepts like a bunch of guys in a room have to make a collective decision (12 Angry Men/1957) or a group of people stuck on a Liveboat have to struggle to survive (Liveboat/1944). In this case, two climbers get stuck at the top of a tower and have to figure out a way to rescued.
Of course, that's just basic stuff, but even simple ideas can turn into something pretty special if they're well executed, which brings me neatly along to fall a high altitude low budget Thriller that caused a bit of a stir when it released on Netflix last year. It kind of passed me by at the time because I was too busy doing other things, but when I finally sat down to watch it a couple of days ago, I was genuinely impressed by how much mileage it manages to get out of such a basic concept, how neat and logical consistent the script is and how invested I became in the fate of the two leads.
Out of my sight this was a damn good movie that deserves a boit of attention here, so strap on your climbing boots and see you at the top. The movie begins with main character Becky free climb in what looks like El Capitan with her best friend Hunter and husband Dan and straight away, I knew they were in trouble because clearly William Shatner is the only human capable of such a Feats! Anyway it all goes tits up when Dan loses his grip and falls to his death. Oh NO, what a shame.😮 😲😱
Flash forward a year or so and Becky's become an alcoholic recluse consumed by grief shot away from her friends and estranged from her father, but that all changes when Hunter shows up one day and suggests that the two of them go on a little adventure together climbing an old decommissioned TV Tower and scattering Dan's ashes at the top. It's an opportunity for Becky to find some kind of closure by tackling her fear of climbing head on and finally letting go of Dan so that she can move on with her life.
She's not exactly thrilled at the prospect but eventually lets herself get talked into it and before you know it the two girls have driven out into the desert and made the 2000 foot climb to a narrow viewing platform at the top of the world's. Nice work, unfortunately their good luck doesn't last see it turns out that rusty old steel Tower that's been exposed to the elements for 50 years isn't exactly up to code and just as they're starting their descent, the access ladder collapses stranding both girls at the top with no way down and no cell phone reception at such a high altitude.
Hunter and Becky are trapped on a narrow exposed ledge just a few feet across, so basically the rest of the movie centers on their increasingly desperate attempts to raise the alarm and get rescued, but as the days passed their situation worsens hunger and thirst takes their toll and devastating personal Revelations to tear them apart.
As a viewer there's nothing worse than realizing you're way smarter than the actual characters in the story who make completely irrational decisions or fail to see obvious solutions to their predicament, so that the rest of the plot can happen, but fortunately that never really happens. Becky and Hunter are both smart, resourceful and capable individuals, rather than screaming and panicking at the first sign of trouble, they think things through logically and rationally, they examine different options and bounce ideas off each other, using trial and error to come up with workable Solutions.
Obviously their ideas don't always succeed, but you can at least understand the train of thought that led to them and sure they don't feel like they've been made artificially stupid just to service the plots. In fact, you get the sense that the writers made a real effort to cover all of the bases with this one, setting up rules and payoffs early on and sticking to them. A trick to draw vitally needed power from a light fixure is established as something that can be done near the start of the film even down to protecting your hands from the red holt bulb.
There's a neat little piece of foreshadowing for something that's going to Scupper the girl's plans near the climax and if you pay close attention from the midpoint onwards you may just notice little details that suggest all is not quite what it seems. Either way all of this is to say that the attention to detail here is surprisingly Goods! I mean, that's not to say the film scrimps on action either, there's plenty of death-defying moments where characters have to gamble everything to retrieve a vital piece of equipment or hang tight and battle against exhaustion to charge up a life-saving drone for example.
It's all made so much more impactful by the exellent cinematography, the weird contrast of gorgeous open Landscapes all around and the terrifying claustrophobia of their actual situation. Rather than resort to green screens and CGI most of the movie was filmed on actual locations and it shows it feels like the actors are really there because well they are. All of this stuff would be nothing if the film couldn't get us root for the characters and this is another big advantage of fall!
Becky and Hunter are both sharply defined nicely contrasted and inteligently written playing neatly off against each other as their conflicting personalities and murky personal history causes friction between them. Hunter is a Brash confident Daredevil always looking for the next Big Thrill and always pushing Becky to her limits, even slightly Beyond them at times, whereas Becky starts out broken timid and easily spooked and has to battle hard to overcome her fears and weaknesses as the movie progresses.
Both of these complete different women are despite their differences likable and most importantly believable, either you really feel for them as they risk their life to try different plans only to get crushed and disappointed again and again and by the end I was practically willing to watch Becky to make a long tortuous climb or a death-defying descent onto a tenuous footholds. Unbelievable, a modern likable relatable and realistically strong female characters played by actresses that actually look like women instead of skinny androgynous 12 year old boys, that they could make such a modern and yet good movie in this lifetime is nothing less than a miracle considering this combination!
Next like I said, earlier the premise to fall is a simple one and the resulting plot isn't exactly complex either, but it doesn't matter because I don't need it to be! What I needed to do is give me some people that I care about, put them in danger and have me genuinely questioning whether they'll make it out and it does of that perfectly well!
Ultimately "Fall" is a well-witten well-crafted and gripping Story of Survival against the odds that kept me thoroghly entertained for its lean and mean runtime and if you happen to have missed it when it came out last year, then I thoroughly recommend you give it a shot now.
Just don't blame me if you end up terrified of heights after this.
That one wasn't bad actually.... 📽️🎞️