
Fall - Fall( VOD) [Signature Entertainment - 2022]Fall is a largely taut ‘n’ tight modern thriller set 2,000 feet up in the air. It features moments of heart-lurching suspense, some effective enough plot twists, and later on moments of gruelling gritty-ness. The film finds two female climbing buddies deciding to scale an isolated radio tower- which pushes both their lives and friendship right to the limit. Here from Signature Entertainment is a VOD release of the film. Fall is a 2022 film, and it was directed by Scott Mann. In total, he has four feature-length credits to his name, as well as a selection of shorts & US TV episodes. His feature-length films have taken in the likes of businessmen betting on assassins thriller The Tournament (2009), robbing a casino thriller featuring Robert De Noir Heist (2015), and the british-Americain action film Final Score (2018). The film opens with a huge, towering cliff face, and halfway up this we have thirty-something husband and wife climbers Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Dan (Mason Gooding). Off nearer the top is the pairs devil may care buddy Shiloh (Virginia Gardener). Both Dan and Becky are seemingly safely roped up, while Shiloh is climbing rope-free. Dan suddenly slips, his seemingly tight rope failing- and he descends to his death. We fast forward a year or so, and Becky is a bit of a mess- drinking too much, with seemingly little or nothing to live for. Her greyly bearded father James (Jeffery Dean Morgan) tries to help- but Becky just pushes him away. One night after the bar she’s pondering suicide- when her phone rings, and it’s Shiloh- who she hasn’t seen since the accident. Shiloh sets down at Becky’s apartment- trying to brighten up her friend with an idea she has, climbing the B67 TV tower- a 2,000-foot structure that’s been abandoned, and sits in the middle of Mojave Desert. Initially, she refuses, but her friend badgers her & she gives in. Shiloh has a danger girl Youtube channel, and hopes to stream the climb. The pair head towards the tower- finding a no-trespass gate a few miles from it, so they have to hike there arriving mid-morning. The pair start the climb, and aside from Becky’s nerves, and the clearly rundown/ rusty tower structure all seems to be going well. But of course, things go seriously wrong, with the pair getting stuck near the top of the tower- having to either find a way down or alert others to their predicament. Both female leads are good in their roles- with Currey playing the damaged and troubled Becky who’s trying to get her mojo back, and Gardener the blond ‘n’ loud taking risks danger girl. The film runs at the one hour and forty-five-minute mark- and it does take around half-an-hour or so for the tension/ suspense to kick in, but after that, it nicely maintains and builds. I, of course, won’t detail too much of what happens, but we get both nicely dramatic moments and of course edge of the seat suspense scenes. For the most part, you are totally sold that they are 2’000 feet up above Mojave Desert. Fall is most certainly more of a modern mainstream thriller, though as we move towards its conclusion, we do get a few moments of gritty-ness and fleeting gruelling violence- but things never gets too extreme. With that in mind I’d say it will certainly appeal to a wider market, and if you get a kick out of tense thrillers with some great heart-lurching suspense/ action- then Fall will most certainly appeal. Sure, there’s not a huge amount of depth here, and I’m not sure if I re-watch it. But as a one-watch pulse bounding and vertigo induce thrill ride, it’s great!.      Roger Batty
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