Film Review — Fall
Scott Mann’s high concept survival thriller features predictable character arcs trumped by agreeably anxiety-inducing vertiginous suspense
Fall, Scott Mann’s nerve-shredding survival thriller, is an impressive piece of work, well worth catching on a big screen to optimise Miguel “MacGregor” Olaso’s vertiginous CGI-assisted IMAX cinematography. This enjoyably anxiety-inducing piece of spectacle is held together by B-movie character arcs and plot developments one can see coming a mile off. But if you’re looking for an edge-of-the-seat, adrenaline-pumping night at the cinema, this certainly delivers the goods.
A year on from a Free Solo-esque rock climbing tragedy, best friends Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner) plan an expedition to the top of a 2,000-foot disused radio tower due for demolition. It stands in the middle of the Mojave Desert, with clear signs warning to keep out, danger of death, and so forth. It looks rusted to smithereens, with a rickety ladder that has rightly been condemned. The night before they climb, Becky has unsettling dreams, and on the ground beneath the tower, they happen upon vultures feasting on a still-living animal. Yet still these adrenaline junkie nitwits ignore the omens, in Hunter’s hellbent determination to get Becky to face her fears.
