Sep 9, 20222 min read

FILM REVIEW: FALL (15) ESP RATING: 3.5/5

The premise of how two young ladies can get stuck up the top of a 2,000 feet high tower sounds absolutely ludicrous – but this is surprisingly entertaining in finding out why.

Even more so if you have a fear of heights – as this is a heart-racing experience – and that’s despite two major plot twists being telegraphed fairly easily to the movie-going initiated.

After the death of her husband Dan (Scream’s Mason Gooding) nearly a year ago, the still-grieving Becky (Shazam! star Grace Caroline Currey) gets enticed by her even-more extreme thrill-seeker – and YouTube-blogging – best friend Hunter (Halloween’s Virginia Gardner) to scale an abandoned radio tower in the middle of a desert.

With the ‘carrot’ of Dan’s ashes being launched off the top to honour him and the trio’s adrenaline junkie past, it’s not as really stupid as it sounds anymore – just more ‘standard’ stupid.

And said stupidity comes into play when the girls scale the 1,800 feet internal ladder with fairly minimal fuss – just don’t look down – but after they scale the 200-foot external ladder to the very top, it breaks away leaving them stranded on a small circular base with no way back.

Fortunately they have a few options – phones that may get a signal if dropped, and a drone in a back pack that has fallen 50 feet sitting on a satellite dish etc – before their sanity is truly tested with no food or water. Plus a few injuries thrown in for good measure too.

And for a film that is an hour and 45 minutes – where you’d think there’s only so much that could be done – it makes for a fairly well-crafted, high-octane, story-driven, pulse-pounding ride. Even if, as aforementioned, the script surprises can be seen coming from a mile off.

Think 47 Metres Down – just a bit more compelling and polished – in reverse, and that should give you a good idea of what this Fall is like.

ESP Rating: 3.5/5

Gavin Miller