For best friends Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner), life is all about conquering fears and pushing limits. But after they climb 2,000 feet to the top of a remote, abandoned radio tower, they find themselves stranded with no way down. Now Becky and Hunter’s expert climbing skills will be put to the ultimate test as they desperately fight to survive the elements, a lack of supplies, and vertigo-inducing heights.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
If you want to watch “Fall” spoiler-free, I would suggest stopping now and returning after watching the film. The trailer for “Fall” looked exciting; Two girls trapped at the top of a 2,000-foot radio tower with no way down piqued my curiosity enough that I wanted to see how they would eventually survive. Sadly, instead of continuing to tell the two girls’ story of overcoming all odds, they suddenly add a surprise twist that comes out of nowhere and deflates the movie and, in many ways, destroys much of the hard work that was invested early on.
As the film begins, best friends Becky (Grace Caroline Currey), Shiloh (Virginia Gardner), and Becky’s husband Dan (Mason Gooding) are climbing a mountain when an accident occurs, and Dan loses his life. Cut to a year later, Becky is depressed and drinking heavily, avoiding her father James’ (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) worried phone calls when out of the blue, Shiloh appears and asks Becky to climb with her the decommissioned 2,000-foot B67 TV tower in the Arizona desert a few hours from where they live. Initially reluctant after the climbing accident a year earlier, she agrees, and both girls head out into the desert.
At the location, they begin their ascent of the fragile and disintegrating tower. Once at the top, Becky scatters Dan’s ashes, but when they attempt to climb back down, the decaying ladder breaks apart, leaving both girls stranded at the very top on a narrow platform that can barely support them. Trapped with no way down and no cell phone coverage, the girls must utilize their climbing experience to devise a plan or risk dying at the top of the world.
Director and co-writer Scott Mann creates a very believable scenario about two girls trying to move on with their lives after a tragic accident, and a 2,000-foot radio tower is not too far-fetched. You see them strewn across the country everywhere you look, and he shoots the film, for the most part, practically, and it pays off, leaving those with a fear of Acrophobia probably wishing they had watched something else instead.
The issue I had was with a plot twist that appears in the third and final act of the movie. As I stated earlier, I will talk a little about it, so if you don’t want the movie spoiled, read no further. After several failed attempts to climb down the tower, the two girls gradually succumb to the effects of starvation and thirst and resign themselves to the fact that they are not going to survive. Out of the blue, in a coherent moment, Becky realizes that Shiloh is dead, lying on an antenna fifty feet below and has been for a day or more, so everything we witnessed up to this point all happened in her head. It felt like a cheap plot device designed to stupefy the audience; instead, it had the opposite effect. I felt it was unjustifiable, a false excuse at a last-minute attempt at dramatic exposition. The film was working fine up to this point, and while some might have no issue with it, I thought it was unwarranted.
Ultimately, “Fall” is an enjoyable picture with adrenaline-filled camerawork and death-defying stuntwork. If you are afraid of heights, I might skip this one, otherwise, take a chance and hold your breath; I know I did once or twice.
Now available on Digital HD and on Blu-ray™ + Digital & DVD October 18th
