Fall: Neon NZ Movie Review

Cast: Virginia Gardener, Grace Caroline Currey, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Director: Scott Mann

Attempting to tap into the claustrophobia and tension of the likes of the trapped survival genre demonstrated in films such as Open Water and The Shallows, Fall casts a vertiginous eye over proceedings.

Best friends and adrenaline junkies Becky (Currey) and Hunter (Gardener) reunite one year after Becky's husband Dan is killed in a fall from a mountain. With Becky spiralling deeper into grief, aspiring Youtuber and self-confessed "tits for clicks" Instagrammer Hunter shows up unexpectedly and twists Becky's arm into climbing a 2,000 foot tall isolated structure in the middle of the desert to "kick fear in the dick."

Initially against the idea, Becky comes around and the two make their ascent. But after they arrive at the top, their only route down disappears and suddenly they're trapped with seemingly no possible hope of escape...

Fall stretches its premise about as far as it can go - but director Mann makes great fist of the journey, plying Becky with grief, dad issues and depression, while making sure Hunter is the polar opposite, a bubbly perky thrillseeker.

With swirling drone shots, rattling bolts and whistling winds as well as vultures, Fall makes a strong case for tension and suspense, even when it injects some unnecessary melodrama into proceedings in the form of a secret when the pair are trapped high above.

But ironically for a film set 2,000 feet above ground, Fall keeps things surprisingly grounded with its two leads - even if others who appear seem to act wildly uncharacteristically. 

At times, there's some awfully clunky dialogue between the pair ("I have to keep my blood pumping, so I may as well monetise it" being the most glaring example), but the genre is well explored and exploited. 

There's no denying shaving a 15 minute chunk of the film would have made for a more taut and terrifying experience without some of the dialogue flaws and character moments feeling occasionally padded.

Sure, the duo is reckless and will leave you shouting at their idiocy (not telling anyone where they're going, not planning for any apparent issues)and the redemption ending feels a little like cheating, but Fall's ride is largely well worth scaling the heights for.