Becky: “Life is fleeting. Life is short, too short. So you gotta use every moment. You have to do something that makes you feel alive, and that shit, that would spread that message far and wide.”
Made for a very, very reasonable budget of only three million dollars, co-writer and director Scott Mann’s Fall (2022) became not only a minor box office success, grossing just over eighteen million dollars, but is also a film that is not for anyone who might be suffering from acrophobia – also known as a fear of heights.
Following twenty-something Becky Connor (Grace Caroline Currey), she was an avid rock climber until the day her husband Dan (Mason Gooding) fell to his death while on one of their climbing trips with fellow enthusiast Shiloh Hunter (Virginia Gardner).
While Shiloh has become an even bigger adventure junkie, doing it all for the fame and fortune of social media clicks, Becky has instead fallen into a deep depression for the last year, something her caring father James (Jeffrey Dean Morgan – The Losers) has become very alarmed by.
Teetering on suicidal, all Becky does each day is contemplate the act while getting drunk in a seedy bar or cloistering herself in her dirty apartment with Dan’s ashes – which still remain in the same cardboard box she received them in all that time ago.
As fate would have it, the traveling Shiloh returns to her door with an idea that her friend needs to conquer her fears by doing a similar type of climb, except this time up a gargantuan 2000 foot tall tv tower that stands as the fourth highest structure in the United States. Extremely reluctant, Becky is eventually convinced, despite the avolition that has gripped her for the last year.
Telling no one of their upcoming venture, upon arriving in the middle of the desert, Becky is shocked at how much taller and more rickety it looks than even she could have imagined. Will Becky overcome her growing fears and follow her friend to the top of the tower? If so, is this even a wise move by either of the women? While together, what secrets will the two find out about themselves and the other?
A movie not for the faint of heart. . . especially if you don’t like heights, though rather simple in its narrative structure, Fall succeeds in making palms sweat thanks to its harrowing, if foolhardy task. Shot in a very clever way, instead of using massive amounts of green screen and CGI, the film team built the top of the structure upon a mountain in the desert, so all the vistas appear to be mile high (despite never being more than one hundred feet off the ground). . . which also allowed the cast to perform most of their own stunts on camera – feeling a bit like some of the camera tricks used by Harold Lloyd while filming the silent classic Safety Last (1923).
Also, despite being rather simple in its structure, Mann and fellow co-writer Jonathan Frank are able to throw in a few twisty surprises over its one hour and forty-seven minute runtime – much needed so that it doesn’t become a flash in the pan premise. It must also be noted that all the ladies have with them are rope and other climbing equipment, some water, their cell phones (which don’t work well in the desert), a drone, as well as stumbling upon a pair of binoculars and an old flare gun. . . in other words, not very much.
A most unique and thrilling watch featuring well chosen camera shots and angles as well as stunning cinematography, Fall has not only become a bit of a cult film, but was successful enough to spawn a sequel that will feature new characters but follow a similar premise. Expected in September 2026, Mann and Frank write again, while the former also joins the production team and will direct an already in the works third feature – exciting news for fans of the original. It is also worth noting that if you’re an old school wrestling fan, you’ll certainly like some of the references throughout – one of the more hidden examples being Becky’s ring tone for her father being tag team The Road Warriors’ theme song ‘What a Rush’. So, fight for this high reaching low budget film, it’s worth the scale.