SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS // A FILM REVIEW OF "FALL"

BY MATEO MORENO

If you're the least bit afraid of heights, and hell, even if you're not, FALL will leave you breathless more than a few times. The new "stranded high in the air" thriller from the makers of 47 Meters Down is filled with more than a few cliches and is even downright silly sometimes. But somehow it still all works, and much of that is thanks to the assured performances of its two leads, Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner.

The premise is simple and to the point: Becky (Currey), her husband Dan (Mason Gooding) and their friend Hunter (Gardner) are mountain climbers and on their latest trip, tragedy strikes. Dan loses his grip and falls to his death. 51 weeks later we see Becky broken and in mourning, unable to do much more than stumble drunkenly out of a bar. Her father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) tries to connect with her and help her snap out of it, but she keeps stumbling along. That is, until Hunter finds her and wakes her up, convincing her that in order to be able to let go of Dan and to get over her fear, she needs to come with her and climb a 2,000 foot TV tower where they can scatter his ashes in the wind.

The two estranged friends decide to do it, head up the tower and push the past behind them. Hunter shares live footage at the beginning to her Instagram followers, showing them what a "thrill seeker" she is. However, once they make it up, the tower begins to break apart and the two are stranded at the top, with only one way to go. And it's a long way down. FALL works in spite of some story bumps and a rush past much character development. Both leads (Grace Caroline Currey & Virginia Gardner) give assured and exciting performances.

Director Scott Mann finds some very fun and scary things to go wrong for the girls as they try to find a way out of this. The cinematography by MacGregor gives us some thrilling and stunning moments and the fact that much of the film was actually filmed high up above a mountain gives this thriller an explosive edge that truly does feel dangerous. Sure, some of the dialogue isn't the best and as I said before, much of the backstories are skimmed by but it pieces together a thrilling time. Even the muddy third act has some bonkers moments that somehow work. FALL will keep your pulse rate up and make you thankful that you're watching this far down on the ground.

GRADE: B

WRITTEN BY Jonathan Frank, Scott Mann DIRECTED BY Scott Mann STARRING Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Mason Gooding, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. NOW PLAYING IN THEATRES. FOR MORE INFO: FALL