(from left) Grace Caroline Currey as Becky and Virginia Gardner as Hunter in Fall.Photo: Lionsgate
You’ve seen these videos on social media. Click-driven lunatics dangling from cliffs, sticking their tongues out at the camera and yelling “Wuuuuu! They grimace, maybe even moan, and then share it themselves with a proper “Oh fuck no!”
This is autumn. Fall is Oh, Hell No: The Movie, and it’s as addicting as any of those disgusting videos you instantly showed someone on your phone. To his great regret, this critic saw it at home and not in front of a sold-out theater that cried “uh-uh!” back on screen. But even on the couch, with the ability to pause, it reaches heights (ha!) of quintessential B-movie greatness and induces exactly the kind of discomfort that verbal reprimands evoke.
Fall stars Grace Caroline Currey as Becky, a (former) mountaineer who is still in mourning after her husband falls to his death before her eyes. Virginia Gardner (also there that day) is Hunter, a daredevil YouTuber who, almost a year after the accident, is determined to get her pal back on his feet.
TO WATER
Jasper Cole
Dog walker Dan
Hunter has located a disused TV tower in the middle of nowhere – essentially a giant, rusty ladder to nowhere. It’s more than twice the height of the Eiffel Tower, and Hunter convinced Becky to climb it, snap some Instagram photos, scatter the dead man’s ashes, and live, really live.
It doesn’t take long for things to go horribly wrong. Outfitted in story-relevant padded bras and tank tops (“tits for clicks!” Hunter exclaims, which doesn’t really rhyme), the two young women push their way up inch by inch and then find themselves at over 2,000 feet caught in the air again the ladder collapses. It’s nothing but a smooth pole all the way to the bottom, their phones don’t work, they don’t have much water and they have to rush a bit too. What’s a girl supposed to do?!?
Screenwriters Jonathan Frank and Scott Mann (the latter also directed) pull task after task out of thin air, each of which at first appears to be their salvation. (Many of them also take off their socks and shoes or other clothing to tell stories. What a picture!) It’s a great example of the cinema of aggravation: you have to reach X, but before they can do that, you have to do Y, but while that’s happening, Z comes out of nowhere to cause a stir.
Not only does every attempt to get her off that giant stupid pole fail, it fails in the most heartbreaking way. Each gruesome twist trumps the previous one, like watching a football team elegantly set up a shot, only to have it parried by a wondrous goalkeeper. It’s hilarious. There are also vultures that keep circling, eager to peck at a wound on Becky’s leg, which is bleeding through her absurdly tight pants.
Fall is co-produced by two righteous showmen named James Harris and Mark Lane, who brought us another delightfully idiotic survival film in 2017’s 47 Meters Down. If you remember, this movie sent two attractive young women (also looking for Instagram pics) to the bottom of the sea surrounded by a shark all hopping on mate. Imagine Harris and Lane, feet up on desk, cigars in mouth. “Okay, we sent two beauties down deep, now what to do?” “I get it! Send them up!” “Brilliant! Do you want Thai?” “Nah, I had Thai yesterday.” “But you love Thai!” “Okay, you want to order Thai, let’s order Thai, I make no fuss.”
Official Fall Trailer (2022)
Yuks aside, fall really is pleasant work—if you let it. There are some things that don’t quite make sense. (My wife was sure to catalog them as we watched the film.) If Hunter is such an accomplished adventurer, why is she wearing Converse sneakers? It’s getting cold in the desert; Wouldn’t they freeze at night? A tower like this certainly doesn’t need a lightbulb – and who the hell changes the lightbulbs up there? And what normal person gives a “Just be you!” cheer to a YouTuber after days without food or water on a giant pole in the middle of nowhere?
The film’s two leads certainly win points for their efforts, but their attempts to sell the few moments of heavy drama draw giggles. There’s a bit of Reese Witherspoon about Virginia Gardner, although it feels like the character calls for more of a “roller derby” look. Whether this results in a refreshingly unorthodox toss or feels like a round pin and square hole situation is open to debate. What’s really surprising is the very last choice a character makes near the end of the movie, which no one will see coming, especially with the movie’s PG-13 rating. But for an audience looking for some loud fun — one that’s getting something like that on opening weekend — fall will drive them crazy.