Fall 2: Deadpoint

Directors: The Spiereg Brothers
Starring: Harriet Slater, Arsema Thomas, Tom Brittney, Virginia Gardner, Grace Caroline Currey
Running Time: 97 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)     

When Scott Mann's high altitude survival thriller Fall was released in 2022 and went on to become a sleeper hit, the sequel seemed almost inevitable. And it's hard to complain given the indelible mark it left, with certain shots, scenes and moments reverberating long after the credits rolled. And while this story about a pair of friends stranded atop a 2,000 foot radio tower in the desert may have contained some wild developments, it primarily succeeded as a bare bones physical and psychological test of wills. It was also spectacularly lensed, with vertigo inducing shots that  placed viewers alongside its protagonists on that tiny platform, looking down in terror. The scenario is tough to replicate, which is probably why the Spiereg Brothers wisely decided to take Fall 2: Deadpoint in a slightly different direction. 

With the tone and spirit of its predecessor still present, the first thing fans of the original will notice is how much more plot this follow-up contains. Whereas the previous film featured two fairly straightforward twists, this has a few more contentious ones that help establish it as a compulsively watchable B-movie with a capital "B." For some, that approach could be viewed as a downgrade, tempting them to write this off as a schlockier version of the original. And though it doesn't reach the metaphorical heights of its predecessor, it still manages to be a well acted, pulse pounding effort that accomplishes exactly what an action sequel should. 

After thrill seeking streamer Shiloh Hunter (Virginia Gardner) fell to her death following a treacherous tower climb with best friend Becky (Grace Caroline Currey), Shiloh's grieving younger sister Jax (Harriet Slater) is unnerved by the morbid attention her passing has received on social media. Devastated and struggling to move on, Jax meets up with Shiloh's friend Luce (Arsema Thomas) to sell her sister's recently recovered truck. But after finding Shiloh's scrapbook of future stunts and climbs, Luce convinces a very reluctant Jax to join her on a trip to Thailand where they'd attempt the extremely dangerous Mount Kwan plank walk.

While there, the two meet a non-native guide named Jon (Tom Brittney) who will take them for a pricey fee since the mountain is closed due to earthquake-related rock slides. After Luce agrees to foots the bill, she and Jax embark on the restricted, illegal climb when catastrophe strikes, leaving them stranded on the mountain on the side of the mountain with no possible route down. With the elements taking their toll and the possibility of rescue beginning to dwindle, they must find a way to survive as the clock rapidly runs out.

There's this early sequence that shows a montage of social media reactions to Shiloh's death, conveying the hysteria and idol worship surrounding the popular influencer we saw perish in the last film. It's a brief but clever narrative device that kicks off the plot and supplies us with a "blink and you'll miss it" meme that intentionally sparks the film's biggest laugh. But despite how creative Shiloh's performatively mournful "Fall-owers" are, it's no laughing matter for Jax, whose fractured relationship with Shiloh is sporadically shown through flashbacks. Plagued by guilt, the quiet, reserved Jax couldn't be more different than her daredevil sister, a dynamic that frequently caused personality clashes between them. 

Now more nervous and paralyzed by fear in the wake of Shiloh's tragedy, Mann and Jonathan Frank's script lets us determine whether Jax is exercising common sense by hesitating to go on this climb with Luce or it's just another reflection of her timid personality. The answer is probably a mix of both, but considering how Luce credits Shiloh for getting her to "face her fears" it makes sense she'd want to pay that forward to the little sister she left behind. Once they arrive it's clear Jax was right in categorizing this as a reckless endeavor made worse by their lack of experience. 

Luckily, the women have a competent tour guide in Jon, a total pro who appears to have the patience of a saint while showing them the "clip-in clip out" method for crossing the "Devil's Elbow" portion of the mountain. Similar to the previous film, there are a lot of close ups that foreshadow oncoming disaster, as loose bolts, slippery surfaces and rickety planks indicate the terror to come. And once the earthquake hits and rock slides start, all bets are off, with Jax and Luce suddenly left to fend for themselves. 

The setting is no radio tower but the Spieregs still find ways to make this situation a nail biter in its own right, as options for climbing down or summoning help dwindle with each broken rung, creating an increasingly perilous dilemma. We also know this series isn't above killing off one or both lead characters if need be, generating added tension as a result. And there are more than a few taughtly directed scenes that'll have viewers on the edge of their seats, especially a couple of sequences that see Jax and Luce free scaling the mountain in a risky, death defying attempt to reach a dangling, out of reach backpack. 

English actress and Emma Stone lookalike Harriet Slater carries her weight with a strong leading turn as Jax amid some really over-the-top circumstances. Besides possessing a great primal, anguished scream, she tracks Jax's evolution from ignored, insecure little sis to formidable badass overcoming her fears. As the driving force behind this trip, Luce isn't without her own baggage, enabling Arsema Thomas to effectively play her character's cards close to the vest. And though there's a long stretch where Jon's temporarily taken out of the picture, Tom Brittney keeps us wondering whether his knowledgeable tour guide is too good to be true. 

There's a major twist halfway through that seriously alters the climbers' plight and how they relate to each other moving forward. Then comes a less revelatory swerve that's followed by a bigger surprise audiences might take exception to, at least in regard to a certain character's reaction. Though given what we know about her judgment, this response actually makes a lot more sense than you'd initially assume. Really none of these developments come out of nowhere, with the seeds having been planted early on.

Piling on the drama without sacrificing white knuckle suspense, this continues what the last film started with clever call backs, exhilarating sequences and an intense performances. That the original's two leads both reappear and are incorporated well also help make this feel less like a cash-in than the continuation of an ongoing saga. Aside from lesser effects and maybe one narrative wrinkle too many, Fall 2 does capitalize on the previous entry's acrophobic premise, establishing itself as a worthy sequel in this recently announced trilogy. And if its closing minutes are any indication, we could already have a pretty good idea what's in store for the final chapter.  

Fall

Director: Scott Mann
Starring: Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Mason Gooding, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jasper Cole, Darrell Dennis
Running Time: 107 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Supposedly, the big pitch for Scott Mann's Fall was that it's Buried or The Shallows in reverse, with two women stuck atop a 2,000 foot tall radio tower in the desert. It's an intriguing comparison that could be either good or bad depending on your opinion of single location thrillers. But even as a self professed admirer of the subgenre, it's hard to be blind to their faults, mainly because most of them don't have enough ambition or new ideas to withstand multiple viewings. They're often the ultimate cinematic junk food, providing pulse pounding entertainment throughout, until you've forgotten about it a half hour after the credits roll. Whether it be a parking garage, swimming pool, ski lift, ATM booth or anything else you could envision being trapped on, under, or in, many of these entries get grouped in with the lowest level horror titles, unfairly or not. Few strive for more, which could come down to the script, budget or just not having the right talent behind the camera.

Fall is a fascinating case study in that for long stretches it actually distinguishes itself as wildly different, shot in a style that's legitimately terrifying and facilitates the story unfolding in front of us. Impressively walking a tightrope between being patently absurd and almost unbearably intense, it's probably best experienced on the largest IMAX screen possible, even if seeing it in that format could  be a vertigo-inducing nightmare for both acrophobiacs and those convinced they have no fear of heights. But while boasting a great concept and flirting with greatness, it occasionally succumbs to some of the pitfalls that have held back similar thrillers. And yet even taking that into account, this still gets the job done way better than most.  

Best friends Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner) are scaling a mountain with Becky's husband, Dan (Mason Gooding) when he suddenly loses his footing, falling to his death. Now nearly a year later, a depressed, alcoholic Becky has isolated herself from family and friends, including estranged but concerned father, James (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who never thought Dan was right for her. But when vlogging adrenaline junkie Hunter reemerges to invite Becky join her in climbing the decommissioned 2,000 foot B67 TV tower in the desert to move on from Dan's death, she very reluctantly agrees. 

Bringing Dan's ashes to scatter when they reach the top, a trembling Becky completes the treacherous climb with Hunter, but when the rusted ladder breaks off below them, they're stranded, looking 2,000 feet down. With no cell reception, food or water and fighting the elements, they come up with numerous plans to somehow signal for help, to no avail. Hours turn to days, and as weather changes and vultures smell blood, their prospects for survival rapidly dwindle. When panic sets in and tensions rise, they're faced with a perilous situation that's suddenly become insurmountable.

There's arguably more set-up than necessary to start, making you wonder how much tighter or different the film could have been if it began with the climb rather than the abundance of personal drama leading into it. But regardless of those scenes' execution, it's easy to understand why Mann and co-writer Jonathan Frank made this call considering the only alternative would probably be awkward flashbacks throughout that slow the action. The screenplay at least dispenses with the narrative background early and some of the later scenes do try to address the already lingering questions and plausibility issues present right out of the gate. 

Aspiring influencer Hunter's unhealthy obsession with them doing this seems to go far beyond views and likes or simply helping her friend get past a traumatic experience. And of course we wonder what Becky could gain from again putting herself in the type of scenario that killed Dan, only more dangerous. Even under the most optimistic circumstances, it seems she'd be better served by therapy instead, which is exactly what Hunter's treating this as. Becky's clearly in a dark place, not to mention a big bundle of petrified nerves who wouldn't exactly make the ideal partner for a death defying adventure. Luckily, whatever is lost in credibility, the film makes up for in suspense since you can literally feel her fear when she climbs up the rusted, rickety ladder as bolts fly off with each step.

It's a given that Hunter's social media obsession and the use of their cell phones will play a role once they're up there, but even that doesn't materialize quite as you'd expect. There's also a personal revelation of sorts that isn't exactly a huge surprise, but handled well enough to throw a compelling emotional wrench into the dynamic. But the real story is the stomach-churning cinematography from MacGregor and the performances of Currey and Gardner, both of whom bring their A games to what had to be physically demanding and draining roles. 

Currey turns any initial misgivings about the Becky character around quickly, emerging as a tough, sympathetic lead while Gardner goes all in as the wild girl, marking a stark departure from much of what she's previously done. Both of them undergo a believable transformation that does hold up despite the increasing incredulity of events. They really sell it, leading into a last act development we've seen before, but rarely executed as well. Mann sets the groundwork to pull it off in way that doesn't seem insulting or cheap, which is noteworthy considering how many similar titles have misplayed this same hand as a predictable story crutch. Working within the confines of a PG-13 rating, there's minimal gore, as vulture attacks are the closest it gets to flirting with horror, remaining a straight ahead survival film throughout.

After a somewhat underwhelming start, once the climb begins and the gravity of their predicament kicks into overdrive, the film soars, before eventually coming to more of a sudden stop than an end. Still, Mann's decision to utilize an actual tower rather than rely on green screens or digital sets is why this looks and feels so authentic, resulting in astonishing shots that will generate genuine discomfort and anxiety, bringing you right up there with them. Whatever CGI was used isn't a distraction and little of it looks fake or staged in the slightest, making it perplexing that the special effects were already being called out by some as below par before this was even released.

If Fall ever frustrates, it's mostly for the right reasons, knowing that it was probably just a few tweaks away from not being mentioned in the same breathe as the inferior titles it'll likely be compared to. But it's nonetheless a big success, even if at times the filmmakers involved don't seem fully aware of what they have, or more accurately, all it had the potential to be. Those moments it fulfills that promise make for a thrilling watch, provided you take slow, deep breathes and hold on.