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‘Fall’: a simple survival thriller that will make your stomach drop

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If you have a fear of heights, perhaps remember to wear diapers when watching this low-budget but effective flick about two women trapped atop a tower.

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Free Malaysia Today
Trapped atop a 600m-tall tower, two women are forced to use their wits and strength to survive their ordeal. (Lionsgate pic)

It appears to be a trend in survival films that the protagonists have to make the same ol’ mistakes to get the plot rolling. Here’s a piece of advice, dear characters: next time, tell someone where the heck you are going, and make sure they contact the authorities if you don’t return after a specific time!

Of course, a safe and quick rescue from peril isn’t particularly engaging movie material. Films of this genre require their characters to not make the brightest decisions; their lack of common sense is what ups the entertainment factor.

And the entertainment factor is raised waaaay up – literally! – in “Fall”, a film that preys on one of humanity’s most common fears: heights, or acrophobia. Directed by fledgling British filmmaker Scott Mann, this thriller has a relatively simple premise with deadly repercussions.

Having lost her husband Dan to a climbing accident, adrenaline junkie Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) is invited by her best friend on an expedition to scale the 600m-tall B67 communications tower. Hunter (Virginia Gardner) has good intentions, wishing to raise Becky’s spirits and also help her overcome her trauma and grief.

Despite her initial reluctance, Becky relents and, together, they slowly but successfully make their way to the top. It’s no small feat for an edifice that is twice the height of the Eiffel Tower!

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Hunter, Becky’s best friend, is a wannabe YouTuber who records her exploits to upload onto her channel. Oh, Becky. (Lionsgate pic)

Disaster, of course, inevitably strikes: the ladder they just ascended collapses, leaving the pair stranded on a tiny platform with no means of calling for help. Thus begins a battle for survival, forcing the women to use their wits and strength to stay alive atop their perilous perch.

“Fall” does a great job at playing on the natural human wariness of elevated spaces. High-angle shots frequently show just how far beneath their feet the earth is, with the characters and audience afforded soaring – and terrifying – views of the surrounding desert.

Several effective scenes have the ladies forced to dangle precariously, gasping and screaming. There’s some good cinematography at work here, and viewers are likely to slink down low in their seats, petrified at the thought of a single mistake causing them to plunge to their deaths.

Mann also does a good job at building tension even before the characters reach the top of the tower. With each step, the audience is shown the structure is clearly unsafe, the ladder bound to give away at any point.

But Becky and Hunter, bless them, do not know this – so you’re left biting your nails to the quick as the metallic creaks and groans grow ever louder.

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Effective cinematography escalates the tension as the characters are placed in an extremely precarious position. (Lionsgate pic)

As it turns out, the danger lies not only in the possibility of falling – dehydration proves to be an issue, and even vultures.

Harkening back to the topic of questioning choices made by characters, one has to simply accept that people in these films have to behave the way they do for the sake of story.

Thankfully, Currey and Hunter play off each other well and are not irritating as such, even if “Fall” does rely on well-worn tropes: why must two female best friends, caught in a precarious predicament, have some sort of secret beef against each other?

There’s even a rather unnecessary, albeit plausible, plot twist at the end. Oy.

Also, the dialogue between the pair tends to come across as a little – unpanicked?… not realistically encapsulating how terrifying their situation really is. Perhaps the deepfake-style tech utilised in the film to mask the actors’ swear words has something to do with this!

Still, nobody with an ounce of decency will root for gravity to emerge victorious against these two. As a result, this low-budget thriller, with its US$3 million (RM13.4 million) budget, is a heart-pounding, satisfying watch – though try to stop yourself from thinking they should’ve just packed parachutes.

‘Fall’ premieres in Malaysian cinemas on Thursday.

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