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5 Reasons Fall 2 Can't Be A Direct Sequel

Fall: 10 movies that used their locations as plot devices, 8 recently announced movie sequels we're shocked are actually happening.

• The ending of the 2022 movie Fall movie leaves some questions unanswered and has ambiguous deeper meanings, adding to the intensity and suspense of the story.
• By the ending of Fall it's revealed that Becky is hallucinating, and that Hunter is dead for most of the movie — after her fall, she does not catch the backpack and climb back up.
• The tower in Fall is based on a real tower in the California desert and was specifically constructed for the film, creating a desolate backdrop that reflects the characters' isolation and loss of hope.

The Fall movie ending provides a nail-biting climax to an intense, high-altitude story of survival that leaves some questions unanswered and some deeper meanings ambiguous. Fall revolves around a grieving mountain climber named Becky whose husband Dan fell to his death. A year later, her friend Hunter proposes climbing to the top of a decommissioned 2,000-foot TV tower to scatter his ashes, and Becky agrees in the hope that it will help her to move on. However, they ironically end up fighting for their own lives when they’re stranded at the top with dwindling hope of survival.

While it earned an admirable $21 million at the box office (via The Numbers ), Fall didn’t really take off until it arrived on streaming a few months later. Fall was a surprise hit on the small screen, pulling in so many viewers that a Fall sequel has been confirmed . The way the Fall movie ending brings its story to a conclusion with Becky taking charge and figuring out a way to save herself is a satisfying end to a vertigo-inducing ride — however, it's the shocking twist that ensured Fall became so widely discussed.

Fall is available to stream on Starz

Fall True Story & Real-Life Inspiration Revealed

Netflix's Fall tells the story of two women who find themselves trapped at the top of a 2,000ft TV tower - but is the film actually based in reality?

How Long Is Becky Trapped On The Tower?

Becky is stranded 2000ft above the ground for around a week in fall.

While Fall doesn’t provide an exact timeframe for Becky’s ordeal on the TV tower, it’s pretty easy to work out. She’s on the tower for long enough to become delirious from hunger and dehydration. After the drone is destroyed and Becky loses hope of being saved, it takes her a few days of no food and water to finally realize Hunter is dead.

The day after Becky realizes that Hunter didn't survive, Becky is attacked by a vulture that she kills and eats to regain some of her strength. By the time Becky is saved by emergency services in the Fall movie ending, she’s spent around a week on the tower.

What Does Hunter's Tattoo Mean?

The 1-4-3 tattoo in fall reveals that dan had cheated on becky with hunter.

During their first night on the tower, after Hunter’s car is stolen, Becky notices a tattoo on Hunter’s ankle that ends up revealing a four-month affair that Hunter had with Dan before Becky married him. The tattoo features the numeric phrase, “1-4-3.” Becky instantly connects these numbers to Dan because he used to use “1-4-3” to tell Becky he loved her.

Hunter reveals that she and Dan had been having a secret affair behind Becky's back.

Since “1-4-3” was Dan’s obscure way of telling Becky he loved her, Becky immediately deduces that he must’ve used the same line on Hunter to warrant the tattoo. Hunter reveals that she and Dan had been having a secret affair behind Becky's back. This is why Hunter volunteers to retrieve the backpack — it's partially to try and make amends. Unfortunately, Becky cannot bring herself to forgive Hunter, and the 1-4-3 tattoo causes a rift between the two friends that is never resolved, as Hunter dies before the Fall movie ending.

Here are the five biggest reasons Fall 2 cannot be a direct sequel to 2022’s Fall and why it should start afresh with a new story and characters.

Is The Tower From Fall Real?

The tower becky and hunter climb is fictional, but based on a real structure.

Fall isn’t based on a true story, but the 2,000-foot TV tower that Becky and Hunter get stuck on is based on a real tower in the California desert. It has a fictitious name and purpose in the film, but the filmmakers were inspired by the real-life KXTV/KOVR radio tower (via Digital Spy ). Also known as the Sacramento Joint Venture Tower, this broadcast tower can be found in Walnut Grove next to a Doppler weather radar station. Standing at 2,049 feet tall, KXTV/KOVR tower is the tallest structure in California.

The tower seen in the film was constructed specifically for the production at the top of a mountain to create the illusion that the actors were at a higher altitude than they actually were

The tower seen in the Fall was constructed specifically for the production at the top of a mountain to create the illusion that the actors were at a higher altitude than they actually were (via Radio Times ). But the shooting took place in California, the same state where the real tower is located. This location was crucial to creating the vertigo-inducing visuals of Fall . The California desert provided a desolate wasteland as the backdrop to symbolically reflect Becky and Hunter’s isolation and their gradual loss of hope as rescue seems more and more unlikely.

Why Did The Campers Not Help Becky And Hunter?

The campers symbolize that nature isn't the only danger.

When Becky and Hunter realize they’re stranded at the top of the tower with no chance of escape, one of the first things they find is a flare gun. Since they only have one flare, they only have one chance of alerting potential rescuers to their presence, so they don’t want to use it until they know someone will definitely see it. On the first night, they hope some campers in the desert will spot them. Just as the campers are getting ready to call it a night, Becky and Hunter shoot the flare into the sky.

Becky and Hunter face threats from gravity, harsh weather, and birds of prey — but other human beings can be just as cruel and uncaring.

The flare catches the campers’ attention as intended, but they don’t save Becky and Hunter. When the campers see the flare and realize the owners of the nearby vehicle are trapped on the tower, they see it as an opportunity to steal their car. This spirit-crushing scene in Fall highlights that other people can be as much of an obstacle to survival as dangerous circumstances. Becky and Hunter face threats from gravity, harsh weather, and birds of prey — but other human beings can be just as cruel and uncaring.

Fall is one of many movies that revolve around a single location for a plot. And each one tried to do something different.

Why Didn't Becky Realize Hunter Was Dead?

Becky was suffering from psychological shock.

The biggest twist in Fall reveals that Hunter was dead throughout the latter portion of the thriller movie . After she climbs down to retrieve her backpack, Becky manages to pull both Hunter and the backpack back to the top of the tower. The pair then try to charge the drone, so they can send it to get help. However, when the twist is revealed, it emerges that Hunter never made it back to the top of the tower. After the botched attempt to retrieve the backpack. Hunter becomes a sort of mouthpiece for Becky’s conscience and inner monologue.

There are some hints that Hunter isn’t really there.

Aside from the improbability that Hunter could survive the fall and climb back up, there are some hints that Hunter isn’t really there. When Becky drops the backpack, Hunter makes no attempt to catch it. After a couple of days, Becky realizes Hunter isn’t alive. When she fell from the tower, she hit a communication dish and bled to death.

Becky didn’t notice Hunter had died in Fall because she was so weak and feverish from lack of food and water that she hallucinated her friend was still alive.

Becky didn’t notice Hunter had died in Fall because she was so weak and feverish from lack of food and water that she hallucinated her friend was still alive. The hallucination was a psychological result of Becky’s denial about being left stranded at the top of the tower all by herself . Imagining a dead character is still alive as a coping mechanism is a common trope in survival stories — it can also be seen in Adrift and Gravity .

What Happens After Becky Is Rescued?

The ending of fall doesn't reveal much about becky's fate once she makes it down from the tower.

What happens to Becky after she’s saved in the Fall movie ending will likely be explored in the sequel. She will either resume her daredevil lifestyle with a new lease on life after fighting so long for survival or double down on her fear of danger and close herself off. If Fall 2 is a direct sequel, then it will follow on from the Fall movie ending and detail where Becky’s life goes after surviving her ordeal on the TV tower.

If it’s not a direct sequel, then the franchise could become a sort of anthology series introducing new characters stuck in unenviable high-altitude situations like the one seen in Fall .

The recent announcements of new installments for beloved films have surprised many, highlighting Hollywood's trend of embracing sequels.

The True Meaning Of Fall's Movie Ending

The climax of the fall movie is about having perspective.

The real meaning of the Fall movie ending is that life shouldn’t be taken for granted. In the blink of an eye, anyone can find themselves in a deadly situation with the odds stacked against them. The ending of Fall is bittersweet because Becky survives, but Hunter doesn’t.

This near-death experience puts everything into perspective and makes Becky’s differences with her dad seem petty and insignificant

After spending so many months mourning the loss of Dan, coming so close to death and losing another loved one reminds Becky to keep fighting and embrace life. This near-death experience puts everything into perspective and makes Becky’s differences with her dad seem petty and insignificant, leading to a heartfelt reunion between the two.

What Was Real & What Was Hallucinated?

Nothing about the ending of fall is guaranteed to be real.

The biggest thing that played out in the twist at the Fall movie ending was that Becky was on her own for much of the time. She never realized that Hunter had died, and she hallucinated the entire discussions and planning with her friend. Hunter's death happened after she fell to the platform below and bled out. This means that almost everything Becky saw in the second half of the movie was fake, a hallucination that started when she began to realize there was no hope.

It is possible that the vulture Becky killed was simply another figment of her imagination

Since Hunter and Dan had an affair, Becky was angry, and she manifested that in her entire anger and spite toward her friend — all within the hallucination. There was also the moment prior to the Fall movie ending where a vulture attacked her and Becky killed it. This was one of two vultures that was feeding on Hunter's dead body, and she shooed the other vulture away and finally climbed down and sent out the SOS message for help.

However, with the other hallucinations, it is possible that the vulture Becky killed was simply another figment of her imagination, making one wonder if Becky ever did make it down, or if the conclusion of Fall was another ending like The Descent .

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Fall stars Grace Caroline Currey as Becky, a once fearless climber who believed in exceeding human limitations and pushing herself to the limit. But when a tragic accident during a climb leaves her traumatized, she can no longer pursue the life she once loved. However, adventure calls again when her friend Hunter (Virginia Gardner) seeks her help on an ascent up an abandoned 2,000-foot tall radio tour, to which Becky reluctantly agrees after reflection. However, this ascent goes wrong, and now the two are stranded 2,000 feet in the air with no way down. Now Becky and Hunter must use their survival skills to weather the elements and escape their vertical prison before they run out of time. Fall was released in theaters on August 12 2022, and costars Jeffery Dean Morgan. The film also shares the producer of 47 Meters down, a similar thriller-styled film.

‘Fall’ Film Review: Heights-Driven Thriller Successfully Maintains Its Grip

This suspended-suspenser plays to audience acrophobia

Like a provisions-packed knapsack, a good deal of emotional backstory gets shoved into the first half-hour of “Fall” before it traps two female climbers 2,000 feet above the ground in a remote stretch of desert for the rest of its running time.

Will that friendship be tested? Of course. But the true signal that co-writer (with Jonathan Frank) and director Scott Mann has his thrill-hungry audience’s needs in mind is that before adventuring besties Becky and Hunter can even get to the base of the TV tower they intend to scale, they lock eyes with a carcass-gnawing vulture, who gets a righteously gnarly, ominous close-up.

In other words, you’re in good talons with “Fall,” a better-than-average B-movie corker that’s almost like a corrective these days to the behemoths that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on mayhem only to bludgeon us with exhilaration-free, numbingly digitized peril. If you long for the sweaty-palmed giggling inspired by Harold Lloyd hanging off a high-rise’s clockface or Tom Cruise on the harness-necessitating side of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, you will likely fall for “Fall.”

Cruise’s “Mission Impossible” character Ethan Hunt even gets a shout-out in Mann’s and co-screenwriter Jonathan Frank’s screenplay, invoked as an adrenaline god by daredevil vlogger Hunter (Virginia Gardner, “Runaways”), on a mission to snap her pal Becky (Grace Caroline Currey, “Shazam!”) out of a yearlong bereavement following the death of Becky’s husband Dan (Mason Gooding).

The movie’s “Free Solo”–esque prologue, set on a sheer mountain face, depicts that ill-fated climbing accident, witnessed by the two women. Twelve months later, Becky has curled inward into the drinking, crying, suicidal life of a shut-in, ignoring the emotional pleas of her worried dad (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), until bouncy, sassy Hunter shows up at her door with her version of a self-help scheme: Secretly ascending a disused TV tower for the one-year anniversary of Dan’s death, Becky will then be able to get past her grief, while Hunter, armed with a drone and a selfie stick, gets to create a lot of sexy-dangerous YouTube content.

The screenplay is chockful of platitudes about facing death, living life, confronting fear, moving on, letting go, blah blah blah, but that dialogue matters less than whether Currey and Gardner are a believable Gen-Z team of self-gratification junkies looking like they’re having fun doing something crazily reckless. From that angle, the duo’s energetic performances suffice, carrying an authentically warm and teasing camaraderie into the California desert, past that No Trespassing sign, up hundreds of rusted rungs, and onto a tiny circular platform that threatens to become the site of Becky’s and Hunter’s last selfie when the tower’s uppermost ladder separates from its loose bolts and strands them.

Mann’s previous hackwork in the grizzled-male action genre (“The Heist,” “Final Score”) won’t prepare you for how dedicated he is to avoiding scared-damsel vibes and centering instead the pair’s fearlessness and smarts. (Panic isn’t absent, mind you, just saved for when appropriate.) “Fall” can then focus on maximizing its one-location two-hander, toggling between what’s outlandishly fun about enduring this particular hazard (which is based on a real TV tower, one of the highest structures in the US) and what’s believably clever in the details of how Becky and Hunter try to save themselves.

On the characterization front, things can get clunky — one revelation is eye-rollingly predictable, and a third-act twist feels cribbed from a lot of unreliable-narrator movies. But viscerally the movie delivers — the site-specific peril is suitably unnerving when the stuntwork, effects, and cinematographer MacGregor’s more height-intensified shots are in synch, and the rescue hacks these tech-savvy women devise from their available items (phones, binoculars, shoes, drone, selfie stick, tower light, push-up bra) are enjoyably crafty enough to earn the movie’s one self-satisfied bit of dialogue: “That’s some MacGyver shit.”

And don’t forget those feathered harbingers of doom. This may be the first movie to apply the Chekhov’s gun rule to vultures, a portent sure to satisfy the more horror-minded ticket buyers, not to mention anyone else eager for the kind of back-to-basics survival excitement “Fall” refreshingly serves up in this dreary age of apocalyptic popcorn emptiness.

“Fall” opens in US theaters August 12.

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‘Fall’ Review: Things Are Looking Down

In this nerve-shredding thriller, two young women fight to survive while stranded on top of a 2,000-foot TV tower.

• Share full article

By Lena Wilson

If you, too, are afraid of heights, you’re likely to experience “Fall” as a straightforward horror movie instead of a thriller. The director Scott Mann has certainly packed this latest venture with enough jump scares and bloodshed to blur genre lines. As a result, “Fall” occasionally feels overrun with gimmicks and gotchas, but it also offers one hell of an adrenaline rush.

The film opens on a tragedy. Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and her husband, Dan (Mason Gooding), are scaling a cliff face with their friend Hunter (Virginia Gardner), when an accident sends Dan plummeting to his death. Just shy of a year later, Hunter drags Becky back into the climbing game by promising her an easy half-day jaunt up a 2,000-foot TV tower. The two have been estranged; Hunter spent the last year becoming an influencer while Becky binge drank and contemplated suicide. But when they end up stranded on a small platform at the top of the tower, reconciliation takes a back seat to survival.

“Fall” loses its grip in the final act, as tension gives way to ludicrous horrors. Still, its twists are so bizarre that they’re kind of fun, and the actors sell them hard .

Most of all, this is an impressive feat of cinema. The bulk of the film was shot on a 60-foot platform on top of a mountain, to keep things looking realistic. Of course, that only makes “Fall” all the more harrowing. As Becky and Hunter’s brushes with death compounded, I kept flattening myself into my seat like a literal scaredy cat. Be glad it’s not playing in IMAX.

Fall Rated PG-13 for Ahhhhh!!! Running time: 1 hour 47 minutes. In theaters.

Lena Wilson is a project manager at The New York Times and a freelance writer covering film, TV, technology and lesbian culture. More about Lena Wilson

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A Movie So Ideal for the End of Summer That It’s Actually Called Fall

August has always been a wasteland, the Sunday night of months, when the weather is at its sticky worst and everybody who has the ability to fuck off to someplace more pleasant has already done so. If you don’t have the means, there’s the cheaper sanctuary of the cineplex, with its welcoming darkness and arctic air-conditioning — except that after a summer in which theatrical releases mounted a rousing comeback , the studios neglected to schedule any big movies for this period in which we most need something dumb and fun. Fortunately, there’s a not-that-big movie that fits the bill of being silly and simple enough to fill a lazy afternoon without demanding anything strenuous from its audience at all. That movie is Fall , in which two young women climb up to the top of a remote TV tower for the sake of closure — and also content — and then get stuck up there.

Fall is part of that grand cinematic tradition in which attractive actors get trapped somewhere dangerous and have to struggle to save themselves, hopefully for at least the 80 minutes required for an acceptable feature-length. Recent-ish participants include Ryan Reynolds, who in a lull in his career back in 2010 spent the entirety of Buried in a wooden coffin; his spouse Blake Lively, who was trapped on a rock in the ocean by a persistent shark in the improbably good in 2016’s The Shallows ; and Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, and Kevin Zegers, who got marooned on a ski lift suspended over some convenient wolves in 2010’s Frozen . Like those movies, what Fall offers is a double layer of tension. Will Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner) figure out a way to make it off a 2,000-foot TV tower unscathed? And will writer-director Scott Mann figure out a way to draw out the suspense for long enough when there are only so many things that can happen on top of a 2,000-foot TV tower and one of them is in the title?

Does it really matter? I’m tired. Tapped out. I have no means for a vacation at the moment and nothing else left to give to this season, and Fall asks for so little that it feels like too much to demand something as basic as logic or characters in return. See, Becky’s husband Dan (Mason Gooding) died during a rock-climbing excursion the two of them were taking with Hunter, and a year later, Becky’s still mourning — you can tell by the fact that she drinks alone at bars. Then Hunter, her internet-famous bestie, shows up with a proposal that will help Becky get her mojo back: They’re going to climb the decommissioned B67 TV tower out in the California desert. Becky is a sad brunette and Hunter is a fun blonde, and that’s about all there is to the two, despite a brief gesture toward an extreme-sports frenemies dynamic right out of The Descent . Braving the height looks like the bigger challenge at first — there’s a ladder up the side of the tower, so it doesn’t require Spider-Man-like free-climbing skills. But then the ladder, rusted and neglected, sheers off, leaving the two women trapped on a narrow platform high above the earth.

There’s blistering sun, and an attempt to get help with a flare gun, and when things get really desperate, some marauding vultures. Mann and his crew built a version of the tower close to a cliff to give his shots a real sense of dizzying height and a more tangible sense of danger. An incredibly weak twist pays off with a hilariously gruesome, triumphant finale. But what really makes Becky and Hunter’s little saga so seasonally appropriate is that it feels like a consolation for those of us feeling a little stuck ourselves. These two daring, adventure-seeking women head off for what’s supposed to be a fun getaway that tests their limits and restores their sense of self, and what happens? They get stranded, sunburnt and dehydrated, unable to get a phone signal or anyone’s attention as scavengers try to eat them. Sure, the vertiginous shots up the side of the tower are stomach-turning, but what’s really satisfying is the message that sometimes it’s better just to stay home. It’s Fall , get it? Summer is over. 

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‘Fall’ Review: A Don’t-Look-Down Thriller That Will Have You Clutching Your Seat

Two women climb an abandoned TV tower in the desert, and we're with them every shivery step.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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“ Fall ” is a very good “don’t look down” movie. It’s a fun, occasionally cheesy, but mostly ingeniously made thriller about two daredevil climbers, Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner), who decide to scale the B67 TV tower — an abandoned 2,000-foot communication tower that juts up in the middle of the California desert. It’s based on an actual structure (the KXTV/KOVR Tower outside Sacramento), which is used like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the skyscraper that became the pedestal for Tom Cruise’s you-are-there stunt sequences in “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.” And if, like me, you loved that movie in part because of how deviously it toyed with your fear of heights, “Fall” is likely to hit you as an irresistible piece of vertigo porn. It’s for anyone who ate up “Ghost Protocol,” as well as the awesome rock-climbing documentaries “Free Solo” and “The Dawn Wall,” and wants to continue that shivery vicarious high.

Critics, for some reason, now like to mock the visual sleight-of-hand that goes into a thriller like this one, as if the CGI involved were all too easy to see through. But in this case I couldn’t disagree more. “Fall” was shot in the Imax format in the Mojave Desert, and there are moments when I honestly don’t know how the director, Scott Mann , the cinematographer, MacGregor, and the two actors did it. Were they actually on a tower — and, if so, how high up? Were there stunt people, or was every bit of this brought off with computer trickery?

Popular on Variety

The abandoned TV tower, like the KXTV/KOVR Tower, is, we’re told, the fourth highest structure in the U.S. It has a photogenic vermilion finish (imagine the Golden Gate Bridge as a rusty hypodermic needle), and it turns out to be the perfect setting for a movie about climbing into the sky. As the two women ascend, the desert below looks like something viewed from an airplane. The trick is that the elements of the image are all visually united: tower, horizon, climbers. Without a cut, the film will glide from close-ups to vertically angled drops to death-defying panoramas; the light and shadow are always just right. You know how it feels when you watch an old movie with rear projection that’s laughably fake? “Fall,” by contrast, represents a totally credible and innovative use of CGI. Watching the movie, we believe our eyes and, therefore, our raised pulses.

The two women have agreed to make this climb as a way to wrest Becky out of her funk. In the film’s opening sequence, we see the two ascending a vertical rock face along with Becky’s husband, Dan (Mason Gooding), who winds up plunging to his death. A year passes, and Becky can’t let go — of him, or of the anxiety that has calcified around the tragedy. Facing her fear, scaling that TV tower along with her best friend (they plan to scatter Dan’s ashes when they get to the top), is the only thing that will purge the demon.

As terrifyingly tall as the tower is, it doesn’t strike us as something that would offer that much of a challenge to highly experienced climbers. There’s a ladder on the inside of the caged needle that goes up for 1,800 feet. For the remaining 200 feet, the ladder is outside the structure. I wouldn’t want to climb 30 feet of it, but these two aren’t scared of heights, and the feat they’ve laid out for themselves looks a hell of a lot easier than shimmying over the smooth plunging rock faces they’re used to. That’s why they succeed pretty quickly. Half an hour into the movie, they’ve ascended to the small circular platform up top.

But along the way the whole structure has been quivering, with telltale shots of a nut or a bolt coming undone here and there. It’s the outside ladder that’s getting loose, and as they take the last steps, a chunk of it falls out from under them, the weight of that chunk pulling the rest of the ladder down with it. Just like that, they’re stranded. The cylindrical pole that’s left is too smooth to climb down. The rope they have isn’t long enough. And though they’ve got their phones, they’re up too high to get service. There is nothing up there but the two of them and their do-or-die ingenuity.

At the start of the movie, Hunter is all giddy enthusiasm, like a Reese Witherspoon go-getter from the ’90s, and Becky, lost in her malaise, is all po-faced misery and dread. But the two actors show you how these women come alive, and connect, by climbing. It’s through their expressive skill that we believe in what we’re seeing. “Fall” was made for just $3 million, and it’s good enough to remind me of another perilous small-scale thriller centered on two people doing all they can to survive: “Open Water,” the scary 2003 indie that basically extended the opening sequence of “Jaws” over 80 minutes. Movies like these come with built-in narrative devices — like, for instance, the soap-opera revelation that comes up between Becky and Hunter. There are moments when the script overdoes the millennial effrontery, especially when it’s focused on Hunter’s identity as a YouTuber who wants to document the whole climb for her 60,000 followers (“This bad boy is over 2,000 feet tall, and your homegirls are going to be climbing to the tippy tippy top!”).

Mostly, though, we’re with these two, living through every vulture attack and sudden drop that involves something like hanging from a rope and trying to grab a stranded backpack. Is there a pedestrian below who could save them? The movie deals with that possibility in a way that recalls the Robert Redford-stranded-at-sea movie “All Is Lost.” “Fall” is a technical feat of a thriller, yet it’s not without a human center. It earns your clenched gut and your white knuckles.

Reviewed online, Aug. 9, 2022. MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 107 MIN.

• Production: A Lionsgate release of a Tea Shop Production, Capstone Studios, Grindstone Entertainment Group production, in association with Flawless, Cousin Jones. Producers: David Haring, James Harris, Mark Lane, Scott Mann, Christian Mercuri. Executive producer: Roman Viaris, Barry Brooker, John Long, Dan Asma.
• Crew: Director: Scott Mann. Screenplay: Jonathan Frank, Scott Mann. Camera: MacGregor. Editor: Robert Hall. Music: Tim Despic.
• With: Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mason Gooding.

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Where to Watch

Rent Fall on Fandango at Home, or buy it on Fandango at Home.

What to Know

Fundamentally absurd yet as evocatively minimalist as its title, Fall is a sustained adrenaline rush for viewers willing to suspend disbelief.

As long as you don't go in expecting anything realistic, Fall is a solidly suspenseful B-movie done right.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Grace Caroline Currey

Virginia Gardner

Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Mason Gooding

Julia Pace Mitchell

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Fall Review: Vertigo-Inducing Thriller Nails a Whopper Climax

Best friends (Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner) get stranded on a TV tower in Fall.

Best friends face a terrifying scenario when they attempt to free climb an abandoned TV tower. Fall is a vertigo-inducing thriller that keeps you guessing with a bombshell reveal . The plot follows the standard disaster track until clever twists ramp up the adrenaline. Slick technical direction sells the literal high stakes as the situation becomes increasingly desperate. A minor detour into second act melodrama almost derails the nail-biting crisis. Fall wisely resumes the tension and then barrels toward a sharp climax. It would have benefited from a leaner runtime but forgivable for overall popcorn cinema fun.

Married couple, Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Dan (Mason Gooding), free climb a steep rock face with their best friend, Hunter (Virginia Gardner). Disaster strikes when a clamp fails. Nearly a year later, a depressed Becky drinks and takes pills in abject sorrow. Her concerned father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) tries to establish a connection. Becky rejects his kindness and continues to spiral down.

Hunter, now a bourgeoning social media star, has an idea to lift Becky's spirits. She wants to climb a derelict, two-thousand-foot TV tower in the desert called B-67. The only way Becky can reclaim her life is to be adventurous once more. That's what Dan would have wanted. Becky reluctantly agrees. They drive out to the middle of nowhere with excitement and trepidation.

B-67 soars into the blistering sky. Buzzards chew on the guts of a dying critter. They ignore "danger" and "no trespassing" signs. A nervous Becky ropes herself to Hunter; who begins to document their journey for her followers. They carefully make their way past broken transmitters to a small metal platform at the top. Hunter revels at their glorious achievement. Becky weeps in elation. They don't realize that rusted bolts have fallen from the ladder. It crumbles spectacularly into a dust plume thud. They are stuck on the platform with no cell reception or supplies. Becky has a nasty gash on her thigh. The buzzards circle at the scent of blood.

Related: Summering Review: Good Intentions Can't Save Flawed Coming-Of-Age Drama

Believability of Fall

Fall's most important aspect is believability. Becky and Hunter's dilemma doesn't work if you think they're on a set in front of a blue screen. Director/co-writer Scott Mann ( Final Score , Heist ) sells the nerve-wracking balancing act. The women sit precariously in the rushing wind. Their rescue attempts are intercut with long-distance and sickening overhead shots. The tower is a needle glistening in the brutal sun. Mann does a great job orchestrating the camera angles, visual effects, and sound design. There's never a point where the film looks fake.

Fall manages its dramatic arc with mixed results. Currey sheds a river of tears as Becky. She's been through a crushing tragedy so that's expected. The script adds an unnecessary subplot between the women as they dangle. These ten minutes of meandering serves no real purpose. Mann has you hooked then swerves away from a gripping primary narrative. He tries to avoid the pulp label by beefing up the plot. I say own the grit and stick with it. Fluff detracts from entertainment value.

A third act whopper puts the ship back on course. It's a doozy that caught me completely off guard. A good surprise takes Fall to another level. See this film on the biggest screen possible. Acrophobics should steer clear of this one.

Fall is a production of Capstone Global, Tea Shop, Flawless, and Cousin Jones. It will have a theatrical release on August 12th from Lionsgate Films.

Review: Two women alone on a platform 2,000 feet in the air? ‘Fall’ somehow makes it work

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One of cinema’s great wonders is the way a few moving pictures on a flat screen — composed and choreographed just so — can make a viewer’s palms sweat and heart race. Just look at “Fall,” a survival thriller that at times feels like an extended experiment in audience-poking, testing how many times director Scott Mann can induce a state of mild panic by repeatedly showing the same image. That image? Two young women standing on a small metal platform, perched 2,000 feet above the ground, attached to a narrow tower with no ladder.

“Fall” stars Grace Caroline Currey as Becky, a skilled mountain climber still reeling a year after witnessing the accidental death of her husband during an ascent. Virginia Gardner plays her best friend, Hunter, a social media influencer and daredevil who tries to shake Becky out of her torpor by inviting her along as she shimmies up an abandoned communications tower in the desert. On the way up, the ladies do have a ladder — rusty and shaky. But while they’re triumphantly taking selfies at the top, the way back down collapses.

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The Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic . Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by the CDC and local health officials .

Mann and his co-writer, Jonathan Frank, follow a lot of the formulas for these kinds of movies, for better and for worse. On the downside, they pad out their story with Becky’s personal trauma, making her unresolved feelings about her husband’s death a bigger part of the plot than they need to be.

On the upside, “Fall” does what the best survival movies do, by carefully enumerating the resources the heroes have at their disposal so that we can enjoy watching them figure out how to deploy these pieces wisely — or wince as they waste chances. At the moment when the ladder crashes, Becky and Hunter have no cell service, and the backpack with their water is stuck on a dish about 20 feet below them. But they do have a drone camera, a flare gun, two phones and climbing gear. How can they use what they have to get help, while avoiding the circling vultures and whipping winds?

A similar question could be asked of the filmmakers: Can they do enough with this tiny amount of material to fill a whole movie? Well … sort of. Mann and Frank throw in some unexpected twists and obstacles; but while this film is quite long, it still feels like it’s missing one or two more story beats, either early or late. The space occupied by Becky’s heartbreak could’ve been filled with something more viscerally gripping.

That said: Oh jeez, that tower is so tall, and that platform so small, and those women look like they’re barely hanging on. For the most part, “Fall” works because it plucks on the same raw nerve, over and over. How many times can Mann freak out the audience by cutting to a vertiginous shot of the unfolding crisis? Every time. Sometimes cinema is simple.

'Fall'

Rating: PG-13, for bloody images, intense peril and strong language Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes Playing: In general release Aug. 12

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Fall (I) (2022)

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The Ending of 'Fall' Reminds Viewers of '47 Meters Down' (SPOILERS)

Aug. 14 2022, Published 1:04 p.m. ET

Spoiler alert! This article contains spoilers for Lionsgate film Fall .

The heroines of Fall quickly find themselves up against impossible odds 2,000 feet off the ground, struggling to survive while stuck on a radio tower. Advertised as "from the producers of 47 Meters Down ," Fall could easily serve as a sister film or spiritual sequel to the deep-sea epic for more reasons than one.

If you found yourself confused about how Fall ended, here's the ending of the film explained .

Here's the ending of 'Fall,' explained.

Climbers Becky (Grace Caroline Currey of Shazam! fame) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner, The Runaways ) embark on a quest to spread the ashes of Becky's late husband Dan (Mason Gooding Jr.). Following Dan's death, Becky is reclusive. It isn't until her YouTube-adventurer pal Hunter arrives with a daring idea that she finally crawls out of her grief.

Hunter is the one who suggests spreading the ashes at the top of a radio tower 2,000 feet off the ground. Quickly, this idea turns to disaster as the girls end up stranded without food, water, or cell service. Becky loses her footing and accidentally drops a backpack of supplies on an outcropping dish antenna. She also injures her leg in the process.

The girls attempt to get cell service by dropping Hunter's phone in a shoe padded with a push-up bra to try and send an SOS, but the phone breaks as it hits the ground. Another bombshell amid an already tense situation: Hunter admits she helped Dan cheat on Becky during their marriage.

With no other options and tensions at a peak, Hunter offers to attempt a risky climb to the backpack, unhooking herself from the safety rope and leaping to the dish. Becky recovers the backpack, but how does Hunter get back to the safe platform?

The answer is ... she didn't. Initially, audiences see Hunter pulled up with the backpack by Becky, but it's soon revealed that she died falling on the antenna. Hints of her death are sprinkled through the ending, including a sequence of Becky "having a nightmare" of Hunter's dead body covered in vultures.

Inside the backpack is the key to an escape from the radio tower: a drone that requires charging but could seek help below. Following Becky's nightmare, she recalls Hunter explaining a charging technique that could get the drone functioning. She climbs to the very top of the tower and uses the socket of the aviation light to recharge the drone.

Unfortunately, the drone gets smashed on the way to seek help. Becky's hallucination of Hunter finally reveals she is dead. Becky travels down to the dish to use Hunter's remaining shoe and her own cellphone to get a message to her father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) as a last-ditch effort. To ensure the message reaches the ground safely, she puts the shoe and the phone in Hunter's body, throwing the whole body down to the ground.

Thankfully, Becky's efforts work, and she is rescued via helicopter and reunited with her father. The end of Fall is reminiscent of 47 Meters Down , which also included a scene of one character hallucinating the other long after she's dead.

Fall is now available for viewing in theaters everywhere.

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Fall (2022) Movie Review & Ending Explained: Did Becky actually survive?

Single-location movies have a practical purpose: executing a story without worrying much about budgetary constraints. And as the proclivities of humanity have shown, the more the limitation, the more the abundance of creativity. However, the lack of acknowledgment of the fundamental flaw in the premise sometimes stops a movie from becoming great. Notwithstanding, sometimes, a movie’s sole purpose is to entertain, either by eliciting a palpable sense of horror or a nail-biting sense of tension. Scott Mann’s latest film, “Fall (2022),” falls more on the latter side of the category.

It is easy to lampoon “Fall” as “47 Meters Up”, as it is being bankrolled by the producers of “47 Meters Down”, itself a cult classic and a fantastic companion as a double feature. Both of these films follow two close female friends who must work together to get out of an unsolvable jam when the extreme sporting event they are a part of inevitably goes wrong. While “47 meters down” finds these women submerged in a cage in shark-infested waters, “Fall” finds them stuck 2000 feet up on top of a radio tower. But we are getting too ahead of ourselves.

Fall (2022) Movie Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis

Why does becky agree to climb the tower.

The movie opens with best friends Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner), with Becky’s husband, Sam, rock climbing. While manipulating a particularly tricky opening, Dan is startled by a bat flying out of the crevice he was holding on to, disturbing him and losing his foothold. As Dan hangs in the air, his body connected to his harness, he tries to swing back but falls to his death. Fifty-three weeks later (one year for those counting), Becky’s life is a mess.

Swallowed in grief, resigned to alcohol, and distanced herself from her father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) because her father did not trust Dan to be good enough for her, she tried to commit suicide until Hunter visited her. Hunter tries to console her and suggests that Becky accompany her in climbing a 2000-foot TV tower situated in the desert. It would serve a dual purpose of both spreading Dan’s ashes once they climb to the top and providing a cathartic experience for Becky to gain closure on her loss and fear.

Hunter, the adrenaline junkie, has now become an Instagram influencer. The climbing of the tower is the latest in a long line of crazy stunts she executes to attract fame and satiate the adrenaline junkie within her. As they drive towards the tower, they stop at a restaurant for dinner, where Hunter teaches her to charge her phone by connecting her charger to the leads of the lamp and using that as a power outlet. The girls drive towards the tower the next day but cannot pass the gate. Thus, they start walking toward the tower, where they come across a pack of vultures picking up a half-dead coyote.

As they shoo the vultures away, Hunter shoots a picture of the dead coyote. The girls soon reach the foot of the tower, where they start climbing the internal ladder. Becky almost backs out due to nerves, but Hunter convinces her to keep going. There are shots signifying how rickety the entire structure of the tower is and how the screws connecting the ladders and holding them upright are precariously close to unscrewing themselves due to the pressure being exerted on the steps.

How do the two women get trapped at the top of the tower?

The girls reach the end of the internal ladder, which leads to a platform. From there, they must climb another 200 feet until they reach the top of the tower. As Becky and Hunter climb up the ladder, unbeknownst to them, one of the bolts comes loose. The girls finally make it to the top of the tower, where they manage to spread Dan’s ashes. An emotional moment that hit both Becky and Hunter hard. They also take pictures of them hanging in precarious positions with the help of Hunter’s 4K camera drone.

Finally, they decide to start climbing back down, but as Becky starts to climb, the unscrewed part of the ladder comes loose, causing the entire ladder to topple and fall to the ground. It also causes Becky to drop the bag containing their drone and water bottle on top of one of the satellite dishes attached below. Hunter manages to pull Becky up using the harness. It presumably causes a large gash on her knee, which Hunter helps her to stop bleeding by making a tourniquet. They also found a flare gun and binoculars in the compartment at the base of the tower.

Stuck at the top of the tower, Becky and Hunter cannot find a signal, thus rendering their smartphones effectively useless. After waiting for five hours and realizing that no one had heard the ladder crash and no one was coming to help them, the two tried to search for help via their binoculars and saw a trailer parked up near the gate. They planned to lower the phone a couple of feet so that the phone could regain signal, which would send an already prewritten message via Hunter’s Instagram.

How do the girls try to communicate?

They finally decide to drop the phone by putting it in one of Hunter’s shoes and reinforcing the shoe by padding it with Hunter’s sports bra-the logic being that the phone would regain the signal while falling and send the signal. However, the phone breaks, and even a dog belonging to one of the trailer park men sniff the shoe and finds the phone but doesn’t look up at the tower. The girls finally wait until dark before launching the flare from the flare gun and attracting their attention. Unfortunately, instead of driving the trailer to help them drive up to the gate, the men stole the car they had parked there.

Becky and Hunter start getting hungry and dehydrated. As charged emotions flare up, Becky watches a video of her and Dan’s wedding and notices Hunter’s gloomy face in the video. With the tattoo emblazoned on Hunter’s ankle (“1 4 3”), this compound forces Becky to confront Hunter by revealing to her that Dan had trouble proclaiming he loved her, choosing to say those three numbers instead. Hunter admits to having had an affair with Dan for four months, initiated by Dan after a drunken encounter. It forced Hunter to distance herself from Becky after Dan’s death because she had broken off the affair with Dan as she valued her friendship with Becky far more.

The following day, having ruefully acknowledged that the phone is broken and no one is coming, Hunter decides to climb down to the satellite dish and try to retrieve the bag containing the water and the drone. Using the harness, she lowers herself to the top of the satellite dish and manages to jump to the other dish and retrieve the bag. Hunter uses the selfie stick to reach the harness and manages to reach up. As she starts climbing up, Becky pulling her from the top, she appears to slip and fall to the dish. Becky, terrified, manages to peek down and sees her still alive, albeit her hands are profusely injured. But Becky manages to pull her up.

Do the girls manage to get the drone working?

Becky then tries to deliver a piece of paper using the drone to the motel where they had stayed the night before, but the battery starts running out, which forces them to retrieve the drone. Remembering Hunter’s trick of charging the phone via the lamp leads, Becky climbs up to the port where the tower’s night light is attached. Her wounded leg is already starting to smell, but she manages to climb up the pole with considerable effort, unscrew the light, and connect the drone’s charger with the leads and her marriage ring as a conduit. As the drone charges slowly, Becky holds on for dear life throughout the night, barely dodging the vultures smelling blood from her wounded leg.

Finally, after the drone is charged, the girls attach the piece of paper to the drone and fly it over the gate towards the motel. But, as fate would have it, and as a callback to a previous scene in the first act, a truck crashes into the drone and destroys it, shattering her hopes of ever sending a message. Becky soon starts to lose herself from delirium and dehydration, almost falling from the platform. She finally asks Hunter for her other shoe, so she can drop her phone and ask for help. But Hunter coolly replies that she doesn’t have the shoes because she isn’t here in the first place.

Fall (2022) Movie Ending, Explained:

What happened to hunter.

It is then revealed that she died when Hunter slipped and fell into the dish. Becky had only managed to pull up the bag. The “Hunter” who had been helping Becky throughout the rest of the events up to this point had been a figment of her imagination. It does make sense, as the “Hunter” who had been at Becky’s side after climbing back up to the platform had been more cautious, trying to provide Becky with moral support by talking about wrestling—a hobby which only Becky enjoys—or how Hunter convinced Becky to climb up the tower to connect the drone’s charger, to make Becky manage to survive.

Also, Read: ‘Fall’ Sequel to Double Down on Vertigo-inducing Thrills

Did becky actually survive.

One of the vultures flies down the following day and rests on the platform. Inching closer to Becky’s leg, it starts to nibble at the flesh. Waiting for that moment, Becky manages to capture that vulture by the throat and bash it, killing it. After eating it to regain strength, Becky finally manages to connect herself to the harness and pull herself down to the dish, where Hunter’s dead body lies half mangled by the impact of the Fall. The vultures tear apart her stomach exposing it further. The vulture nibbling Hunter’s flesh looks up at Becky’s bloodstained face and flies away, realizing there is another hunter. Becky, weeping with grief and whispering that she loves her, types a message to her father, inserts the phone inside Hunter’s shoe, stuffs the shoe in Hunter’s exposed stomach, and then pushes off the satellite.

In the next scene, we see Becky’s father, James, driving toward the tower and reaching the base to see police cars and paramedics already present. His heart sinks when she sees a dead body being carted off by the paramedics, but, he finally sees Becky, and the movie ends with their tearful reunion.

Fall (2022) Movie Review

From the standpoint of the premise itself, Fall is a flawed movie because it inherently exposes how underwritten and cliched the characters are. To undergo closure, the two protagonists decide to climb a 2000-foot tower, which is already rickety and falling apart. But what makes Fall so effortlessly engaging is Scott Mann’s direction, especially during the moments where he records the characters climbing and keenly focuses on the bent steps, the loose screws of the ladder, or the moments of physical prowess exhibited by the two protagonists.

It manages to make Fall reveal itself as a movie not having enough depth from an emotional perspective (the pedestrian dialogue doesn’t particularly help matters). Still, as a movie capable of eliciting tension and forcing you to have clammy hands due to Mann’s choosing to deploy wide shots and drone shots to evoke the feeling of standing atop a structure of great height, Fall does its job.

This movie proves Scott Mann’s expertise as a technically proficient and sound director, and Fall is one of those rare and engaging mid-budget movies. The visceral excitement and tension smooth over the dodgy CGI at specific segments. The performances, especially by Grace Caroline Currey as Becky, make you believe in her character arc, even if the writing doesn’t.

Read More: The Festival of Troubadours (2022): Review & Ending Explained

Fall (2022) Movie Links – IMDb , Rotten Tomatoes Fall (2022) Movie Cast – Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Mason Gooding

Where to watch fall (2022), trending right now.

A cinephile who is slowly and steadily exploring the horizons of the literature of films and pop culture. Loves reading books and comics. He loves listening to podcasts while obsessing about the continuity in comics.

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, anatomy of a fall.

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It turns out that there’s still life in the courtroom drama if it’s a marital one, too. Justine Triet ’s “Anatomy of a Fall” starts with a traditional mystery but becomes an analysis of a different kind of fall than the literal one at its center. It’s about the decline of a partnership and how often these marital falls can happen in slow-motion, over years of resentments and betrayals. At its center is a stunning performance from Sandra Hüller , possibly the best of the year, as a woman who finds herself in the middle of a nightmare when a French court indicts her for the murder of her husband. This movie won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year because it’s more than a mere mystery—it’s an examination of a marriage from all angles while embedding the idea that we can never fully comprehend anyone but ourselves. It’s a daring, long film that sometimes feels too chilly and self-indulgent, but it builds to a series of scenes that hit like a punch. Or when a fight with a partner goes a little too far.

Hüller plays Sandra, who is introduced by giving an interview about her life as a famous author—Triet’s film plays fascinatingly with the idea that writers inherently use the people around them in a way that makes them unique, making the profession of her protagonist important (and I don't think it's coincidental her lead couple share the names of their performers). As the interview goes on and gets arguably a bit flirtatious, loud music begins to pump from above in this remote, snow-surrounded cabin in the French Alps. It’s her husband Samuel ( Samuel Theis ), playing an instrumental version of 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.” of all things. On repeat. And louder and louder. He’s aggressively trying to derail the interview, and he succeeds. The interviewer leaves, and their son Daniel (Milo Machado Graner) takes the dog Snoop for a long walk. When he returns, he finds Samuel in the snow, a bloody wound in his head. Did he fall from the attic in which he was working? Did he jump? Or was he pushed?

For the next two-and-a-half hours, “Anatomy of a Fall” almost procedurally details the investigation and trial around Samuel’s death. Every decision made not just that day but over much of their marriage is scrutinized by people who have never met Sandra, Samuel, or Daniel. Rarely has a film captured how much personal baggage comes flying out when a death is ruled inconclusive. Samuel’s therapist testifies that he wasn’t suicidal, but, of course, he only saw what Samuel wanted to show him. The interviewer is asked to comment on the state of a woman she just met that day. What does she know about their lives? We only ever see part of a person’s mental state. At times, it feels like Sandra’s personality is on trial. Then again, some evidence that she’s responsible is pretty compelling.

It may sound like Triet is playing a mystery game with “Anatomy of a Fall,” but she's never manipulative or withholding, and the film actually improves when one casts aside a bit of the gamesmanship that a lesser filmmaker would have relied upon when telling this story. Yes, there’s a puzzle to be solved here, and I believe it does get solved, but that’s not what matters. Triet is trying to interrogate how couples communicate or fail to do so and what that failure can lead to in the end. It’s important that neither Sandra nor Samuel speak in their native tongue—they find common ground in English—and that Daniel suffers from reduced eyesight from an accident. We don’t fully understand each other. We don’t fully see each other.

Hüller is stunning, keeping much of Sandra’s motives and half-buried skeletons internal. She has clearly considered every aspect of this character—it’s such a calibrated, lived-in performance that one can feel the backstory work in almost every scene. How does a woman like Sandra arrive at a point where her husband is suddenly dead and her entire life is on trial? And what does that do to her? She never resorts to melodrama, so when the film emotionally climaxes in an intense flashback, it’s shattering in its realism. There’s a vastly inferior version of “Anatomy of a Fall” that leans on overcooked melodrama and mystery—this one is all about character, and it’s the trust between Triet and Hüller that grounds every single scene and holds it all together.

Sometimes, it seems like 151 minutes is more than this story needs, but that length adds to how this is more like literature than genre storytelling. The length lets us really feel the cold in Sandra and Samuels’ home—the chill in the air from both the snow outside and the warmth that has drained from this family. How do we get over resentment? Infidelity? The sense that we don't trust our partners? Or, worse, that they don’t care? “Anatomy of a Fall” asks deep questions about its characters, but gains its most power by recognizing it doesn’t have all the answers.

This review was filed from the Toronto International Film Festival. “Anatomy of a Fall”  opens on October 13 th .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film credits.

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

151 minutes

Sandra Hüller as Sandra Voyter

Milo Machado-Graner as Daniel

Swann Arlaud as Maître Vincent Renzi

Saadia Bentaïeb as Maître Nour Boudaoud

Jehnny Beth as Marge Berger

Samuel Theis as Samuel Maleski

Antoine Reinartz as L' Avocat général

Camille Rutherford as Zoé Solidor

Anne Rotger as La Présidente

• Justine Triet
• Arthur Harari

Cinematographer

• Simon Beaufils
• Laurent Sénéchal

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What is Sean Baker's movie, Anora, about? Plot, review, and more explored

A merican writer-director Sean Baker's latest film, Anora, has received a solid score of 3.3 from the Screen jury during its worldwide premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

The film tackles the harsh realities of modern labor, portraying class exploitation with a darkly comedic tone. Much like Baker's previous features, like the Oscar-nominated The Florida Project 's unseen stories of the impoverished and Red Rocket 's tale of manipulation and deception, this new film continues to look at the cold realities of the world.

With a breakout performance from Mikey Madison, whose credits include Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Scream , and Better Things , the film revolves around Anora (Madison), a Brooklyn lap dancer who got entangled with a brattish oligarch's son and his ‘party like there's no tomorrow' lifestyle.

Disclaimer: This article contains significant spoilers for Anora. Readers' discretion is advised.

What is the plot of Sean Baker's Anora movie?

Sean Baker's latest feature tells the story of an exotic dancer, Anora, or Ani, as she prefers to be called. Working in a Manhattan strip club and barely scraping by, she gets her seemingly Pretty Woman story when she meets Ivan, the son of a Russian oligarch who paid her to become his girlfriend for the week.

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The two get on famously, and with Ivan's desire to continue living in the fast-paced nightlife of New York instead of returning home to Russia, he proposes. Hopping over to Vegas, the two impulsively marry, but trouble erupts when the news of their nuptials reaches Ivan's parents on the opposite side of the world.

Forced by Ivan's father's goons into an annulment and with Ivan trying to flee from his father's people, Ani's what would have been a fairytale ending is in danger of turning into chaos and tragedy.

The official plot synopsis reads:

"Anora, a young s*x worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled."

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Anora film review: Exploring the highest-rated film at 2024 Cannes

After receiving over seven seconds of standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival 2024 , Sean Baker's US comedy-drama received six 4-star ratings (excellent) and four three-star ratings (good) from various critics.

While the storyline has a Pretty Woman -esque tinge to it, the film touches deeper on the subject of s*x work and stripping as a job, a theme that most other movies only use as background noise. Ani is the face of modern labor in America, one who struggles to escape a life of inequality, both in her workplace and beyond.

Despite the hard work and the value of her labor to people, Ani's efforts seem to be lacking. She has no stability and struggles with things that most people only scrape by in real life, like the lack of healthcare. Seemingly having caught a break when she meets the rich and big-spender Ivan in the strip club where she works, she grabs the chance to turn her life around.

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After a whirlwind trip to Vegas to get married later, everything starts to fall apart, putting Ani's life into chaos even worse than the chaotic life she thought she'd left behind when she married Ivan.

She is forced to annul her marriage to Ivan, but Ivan has made a runner before they can, leaving Ani to face his father's men. Without seeing anywhere out, Ani struck a bargain with Ivan's father's men tasked to fix the family's problems, agreeing to help them find Ivan in exchange for $10,000.

At its heart, the film featured the gulf between the haves and have-nots, along with the self-entitlement and desperation that comes with the opposing classes.

But while it touches on deeper themes and the real story of a working life, Anora is a laugh-out-loud, hilarious, high-energy panic comedy. Much like previous features by Sean Baker, the latest film relies on authenticity and immersion with "slice of real life" drama blended with a comedic tone.

With an average of 3.3 stars (out of 5), the film stormed to the top of the Screen jury grid , the first film this year to score over three stars. It also scored higher than the previous grid winner, Fallen Leaves , by Aki Kaurismaki (3.2).

Mikey Madison and others star in Sean Baker's Anora film

Californian actress Mikey Madison, who first caught the audience's attention for her portrayal of Max on the comedy-drama series Better Things , stars as the titular character of the latest Sean Baker feature.

Joining the 25-year-old actress are:

• Mark Eydelshteyn as Ivan (Anora's husband)
• Karren Karagulian as Toros (Ivan's father's fixer)
• Yuriy Borosiv as Igor (Ivan's father's goon)
• Vache Tovmasyan as Garnick (Ivan's father's goon)
• Ivy Wolk as Crystal
• Luna Sofia Miranda as Lulu
• Lindsey Normington as Diamond
• Darya Ekamasova as Galina
• Emily Weider as Nikki
• Alena Gurevich as Clara
• Paul Weissman as Nick

Charlton Lamar, Marsha Zhak, and Ross Brodar are also supporting cast members in the movie.

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When is Anora coming to theaters?

While the movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, May 21, its theatrical release has yet to be announced. NEON bought the film's distribution rights in November 2023, and while there is no fixed release date yet, it's expected to come to theaters sometime in mid-2024.

Ahead of Anora 's theatrical release, Sean Baker's previous features, The Florida Project and Red Rocket , can be watched on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, and more.

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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga review – Anya Taylor-Joy excels in stunning prequel

It rides into cinemas next week.

Retreading the same road seems anathema to George Miller , so for his prequel to one of the greatest action movies of all time, he's gone epic. Gone is the relentless drive of Fury Road , and in its place is a character study that spans 15 years.

Sure, it's still the kind of movie that features a giant war rig with a set of swinging balls known as a Bommy Knocker, but that's Miller for you. There's nobody out there doing it quite like him, and you'll frequently be glad his quirky mind exists for us to enjoy.

To compare the two movies almost feels like missing the point. Furiosa could be better seen as a worthy companion piece to Fury Road , an epic odyssey that – when viewed together – will deepen your appreciation of what Miller has achieved across both movies.

Across five chapters, we watch Furiosa as she's taken from the Green Place of Many Mothers through her time with the warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and eventually her place at the Citadel, ruled over by Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme, replacing the late Hugh Keays-Byrne).

What might surprise you going in is that Anya Taylor-Joy doesn't make her appearance as Furiosa until the third chapter. Alyla Browne takes on the role initially and impresses just as much as her older counterpart. From the get-go, you can see the intensity and rage bubbling below the surface from the Furiosa we knew in Fury Road .

It's a credit to the casting director Nikki Barrett that as the movie segues into the older Furiosa, it's a seamless transition. Taylor-Joy takes over for the third chapter The Stowaway, an astonishing 15-minute action sequence detailing an assault on the war rig run by Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke).

The sequence is the closest Furiosa ends up feeling to Fury Road . It's a relentless set piece that mixes Miller's characteristic visual flourishes with extraordinary stunts, often ones that leave you wondering just how the hell they did it. Most impressively, you'll genuinely believe Furiosa is in danger despite knowing she survives – it's that intense.

It's far from the only action set piece in Furiosa , and they all have moments of wonder – Dementus' first attack on the Citadel goes hilariously badly for him thanks to War Boys with hooks – but they're not as regular as Fury Road . Often, the movie even resists them in favour of the central conflict between Furiosa and Dementus.

In every way, Dementus is Furiosa's opposite. He's verbose, flashy and a complete dirtbag, compared brilliantly by one character to "anus pus". Crucially, Chris Hemsworth imbues him with a charisma that makes his moments of brutal savagery all the more impactful. It's one of his finest performances.

The same could be said of Anya Taylor-Joy. Her captivating performance continues to showcase why she's one of the most exciting talents around, telling so much about Furiosa often with just her eyes. When Furiosa has her moments to externalise her rage, much like Charlize Theron did in Fury Road , Taylor-Joy wrings the moment for all its worth.

Miller teases the eventual face-off between Furiosa and Dementus at several moments, before finally giving us it in the last chapter. Even here, though, it plays out unexpectedly, with a more intimate nature. It's not the huge climax of Fury Road , but it's no less compelling and emotional.

If there's a flaw to be found in Furiosa , it's that it can at times feel both quite slow and too rushed. The chapter structure means that the story frequently jumps forward, especially so during the ultimate chapter, which, as Miller has said, leads straight into Fury Road . You're left feeling you haven't seen the whole story.

It's probably more a reflection that this world Miller has crafted is so engaging that you just want to see everything. Gas Town and Bullet Farm, only glimpsed in Fury Road , are seen in all their glory, and we're introduced to even more colourful characters like Rizzdale Pell (Lachy Hulme in a dual role) and Scrotus (Josh Helman, who also played War Boy Slit in Fury Road ).

Hopefully, if Miller gets to realise The Wasteland , set to tell the story of Mad Max before Fury Road , we'll see these characters again. As it is, you'll be a bit disappointed that Furiosa rushes to get to Fury Road when we'd happily watch another movie of Furiosa during her time at the Citadel.

So yes, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is not Mad Max: Fury Road . But it is another singular cinematic experience that needs to be witnessed.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is out now in cinemas.

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Movies Editor, Digital Spy  Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor.  Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies , attending genre festivals around the world.   After moving to Digital Spy , initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.  

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Oshi no Ko Reveals Season 2 Release Date & Stunning Debut Main Trailer

Oshi no Ko prepares for a major return to screens this July, revealing the official Season 2 release date, main trailer, key visual and more.

Oshi no Ko is setting up for its highly anticipated return to screens this summer, revealing its exact start date for Season 2, along with a key visual and its first main trailer.

Via the anime's official website , Oshi no Ko Season 2 now has a confirmed release date of July 3, 2024, which was revealed alongside the debut of its new key image and first trailer. The visual features the popular characters Aqua, Ruby, Kana and Akane as they star in an upcoming fantasy period drama, Tokyo Blade . HIDIVE will again stream the series on its platform. Readers can check out the new releases below.

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Japanese artist GEMN sings the song featured in the trailer, "Fatale," which will serve as Oshi no Ko Season 2's opening theme song. New cast additions include Ayane Sakura as Abiko Samejima and Daisuke Ono as Goa, both releasing comments highlighting their passion for the upcoming season. Oshi no Ko will also get its first guidebook titled First Report , featuring art and interviews with staff.

Oshi no Ko's Live-Action TV Series & Movie Will Also Arrive Worldwide in 2024

Oshi no Ko Season 2's release in July will mark the beginning of a slew of exciting projects in 2024. Toei and Amazon's Oshi no Ko live-action releases arrive worldwide later this year, coming as both a film and TV series. Many fans remain curious yet skeptical about how Oshi no Ko 's highly colorful and expressive faces will be translated to real life. Original manga artist Mengo Yokoyari will not be involved due to prior commitments.

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Doga Kobo will continue to animate Oshi no Ko , with HIDIVE streaming Season 2 from July 2024. The platform describes the series: "When pregnant young starlet Ai Hoshino appears at Dr. Gorou Amemiya’s clinic, he takes it upon himself to safely (and secretly) deliver her child so Ai can make a scandal-free return to the stage. But on the eve of her delivery, Gorou is slain at the hands of Ai’s deluded stalker — and is subsequently reborn as Ai’s child, Aquamarine Hoshino! The glitz and glamor of showbiz hide the dark underbelly of the entertainment industry. Can he help his new mother rise to the top of the charts?"

A doctor and his recently-deceased patient are reborn as twins to a famous Japanese musical idol and navigate the highs and lows of the Japanese entertainment industry as they grow up together through their lives.

Source: Oshi no Ko official website

John Krasinski pays tribute to his mom in 'IF' with a 'perfect' Tina Turner dance number

Spoiler alert! We're discussing minor details about the plot of John Krasinski's PG-rated family film "IF" (in theaters now).

“IF” is indisputably the starriest movie of the year, with vocal cameos from Matt Damon , George Clooney , Jon Stewart and nearly two dozen other celebrities.

But the person who shines brightest is Tina Turner , whose music is featured prominently throughout the kid-friendly adventure. When we first meet Bea as a young girl (Audrey Hoffman), she’s dressed up as Turner and putting on a living room concert for her adoring mom (Catharine Daddario) and dad (John Krasinski).

Years later, after her mom’s death from cancer, 12-year-old Bea (Cailey Fleming) has lost all sense of joy and wonder. That changes when she meets a group of misfit imaginary friends (known as IFs), who are exiled to a “retirement home” under New York’s Coney Island when their kids grow up and forget about them. Bea offers to help and lift their spirits, culminating in a euphoric dance number set to Turner’s “Better Be Good to Me.”

John Krasinski wanted Tina Turner's 'Better Be Good to Me' to be an 'anthem' for the 'IF' movie

The soaring anthem, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, is taken from Turner's 1984 comeback album “Private Dancer.” Krasinski, who also wrote and directed “IF,” wanted to use the song as a tribute to his mom, Mary, who is a major Turner fan.

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“I remember vividly dancing in the kitchen with my mom to Tina Turner,” Krasinski recalls. “There’s something so emotional to me about sharing music intergenerationally. That’s something that was really special to me and that I really wanted to be in the movie. I love the idea that it's not a song you would think this girl would love, but she loves it because of the people she loves.”

Turner died last May at age 83 after a long illness . To get the rights to use her song, Krasinski wrote directly to the eight-time Grammy winner’s estate, sending them the scripted scene and offering to get on Zoom to pitch the number.

“The first thing I did was write an email saying that this is the heart and soul of the movie,” Krasinski says. “Tina’s song is basically the anthem for imaginary friends. (The IFs) are the ones saying, ‘Better be good to me and don’t forget me.’ Her song was the absolute perfect one for our movie, and they got it. They were so understanding and so supportive, I can’t thank them enough.”

Taylor Swift fans should look out for this Eras Tour Easter egg with Ryan Reynolds

In the dance number, Bea and the imaginary friends re-create the “Better Be Good to Me” music video. The scene was shot over two days with Fleming, 17, and a bunch of dancers wearing motion capture suits. Ari Groover, who played Turner in Broadway's "Tina" musical, also makes a brief appearance as the rock legend.

“I had so much fun,” says Fleming, who knew of Turner before the movie but didn’t know her catalog.

The actress' enthusiasm for Taylor Swift also found its way into "IF." Toward the end of the film, Bea is walking up the street with her new friend Cal (Ryan Reynolds). Moviegoers can only hear the tail end of their conversation, in which they excitedly discuss wearing bracelets all over their arms.

That is, of course, a reference to the pop star’s blockbuster Eras Tour , where fans frequently trade Swift-themed friendship bracelets . Reynolds has attended the tour multiple times with his wife, Blake Lively , who is also Swift's close friend.

“John told us when we were shooting that scene that there was no dialogue and the audience couldn’t hear us, so it didn’t matter what we said,” recalls Fleming, who has tickets to attend the Eras Tour for a second time this fall. “So I started talking about Taylor Swift, because that’s my default topic, and it wound up making it into the movie. I love her.”