The Free Fall

Simplistic idea for a film presented in the convoluted nature of amnesia. The film takes slight chances with production leaving much to be desired with the confusion and tension that it needed to be suspenseful. Instead, the musings of what is true were uninspired images that ultimately felt heavy handed. Acting was decent so it wasn't a complete waste. Overall, the way that the plot toyed with us didn't lead to much. And the potential twist at the end wasn't very imaginative. Lackluster effort overall that didn't create much magic in the end. Had potential but something didn't quite blend together for something better.

A woman visits her parents' house to celebrate the retaking of their marriage vows, but finds that's not the only ritual on the menu.

Trippy, fractured story with stylish symbolism that kept me on my toes to the end. The opening shot carefully lays a trail of clues - not least a word in capital letters - so I knew to keep questioning what was coming at me. There's plenty of mirror-trickery to raise doubts not just about what's going on but also about who the heroine really is, and the broken up sequence of events keeps everything in confusion.

The risk with trippy story-telling is that it leaves the audience stumbling about until we stub our toe and say, Enough. So I was kinda fatigued by the halfway mark, but then the prospect of a dramatic set-piece was introduced and my attention perked up. Was it worth it? Well, I think the end broke off prematurely, probably because the writer had no good idea what the whole thing was about. I certainly didn't get the sense of all the mysteries in the puzzle locking together to reveal a genuine human experience.

The performances are good, and the editing keeps up a decent pace. The camera work dwelled a lot on mirrors, and was otherwise unremarkable. The original score caught my attention with the accordions in the dance scene, but was never switched off and proved distracting in several scenes where the actors were face to face.

It is an unusual take on this sub-genre of horror, but not as engaging as Grace (2014), and I feel the stilted mood of the set-piece reflected a lack of heart in the writing.

Overall: Intriguing but not so engaging.

I liked the twist at the end...it was a clever and unique twist, however the journey to get there was a painful one. A storyline like this needs more finesse, better actors, intricate detailing etc. This film did not posses those qualities unfortunately. A shame as it had such potential.

Let's get the overall review out of the way: this movie is lamer than a three legged horse in the Kentucky Derby. It's slow, it's dull, and it's big twist is as dumb as dirt. At least I think. It's hard to tell if it was as bad as I thought because it is nearly impossible to hear some of the dialogue. I'm sure it was a conscious decision to have a muted, echoey quality to the dialogue while background music plays at the same volume. Why? Who knows. I'm not sure it would make a difference. Good cast, bad script, daytime television level directing, and local public access sound make this one a hard pass.

Bottom line: Free Fall was a fine watch, but the writing was pretty frustrating, and it didn't come together as well as I'd like. I think it was worth the watch for the imagery, but ultimately it was an unsatisfying film.

Free Fall is a little tough to review. I think the writing and pacing would ultimately be a 3/10, but the imagery and general idea would be around a 6/10. At the end of the day, there is enough memorable moments that I'm glad I watched it, but I don't think there was enough for me to really recommend it.

The dialogue and general writing was really poor and often very frustrating. The pace was very slow and repetitive. They ramp up really fast and then just kind of plateau for too long before moving into the final act. It was engaging for a while, but then they stop giving any new information and just repeat the same sorts of scenes a handful of times so you just want it to move on and get to the point.

The imagery was pretty intense though. There are some serious gory scenes, some really weird stuff I liked a lot, and some artistic moments. Similarly, the story and idea were actually pretty good, and the twist was fun.

While I liked the twist, I don't think it was a particularly surprising, or done quite as well as it could have been. I think you're ability to figure it out might effect your overall view of the movie since a lot of the positive reviews seem to find it mind-blowing, but it was one of a few possible endings we all pegged pretty early.