The Fallout

If you are determined to do a film on the aftermath of an active-shooter incident, one that happens almost right after the credits roll, you could worse than this. Ortega steals every scene and carries the movie. An amazing performance. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

I can't imagine how scary and traumatize it is for teenagers these days to go to school, especially in America. School should be a safe place for everyone. These children should not living in fear everytime they went to school.

8/10 - strong acting performances from Jenna Ortega, Will Ropp, Shailene Woodley (in her two brief but impactful scenes), and the rest of the cast bring to life this gripping, infuriating, and moving story of those affected by school shootings.

A harrowing movie about the aftermath of a high school shooting. Jenna Ortega is outstanding in the lead role and plays it so well in capturing the sadness and also the funny side to her character (like when she tells her mum everything). Megan Park in her directorial debut does a great job in letting the movie flow at it's own pace and doesn't rush anything. A really nice gem that deserves to be seen by a wide audience.

It'd been a while since a teen drama really got me pondering, but then I watched The Fallout. It's a small but profoundly layered film, powered by a solid lead performance from Jenna Ortega. Megan Park's debut feature film is striking and centers around the survivors of a high-school shooting incident. The screenplay works as a contemporary character study, going into the itsy bitsy details of a high-school teenager's life in the aftermath of the said pivotal incident. Vada (Ortega), a tomboy with introverted inclinations, is perplexed at the way everything suddenly changes for her, and the film showcases her struggles (and occasional highs) poignantly. It's almost like Megan Park extensively studied how Gen Z-ers speak, organically incorporating dialogues into the script.

The don't-know-what-to-do mom (Julie Bowen) and bewildered sister characters are also given due importance as they're significant to the progress that Vada makes each day. Their performances are also brilliant. I also enjoyed how Vada has a varying but relatable dynamic between herself and each family member, and writer-director Park ensures she gets very emotional, very grounded scenes with each. Vada's accidental friendship with the uber-popular Mia (Maddie Ziegler) gets the lion's share of the screenplay, showcasing how little joys and wins are so important. In fact, except for the therapy session scenes featuring Shailene Woodley, I wholly enjoyed the film. It was like a breath of fresh air, even though it revolves around a tragedy.