The Fallout

The scars of a school shooting weep through a young students actions as she struggles to come to terms with the mental conflict playing out in her mind, with teenage distractions, reactions and inactions all compounding, confusing and amplifying already heightened emotions, devotions and affections. Great performance from Jenna Ortega who delivers a truly believable and sympathetic portrayal of something few of us could ever imagine.

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.

I wasn't interested in another gun-violence teen drama. However, 10 minutes in, I was struggling to hold it together. Ten minutes after it ended, I was reeling from a gut-punch ending. Ortega, Ziegler, & Park give an authentic presentation of teendom, like Burnham's Eight Grade, with an intense injection of tragedy. The fact that writer-director Park didn't live through a school shooting shows her innate touch at empathetic filmmaking.

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.

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.