Fall 2: Deadpoint Review: This Successful Sequel Proves There Are More Dangerous Heights To Climb
by Bill Bria · /FilmBack in 2022, when it was still uncertain how the film industry was going to get back on its feet in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a little thriller that could hit theaters in August and made $21.8 million over a $3 million budget. That movie was "Fall," made by the British co-writer/director Scott Mann. Teaming up with co-writer Jonathan Frank, the duo conceived a movie that they could get off the ground (pun intended) while the pandemic was still in full swing, one that featured a minimum of actors and locations, but still contained enough spectacle and suspense to hook audiences. "Fall" followed besties Becky Connor (Grace Caroline Currey) and Shiloh Hunter (Virginia Gardner) who, in the aftermath of Becky's husband's death by mountain, decide to get back on the proverbial horse by climbing a 2,000 ft. TV tower in the middle of nowhere. Naturally, things go awry.
While "Fall" was impressively made, well acted and even contained some neat surprises, it seemed like a classic single-issue thriller, one which doesn't beg for or easily lend itself to a sequel. However, not too long after its success at the box office, Lionsgate announced that there would be not one, but at least two sequels to follow, which would be produced in quick succession to each other. The first of these, "Fall 2: Deadpoint" (a subtitle which only exists for subtitles' sake) hits theaters this week. Although Mann and Frank are back as the screenwriters and producers, the directing reins have been taken by The Spierig Brothers, Peter and Michael. Even though it lacks its predecessor's originality and underdog status, "Fall 2" makes a name for itself with wilder stakes, double the twists, and an eye toward making the series into a sort of soap opera with extreme heights.
Fall 2 has a clunky start, but knows where it's going
Being a sequel to a story that reached a natural endpoint with the first film, "Fall 2" has a little trouble getting off the ground. It opens in what seems like not too long after the events of "Fall," where Becky was rescued and Shiloh fell to her death. Shiloh, who was a minor internet celebrity before her demise, has gained a massive following posthumously, thanks in part to footage of her fatal fall being released online. Her sister, Jax (Harriet Slater), is still mourning Shiloh while trying to handle the attention and Shiloh's effects, including a bucket list in the form of a book of sites that Shiloh wanted to climb and master. Shiloh's old friend from college, Luce (Arsema Thomas) turns up, initially wanting Shiloh's truck. Yet, due to her own issues, she instead convinces Jax to come with her to tackle the next climb on Shiloh's list, a perilous plank walk on Mount Kwan in Thailand. Once there, the women lose their guide, John (Tom Brittney), and find themselves stranded at 3,000 feet.
"Fall 2" (as well as its predecessor) makes more structural sense if one thinks of the film less as a realistic survival thriller and more as a horror movie, where the monster is the treacherous climb itself. In the same way Michael Myers or the Xenomorph must eventually be dealt with in their franchises, the climb is where the film is headed, and thus the rough road of character motivation and credibility must be traveled to get there. While this path is indeed bumpy, Scott Mann and Jonathan Frank do at least pay off much of the script's rough edges, and Thomas and Slater do some excellent work papering over the cracks in the meantime.
Fall 2 asks the audience to meet its thrills halfway
When /Film's Chris Evangelista reviewed "Fall," he mentioned the "occasional bad bit of CGI" hampering the film, and "Fall 2" succumbs to the same issue. In other words, if you were hoping for awe-inspiring footage of real stunt people climbing and/or falling from precarious heights, "Fall 2" may not deliver for you. So much of the drama has to take place with the principal actors in locations that would be impossible to get a film crew into, which means that the Spierigs don't have the luxury of using a ton of location footage or sweeping vistas that you can stare at or get second-hand vertigo from.
Fortunately, the script provides enough intrigue and incident to keep things afloat, provided you meet the film halfway. As I said, it holds back some pertinent information until late in the game, but the payoffs do come, and land effectively. It's all part of the effort on Scott Mann and Jonathan Frank's part to reconfigure the series from purely a survivalist/experiential thriller into pulpier, soapier territory.
The movie begins with a scene that promises something more akin to "Cliffhanger" than "The Descent," and indeed, "Fall 2" goes a little further into action/adventure territory, while retaining some emotional character drama to make that transition smoother. The Spierigs are great choices to handle such a change, as they've demonstrated a knack for genre hybrids before with "Daybreakers" and "Predestination," as well as franchise-shifting installments like 2017's "Saw" revival, "Jigsaw."
The Fall series might pull off an impressive high-wire stunt
Ultimately, "Fall 2" proves its mettle by being a nail-biting thriller that feels like it's not a mere retread, all while remaining connected enough to the first film so that it feels like it's a continuing story rather than a lazy namesake. The most remarkable aspect of the movie lies in how it demonstrates that the concept and the characters have further to climb, something that I certainly couldn't guess from the first film.
There's a version of this sequel (and the potential next film, too) that merely traps a couple of unrelated characters in another plight of great height and calls it a day, and that type of sequel could've been fun enough, if forgettable. What "Fall 2" does (and especially what it promises to come) is craft a soap opera out of the threads of the first movie, one which helps make the films character-based as much as plot-based.
Since it's not clear if the third film has begun production, we might have a bit to wait to see whether Scott Mann and Jonathan Frank's plans come to fruition. If they do, and if the trilogy concludes in the manner "Fall 2" seems to hint at, then the "Fall" series might earn a reputation as being a quietly impressive thriller movie high-wire act.
/Film Rating: 7 out of 10
"Fall 2: Deadpoint" opens in theaters on September 2, 2026.