The Life After

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.

The Fallout is important. It highlights an urgent (yet neglected) topic responsibly. Nothing is glamorized, sanitized, or insincere. Covering the psychological effects of school shootings, the film focuses on the resulting emotional journeys rather than the violent incident. Subjects of mental health, communication, coping, and support are authentically addressed. This material isn't flashy, but the experience is thoroughly captivating and enlightening. Central to that is the delicate acting of the entire cast (especially Ortega). Nobody is overdramatic, everyone is layered and conflicted, and everything is genuine and natural. Truly, the emotional impact cannot be overstated.

Meanwhile, the filmmaking of The Fallout is grounded, yet lightly artistic. The music is primarily silent, allowing feelings to breathe. The cinematography uses spacing and motion to reflect mental states. The gentle editing emphasizes the acting, yet is stylistic at turning points. The realistic sound carries weight because climatic moments occur offscreen. Lastly, the direction unites the film into a cohesive, bittersweet journey of nuance. Each beat is perfectly placed and each aspect is masterfully measured. The Fallout covers significant ground, but maintains a heartfelt focus. Viewers may not be ready for where it's going, but everyone will grow from the experience.

Writing: 10/10 Direction: 9/10 Cinematography: 9/10 Acting: 9/10 Editing: 9/10 Sound: 9/10 Score/Soundtrack: 9/10 Production Design: 7/10 Casting: 7/10 Effects: 6/10

Overall Score: 8.4/10.

The opening sequence of 'The Fallout' is very well done. It's powerful, tense and all too real unfortunately. From there the films fall into a quite sombre look at the anxiety and depression caused by such a tragedy. It's a tough watch at times but an important one also.

Jenna Ortega seems to be the "IT" girl at the moment. She's in everything seemingly and it's not hard to understand why. She is extremely likeable and seems to have the full arsenal available in her acting talents. Without a strong lead a film like this could be a very unpleasant watch. She ensured that was not the case.

I love films where the family dynamic is handled in a positive way. I understand not every family out there is as great as we'd like to imagine, and it's often an easy way for a film to create conflict by using a dysfunctional family. However I think the majority of families out there are extremely supportive like the ones in 'The Fallout'. And even when a family is doing everything they can to help there can still be conflict apparent as this film proved.

The ending of this film is a tough one. It's tough and it's heart-breaking but it is also the absolute perfect ending for a film like this because it is real. Any other ending would have been a cop-out.

There are little patches of the film that can come across a little dull and boring and that's one of the flaws of the film. Those scenes are often setting things up for the future though, and also watching a character struggling with depression can't always be a fun or enjoyable ride or else you've portrayed it wrong.

This is a good film. Don't go in expecting anything other than a pretty gritty drama though. There is the odd funny moment but for the most part it's a very serious film. 7/10.

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.

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))