The Falling

"Picnic at Hanging Rock" a fine film of the 70s, telling a story of how a group of schoolgirls disappeared on a visit to Ayers Rock. This film had it eerie, creepy, atmospheric, less talky than this; in other words classy.

Alas this film, which I thought would match this from the reviews I read, did not come anywhere near it. Whereas this was certainly a personal project to writer / director, to everyone else it really is a non-sensical load of tosh. Neither eerie, classy, engaging or atmospheric.

The school group was similar to "Picnic" i.e. pretty centre of attention girl, mixed up clever girl down to fat eat a lot girl...pretty stereotypical characters.

When the fainting/shaking actually occurs, especially in the school assembly scene I'm afraid it became comical. They were obviously well drilled on how to faint.

The Director did try to convey a sense of nature at work here. For example, intimating that Abbie's spirit lingered among the old oak tree, straight through to hearing fox cries, owls hooting, even in the scenes shot in Lydia's house! Needless to say the (step)brother and (step)sister "getting it on" scenes were pretty uncomfortable. On that point was not convinced on the Mother character, especially the acting.

Major plus however, Florence Pugh, she is going to go far. A great looking girl with a distinctive voice and she can sing play guitar.

Starring two actresses who will likely be up for awards in years to come, The Falling is an offbeat psychological thriller whose intentions are not even fully clear after viewing. Two young teenagers, played by Maisie Williams and Florence Pugh, are stuck in the middle of school crisis when students start passing out for no apparent reason. For the life of me, I only had one thing going through my mind throughout the entirety of the 100 minutes, why was nobody catching these students as they would faint? It's not like it was a few seconds, they would wobble for 15-20 seconds and then finally fall to the ground. Alas, the movie is nothing too special, an interesting watch that is ultimately forgettable at the end of the day.

5.3/10

Set in the 1960s at an all girl school we meet Lydia (Masie Williams) who has a best friend in Abbie. They have it all as friends and a love of nature centring around an old oak tree. They have a mixed bag of teachers who seem to adhere to Victorian values and modesty principles – that is despite the burgeoning 'summer of love'.

Then tragedy happens and Masie starts to have fainting fits – very soon the phenomenon spreads and she seems to be at the centre of it. Throw in a mum with issues (Maxine Peake) and a bit of the Occult, forbidden sex and deep rooted paranoia and you have the makings of a rather good story.

Maxine Peake is billed starring here, but she is not really on screen for a great period of time; Greta Scacchi as the dowdy Miss Mantel is though pure excellence in a performance dripping with understatement. I have seen comparisons to 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' and even the events around Salem and the subsequent Witch trials. However, I think such comparisons may lead to expectations that may not be met. It is though a film that had a great idea and I think it could have been taken much further as it sort of peters out; despite that it is still on I can recommend.

When a charismatic classmate dies, her school-friends start to suffer from a mysterious mass fainting fit. Is it supernatural, grief or just a cry for attention? The headmistress (well-played by Greta Saatchi) just wishes it would all go away. It's a nice concept, but the film seems too obviously sympathetic to the girls, without really letting us inside their heads. Oddly, they don't seem to be so freaked out by their condition. Also, the soundtrack is absurdly intrusive, and deflates rather than enhances the natural atmosphere. And there's just a little too much in the way of extraneous plot - budding sexuality, a troubled mother - daughter relationship - to truly build the sense of claustrophobia which would be needed to make the film a success. Overall, it's just a little bit blander than one might have hoped.

THE FALLING is a film detailing an outbreak of fainting at an all-girl school in 1969. Such events are well-documented in real life and often have the authorities and various specialists puzzled, although it's widely acknowledged that they're psychosomatic in nature. So there's potential here for an interesting storyline.

Unfortunately, the storyline of THE FALLING is all over the place. For the first half hour it's a typical tale of teenage angst and friendship. Things take a darker turn with the introduction of incestuous sub-plots and the like, but then they become ridiculous with the well-choreographed fainting spells. Subliminal imagery abounds, alongside some hinted-at supernatural aspects, but it all adds up to far less than the sum of its components. What's the message here, anyway? What's it all about?

I previously saw director Carol Morley's docu-drama DREAMS OF A LIFE and that was a similar film in that it had an interesting premise but sub-standard execution. Plus, Morley doesn't seem to be very assured at getting good performances out of her actors, and the acting is of a distinctly wishy-washy standard here. I love Maisie Williams in GAME OF THRONES, but she seems unsure of herself here and sometimes just feels like Arya in a school uniform.