Falling Overnight

I try to give all of the movies I see an honest, unbiased rating. For some reason I feel weird giving this a 9/10 rating, just because I didn't know what to expect going into it. I saw the trailer a few months ago and put it in my watch list for later. Today I saw it on Netflix and without any anticipation and on impulse just put it on. Along with an estimated $50,000 budget, Parker Croft and Emilia Zoryan are young, virtually unknown actors, which initially sparked my interest. I was excited to see some new talent and was interested in what was made out of the given budget. This is a story of young love. It is raw,awkward, emotional, funny, sad, tragic and most importantly realistic. Elliot (Croft) and Chloe (Zoryan) cross paths and connect instantly. Chloe is a photographer and invites Elliot to her art show that night, and from there a love story begins to unravel. From parties and shows to a small kick back in the hills and we meet different groups of interesting friends that are out partying and enjoying the night, all while Elliot and Chloe become closer and closer in a matter of hours. It really took a little bit for the characters to grow on me. Through the social awkwardness and little mishaps I finally begun to really like the characters. I took into account Elliot's condition and was very interested in how he would reveal this to Chloe. You learn about this in the beginning of the movie and as the story progresses the condition turns into an overbearing secret. I was anticipating the revelation of this secret to Chloe and I thought it was executed perfectly. This is a simple and realistic love story between two young lovers captured in a sort of cinéma vérité style in the glowing and active city of Los Angeles.

I adore this movie! I was surprised at how much it made me feel (and not in a sad way). It just pulled at my heart in the sweetest fashion. Like meeting an old friend for the first time.

It has a laid back pace without being boring. It is sweet, sentimental, raw, intimate and most of all authentic. The actors were perfect, I felt like I was right there with them.

From the two main characters chemistry, to the sharing of the good, the bad, the awkward and the completely random. It feels like I'm hanging out with my own quirky friends, going on a first date with someone I'm wholly enamored with, sharing real life with real people. Nothing about this script feels… scripted. It just feels real.

I like Hollywood movies but this was definitely a nice refreshing change from your standard box office prescription for success, without trying too hard to be different. This is reflected wholeheartedly in the ending which to me was perfect. I won't spoil it for you, I'll just say that it's like life, one day at a time.

P.S. I haven't seen a lot of indie films but this may have gotten me started. I found this movie after seeing Parker Croft as cute Lost Boy Felix in the series Once Upon A Time.

While I enjoyed the concept of the film, I found the lousy acting to be distracting. The dialogue seemed forced at times and very unnatural considering the circumstances. Also, not sure if I liked the ending, I would have liked to at least get a clue as to what may come in the future.

Cinematically, most (if not all) of the camera work was hand-held, even static shots were shaky – which could work in a more intense film, but this film was quite uneventful. And speaking of static, I thought all of the characters were very one-dimensional, and none seemed to show any signs of real growth.

The delicate subject matter of this film is beautifully rendered by writer/director Conrad Jackson. The serious theme is there but the overall tone is one of hope, and the beauty of life wins out over its unpredictability.

Jackson's cinematography enables us to feel the passage of time differently, and he takes us on a journey through a young man's (potentially) last night with simple events that exemplify how precious life is.

The two main actors are endearingly naive, but with depth and complexity beyond their years. Oh yeah, and apparently it was filmed in 14 days - impressive!

I look forward to seeing much more from these actors, from the writers, and from director Conrad Jackson!

I appreciate natural dialogue and personal interactions captured on film, as this one succeeds in. There aren't the contrivances you see in most Hollywood romances. The lead characters do have chemistry, and it's realistically tentative rather than the lightning-bolt kind. But I just didn't find the them interesting enough to recommend this movie. The viewer isn't really given enough background to form a strong feeling for the male protagonist, just shown that he's in a very precarious situation. And the female character has a strong SoCal intonation and does that thing with the breathless laugh mid-sentence. I just couldn't get invested.