Overview of Fall
This episode of How Did This Get Made? breaks down the 2022 survival thriller Fall, in which best friends Becky and Hunter climb a 2,000-foot TV tower in the desert and end up stranded at the top. Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas mostly celebrate how entertainingly ridiculous the movie is while also questioning nearly every character choice, safety decision, and plot mechanic.
What Happens in the Movie
Core premise
- Becky is grieving the death of her husband, Dan, and Hunter convinces her to take on an extreme climb to help her move forward.
- The climb goes wrong almost immediately, and the rest of the movie takes place on the tower.
- The story becomes a survival thriller centered on dehydration, injury, phone signals, and increasingly desperate escape attempts.
Major twist
- The hosts discuss the late reveal that much of Becky’s interaction with Hunter is a psychological construct: Hunter died earlier, and Becky has been hallucinating/processing her friend in a Fight Club-style twist.
- They liked this reveal more than much of the movie’s middle section because it gave the story actual momentum.
Key Points from the Hosts
What they liked
- Virginia Gardner and Grace Caroline Currey are praised as highly watchable and convincing leads.
- The movie’s tension, especially in the final stretch, works well.
- They enjoyed the film more once it embraced its absurdity, especially:
- Becky fighting a vulture
- the egg-drop-style phone drop
- the over-the-top survival antics
- They appreciated that the movie is clearly designed as a low-budget, high-concept thriller.
What they mocked
- The central climbing setup is absurd:
- a rusty, abandoned tower
- almost no visible safety protocol
- unclear rope clipping and belaying logic
- The characters make a long list of baffling decisions:
- not clipping in properly
- not checking the tower’s structural integrity
- not securing the hair, supplies, or backpack
- treating the tower like an influencer stunt
- They questioned several script choices, including:
- Dan’s reluctance to say “I love you”
- the repeated use of dated-sounding dialogue and hashtags
- the strange, minimal role of the town and the sketchy men who steal the car
- They were especially amused by the movie’s reliance on implausible technology use:
- drone logistics
- phone battery/charging issues
- text messages as a rescue mechanism
Recurrent jokes and observations
- The hosts fixated on how often the movie accidentally becomes a commentary on:
- fear vs. recklessness
- social media/influencer behavior
- bad relationship dynamics
- They joked that the film feels like it was written by someone much older than the characters, especially because of lines like “tickle your whistle” and the awkward use of “hashtag.”
- They also noted that the movie’s survival rules are often less believable than the emotional melodrama.
Final Verdict
- Despite all the logic gaps, the hosts largely enjoyed Fall as a trashy, tension-filled, entertaining thriller.
- They thought the movie works best when it leans into its most ridiculous elements.
- Their main complaint is that the movie could have been even better with:
- more flashbacks
- more character depth
- a stronger sense of actual climbing competence
- a less obviously fake tower setup
Extra Notes
- The hosts mentioned the sequel, Fall 2 / Fall to Dead Point, and found the premise equally absurd: another extreme-height survival scenario with a tiny plank.
- They also highlighted the positive audience response to the film, citing many five-star reviews from viewers who found it genuinely nerve-wracking.