Fall 2: Deadpoint

by Mike McGranaghan

I’ve got a pretty intense fear of heights, so the 2022 thriller Fall was a particularly tense experience. I nearly threw up watching the movie – both times I saw it. The story of two young women who get stranded atop a 2,000-foot-high radio tower proved eerily similar to nightmares I’ve had. Now there’s a sequel, Fall 2: Deadpoint, where two more young women are stranded even higher and with even less room to move. I nearly threw up again, so it’s probably safe to call the picture a success.

Original star Virginia Gardner returns as Shiloh in flashbacks, as the plot revolves around her character’s sister, Jax (Harriet Slater). Jax is grappling with Shiloh’s death and feeling guilt over something she said the last time they saw each other. A chance to heal presents itself when Shiloh’s old friend Luce (Arsema Thomas) suggests they honor her by completing what was to be the next item on her bucket list. The duo heads to Thailand, where they hire tour guide John (Tom Brittney) to take them on an illegal hike around Mount Kwan. A plank walkway extends around the mountain, 4000 feet in the air. While up there, a rockslide destroys the planks on either side, leaving the women trapped with nowhere to go.

I’m getting a little nauseous simply recapping the plot.

Fall had a simplicity that made it special. We’ve all seen radio and television towers. We’ve all wondered what it would be like to be at the top of one. Fall 2’s premise is a little less relatable, since few of us have been to Thailand to see the plank trail, which is indeed real. (And if you want to feel like you’re going to throw up, check out some of the videos on YouTube.) The characters are less interesting than those played by Gardner and Grace Caroline Curry in the first movie, too, although Jax does become somewhat more developed by the end.

Those qualms aside, the movie accomplishes its mission of generating vertiginous thrills. Visual effects used to create the illusion of height are quite convincing. It’s stomach-churning to see Jax and Luce teetering on the precipice of death as they maneuver around the few inches of space provided by those rickety old planks. A sequence where Luce attempts to walk across the brackets sticking out of the mountain’s side (where planks used to be) will leave you unsure whether to grip the armrests of your seat or put your hands over your eyes. The finale includes a shocking, gasp-inducing moment that certainly lives up to the title.

Directors Michael and Peter Spierig (Winchester) do a lot of little things to increase the tension. There are closeups of loose brackets and untightened bolts popping out of the boards. There are shots looking straight down, but also a few looking straight up, a perspective acrophobics will tell you can be just as sickening. Sound effects – wind blowing, wood creaking, carabiners clicking ominously into place – give the film an almost subliminal impact. The Spierigs know how to play on the audience’s nerves. I’m surprised they didn’t shoot in 3D.

Fall 2: Deadpoint really only intends to provide excitement. Plot development and characterization are perfunctory, at best. The movie is exciting, though, so the fact that it doesn’t quite approach the original is forgivable. You get exactly what you’re paying for with this sequel. Bring a vomit bag and maybe some Dramamine to the theater with you.