On Falling

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On Falling

2024

1h 44m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

94%

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16 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

ON FALLING tells the story of Aurora, a Portuguese migrant working as a warehouse picker in Edinburgh, Scotland. Trapped between the confines of a vast distribution center and the solitude of her own bedroom, Aurora seeks out every opportunity to resist the alienation and isolation that threaten her sense of self.

Danny Leigh

Financial Times

The mood in On Falling is a shade of blue, precisely rendered in small gestures and fleeting moments. As Aurora drifts into ever deeper solitude, the film has the economy of a haiku.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 12, 2025

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

This terrific English-language feature debut from Portuguese-born, Scotland-based director Laura Carreira makes a satisfying companion piece to Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 8, 2025

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

Thee completeness of its construction remains a marvel throughout. And Santos deserves endless praise for communicating the despairing human eager to break out from the passive drone society wants her to be. An astonishing, unsettling fable.

Rated: 5/5

Mar 6, 2025

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Connor Lightbody

Live & Breathe Media (Substack)

On Falling is no call-to-arms per se as it rebuffs any attempt to dramatically persuade audiences; it is instead a time capsule of how miserable life is within capitalism in its current form.

Mar 21, 2025

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Dallas King

FILMHOUNDS Magazine

Audiences can go to the movies to escape the everyday world. Yet cinema also has the power, and responsibility, to hold a mirror up to that world. Carreira does just that and delivers a timely, relevant, and sobering portrait of the true cost of living.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 12, 2025

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Alexa Dalby

Dog and Wolf

[On Falling is] full of subtle details – reading them gives a picture of a kind of life in Britain today, and what it’s like for someone trying hard, failing and falling through the cracks.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 12, 2025

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a.r. k

One word: catharsis.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/28/25

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Patrick M

On Falling is a beautifully crafted exploration of isolation and alienation set against the background of the 'wage slave' lifestyle many in our society now labour under. Joana Santos plays Aurora beautifully and with a halting tenderness that brings out the very human emotions at the heart of this story. The Director, Laura Carreira, gives us many close ups and moments of poignancy which are designed to elicit a human response from us. In that she succeeds. Amid the welter of super hero films, franchises and remakes, it's refreshing to see cinema as it was meant to be; telling a human story and doing so beautifully. Bravo to all concerned.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/19/25

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Laura Carreira

Director

Joana Santos

Aurora

Inês Vaz

Vera

Piotr Sikora

Kris

Jake McGarry

Alec

Neil Leiper

Ben

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Synopsis

ON FALLING tells the story of Aurora, a Portuguese migrant working as a warehouse picker in Edinburgh, Scotland. Trapped between the confines of a vast distribution center and the solitude of her own bedroom, Aurora seeks out every opportunity to resist the alienation and isolation that threaten her sense of self.

Director: Laura Carreira
Producer: Jack Thomas-O'Brien, Mário Patrocínio
Screenwriter: Laura Carreira
Production Co: BBC Film, BRO Cinema
Genre: Drama
Original Language: British English
Runtime: 1h 44m