The Fall

R

Released May 9, 2008

1h 58m

Fantasy

Adventure

TRAILER

for The Fall: Trailer 1

List

62%

114 Reviews

Tomatometer

85%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A bedridden patient (Lee Pace) captivates a hospitalized girl (Catinca Untaru) with a fantastic tale involving heroes, mystics and villains on a desert island.

Read More

Read Less

Critics Consensus

More visually elaborate than the fragmented story can sometimes support, The Fall walks the line between labor of love and filmmaker self-indulgence.

Read Critics Reviews

Thunder C

Criminally underrated. Must be released in the theaters. to remind people what real art looks and sounds like. Not a big fat studio. Just pure art. Watched this one last weekend. At night. I was crying and I was laughing, often at the same time. How come I had never seen this one before? This is the movie to marvel at, to be dazzled by, once you watch it you'll never forget it. I do agree that this movie is not for everyone. One needs a spiritually developed entity to consume this one. The story is full of symbolism and a spectacular color palette. Everything seems to fall into place, no missed opportunities. No vanilla. That is how storytelling or a fairytale can feel so real it hurts. Exactly. It sucks you in, you can't be a passive bystander. The movie director Tarsem Singh is a genius, a man who is not afraid to do daring things, to be authentic, and to bare his soul. Location scouting, having the crew traveling to a few different countries, no green screen, no CGI. The big shots are the big shots and the action happening comes across so alive cause it was alive! The chemistry between the lead actors is just insane. You can't help rewinding certain episodes between Roy and the cheeky kid again and again because they were purely improvised, and off-script and that is why it felt like you are right there and this conversation is real cause it was real))) I also recommend checking out the behind-the-scenes videos on YouTube. The story of a man who feels that there is nothing left for him to live for, betrayed and abandoned, he just wants it to stop. He needs pills and he chooses the kid to go steal some for him. Unbeknownst to himself, though, he all of a sudden becomes engaged with a story being propelled by his grief and desire to cause pain, yet the story is carefully steered in another direction by Alexandria whose imagination actually visualizes the story Roy tells. "Why do you make everybody die?" "That's my story!" "Mine too" ..."... that's because our masked bandit is a coward and a liar... he's fake and a coward... He has to die". "No!" "He has nothing left for him" "His daughter" "He was not her father either" "She loves him!" His confession at the end of the story is heartbreaking. The intensity of emotion and their authenticity is bewildering, you simply forget this is a movie. The story is simple, visually spectacular, (this "muchness" about it, remember?))so straightforward that you are kept focused. That was the first movie I watched over the past few years that kept me off my phone! Not a single moment was I bored or distracted. I've added this movie to my "FOREVER FAVORITE" watchlist. Lee Pace is damn talented!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/11/24

Full Review

Julia K

My favorite movie ever. The best child actor performance I've ever seen. Honest, emotional, childlike. And the whole story pulls you into another world and doesn't let you go for a single moment for 120 minutes.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/31/23

Full Review

Mary M

Inexplicably underrated fantasy is one of the best movies of the 2000s. Filmed over four years in 28 countries, it is a triumph of the imagination, filmed without the use of computer-generated imagery. Critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the most extraordinary films I've ever seen" and it deserves the accolade.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/17/23

Full Review

Alex J

One of my ALL TIME favorite films! Besides the amazing acting performances from Lee Pace and the little girl, this film is a visual feast! A story told by a desperate adult, but viewed through the eyes of a child's imagination. The layers of fun, emotion and wonder all come to play in this stunning tale. REAL world locations add to its eye candy, and spectacular visuals. The story, although dark in its purpose, is strong in its bond between the 2 leads. I watch this film at least 2 times a year, it's both serious and full of wonder... just like life.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/05/23

Full Review

Julia Z

Absolutely stunning, fantastic, very subtle and emotional, full of poetry, really amazing, this movie is picture perfect in every scene! It's one of the best movies I've ever seen! Definitely a must see!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/09/23

Full Review

Nate B

The fact no CGI was used and instead they filmed real places in 30+ countries to get the movie's surreal visuals. Then you have Lee Pace in the lead role as a stunt man working in early 1900s Hollywood stuck in a hospital after a failure to commit suicide. Add in an innocent, curious, little Hispanic girl who's infatuated by a fantasy tale told by Pace throughout the film. The two of them sharing the screen together will absolutely melt your heart. It's a very simple story, but anchored in real human emotion and told in the most visually striking way possible.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/11/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Tarsem Singh

Director

Lee Pace

Roy Walker

Catinca Untaru

Alexandria

Justine Waddell

Evelyn

Robin Smith

Luigi

Julian Bleach

The Mystic

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

69%

49%

Solomon Kane

0%

23%

Beowulf

50%

40%

Beowulf & Grendel

0%

23%

Highlander II: The Quickening

89%

50%

The Green Knight

TRAILER

for The Green Knight

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Exclusive: The Fall – Tarsem’s Visual Companion – Part 2

Exclusive: The Fall – Tarsem’s Visual Companion – Part 1

UK Critics Consensus: How To Lose Friends & Alienate People Does Just That; Whilst Brideshead Revisited Is Resisted

The Fall: Trailer 1

2:05

View more videos

View more photos

Ty Burr

Boston Globe

Rated: 2/4

Nov 24, 2011

Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

Rated: 5/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: D+

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Jayne Nelson

Radio Times

As a story, The Fall misses its mark. As a work of art and a portrayal of childhood, it dazzles.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 16, 2023

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Mostly eschewing the digital effects that most filmmakers rely on today, The Fall presents a love letter to visual storytelling and, in its use of a stuntman as a protagonist, the tactile potential of cinema in the hands of dreamers and fabulists.

Rated: 4/4

Apr 13, 2023

Full Review

Chase Burns

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

It plays out like a Lady Gaga music video, but Tarsem's madcap dreaming feels justified by the end.

Jan 8, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

A bedridden patient (Lee Pace) captivates a hospitalized girl (Catinca Untaru) with a fantastic tale involving heroes, mystics and villains on a desert island.

Director: Tarsem Singh
Producer: Arjit Singh, Tommy Turtle
Screenwriter: Tarsem Singh, Dan Gilroy, Nico Soultanakis
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Production Co: Googly Films
Rating: R (Some Violent Images)
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 9, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 9, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.3M
Runtime: 1h 58m
Sound Mix: DTS