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The Falling

Play trailer Poster for The Falling Released Aug 7, 2015 1h 42m Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
78% Tomatometer 40 Reviews 35% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A mysterious fainting epidemic strikes several students (Maisie Williams, Florence Pugh) at an all-girl's high school in late-1960s England.
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The Falling

The Falling

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Critics Consensus

Well-acted and overall unsettling, The Falling delivers thought-provoking thrills -- and suggests a bright future for writer-director Carol Morley.

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Critics Reviews

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Leslie Felperin The Hollywood Reporter There are so many acute insights, striking images and impressive performances in it, not least from lead Maisie Williams, it's a tragic shame that elsewhere inexperience shows and the last 15 minutes devolve into a morass of melodramatic incident. Dec 15, 2015 Full Review Elise Nakhnikian Slant Magazine The film all leads to a melodramatic climax that wraps up the main character's explosive acting out in a too-neat package. Rated: 2/4 Aug 23, 2015 Full Review Mark Kermode Observer (UK) Even when the narrative plays its melodramatic hand, and closure is dragged half-drowned from the waters of ambiguity, the ripples of unresolved tension remain unstilled. Rated: 4/5 Apr 26, 2015 Full Review Alistair Lawrence Common Sense Media Writer and director Carol Morley imagines a neat twist on the coming-of-age drama, but struggles to find a way to nurture its spectacle, to the point where characters treat teen girls fainting on mass as a tiring inconvenience. Jun 4, 2024 Full Review Marya E. Gates Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) You can also feel shades of Picnic At Hanging Rock in some of the film’s shot compositions and its woozy atmosphere. Feb 13, 2024 Full Review Jordan Brooks Vague Visages Morley pushes the film’s "mystery” beyond any audience guessing games to a level of bewilderment above any useful analysis, leaving viewers in a state of excited shock. Aug 2, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Ian S A movie that had some good ingredients but never gelled. Florence Pugh's performance was a sign of things to come. The music was effective but a bit repetitive. Visually good but the drama was too detached which meant a lack of engagement, at least by this viewer. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/11/25 Full Review Audience Member Slow, mostly predictable, and about as emotionally moving as a Zoloft prescription. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/05/23 Full Review Hugo S "The Falling" has an eerie and unique story: a girls' school in the late 60's is the stage of an epidemic hysterical fainting. The strange phenomenon is a metaphor for the contagious sexual liberation that starts with the death of an emancipated girl. The movie is a melodrama with some subtle elements of the supernatural. Beautifully weird! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/19/23 Full Review David M For a film that centers on what may or may not be an outbreak of hysteria, this is surprisingly low-key - and all the more powerful for its restraint. Maisie Williams' lead performance is nothing short of remarkable. Given that this is a film about said hysteria amongst a group of girls, I wondered if the naming of Florence Pugh's character as Abigail was a nod to The Crucible. Similarly to that great play, the words of girls or young women are doubted and second-guessed; by adults - especially men; it's also very specifically a film about the specific, often unvoiced, experience of teenage girls learning what their bodies are and how they relate to those bodies with their minds, emotions and sexuality. A mention also for the excellent music, which together with director Carol Morley's deft uses of flashed images throughout, weaves an unsettling air of uncertainty all through the film, an uncertainty which is never fully resolved. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member i watched this movie it was little too boring for me also i didn't know what was going on. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member I can't say much without spoiling the story but the last couple of minutes of the feature are an amazing and truly deep emotional payback. Well done! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Falling

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Movie Info

Synopsis A mysterious fainting epidemic strikes several students (Maisie Williams, Florence Pugh) at an all-girl's high school in late-1960s England.
Director
Carol Morley
Producer
Luc Roeg, Cairo Cannon
Screenwriter
Carol Morley
Distributor
Cinedigm
Production Co
Cannon and Morley Productions, BBC Films, independent entertainment, Head Gear Films, British Film Institute (BFI)
Genre
Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 7, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 9, 2016
Runtime
1h 42m
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