The Falling

Intense and clever Lydia and rebellious Abbie, are both 16 years old and studying at the same, overly strict, school. They carve their initials into an oak tree by a pond and vow never to lose touch. But Lydia already feels that Abbie is drifting away from her and soon her fears are confirmed. Struggling to find comfort and individuality within the strange atmosphere of the school and her troubled home-life, Lydia feels driven to discover what is really behind everything that seems wrong. As the fainting escalates Lydia confronts the authority figures around her! And in doing so, it forces old secrets to rise to the surface and she finds herself faced with a truth that she never expected...... If you've seen Morley's Dreams Of A Life, you will know just how dream like and oceanic her vision can be. Here, it's at its most intense, with some of the the most visceral subliminal imagery I've seen since Friedkin's Captain Howdy made an appearance to Father Merrin. My interpretation of the film, however wrong I may be, is that it's about sexual awakening, repression and oppression, after all, Abbie's explanation of an * is pretty much the same as the symptoms the girls are having when they 'fall'. The intense look of ecstasy they have on their faces as they fall, is somewhat disturbing, and as the 'fallings' become a more regular occurrence at the school, Morley injects some quite surprising humour into the proceedings. What is wonderful though about the film is that the reasoning is never clearly explained in the narrative. Are the girls folding under peer-group pressure? Is the spirit of Abbie possessing each sufferer? Or is it just a coping mechanism to deal with loss? Williams is wonderful as the tormented Lydia, and to imagining to live her dysfunctional, incestuous life, could be the horror element to the film. Revelations and actions in the final fifteen minutes of the film are truly heartbreaking, and this is also thanks to a wonderful turn from Maxine Peake as Lydia's agoraphobic, mentally unstable mother, nearly stealing the film from Williams. With elements and references from several movies, most noticeably Picnic At Hanging Rock, The Innocents, and The Wicker Man, The Falling is a wonderful gem that needs to be seemed out as soon as you can. It's a sublime psychedelic experience about coming to terms with major changes in life, with a devilishly black streak running through it. One of the years best movies.

Whilst taking a look on Youtube at trailers for upcoming movies I stumbled on a review by British critic Mark "big hands" Kermode on a stylish-looking Supernatural Drama.Walking home a few weeks later,I decided to take a look in a local second hand DVD store,and I was delighted to spot the official DVD being sold for only £2! Which led to me getting ready to fall into the falling. The plot- England 1969: Desperate to get away from her single, agoraphobic mum, Lydia starts to develop a close friendship with Abbie,who gets up to mischievous activities at the all-girls school with Lydia.Whilst Lydia is nervous around boys,Abbie dives right in,and ends up getting pregnant. As Abbie and Lydia try to keep the pregnancy hidden at the school,they both start to suffer from a fainting spell.Hit by a strong case of the fainting spell,the still-pregnant Abbie dies on the school floor in a coma-like state. Grieving over Abbie's death,Lydia starts to explore the power from her mysterious fainting,as the fainting spell spreads across the entire school. View on the film: Backed by a shimmering acoustic indie score from Tracey Thorn,writer/director Carol Morley & cinematographer Agnès Godard give the film (produced by Luc "son of Nic" Roeg) a lush supernatural green which is rubbed up against the rising damp of the late '60s.Splicing subliminal images into the title, Morley touches on the supernatural with a real delicacy,as light greens and deep river blues surrounding the girls gives the fainting spell a magical, rustic quality,which also subtly connects to the loss of childhood for Lydia.As a fainting epidemic covers the school,Morley keeps Lydia's home life firmly grounded,with each room being covered in dour wallpaper and thick clouds of cigarette smoke,which Lydia tries to escape from by curling up in claustrophobic corners of the rooms. Staying away from overtly stepping into Horror territory,Morley brilliantly uses the supernatural element in the screenplay to give the movie a deeply unsettling atmosphere,thanks to the mass fainting heightening the grief that Lydia is gripped by,which slowly covers the school in a psychologically horrific mass hysteria.For the central relationship between Lydia & Abbie,Morley entwines the girls in a fragile,obsessive bond,as Abbie's exploration of her sexuality presses down on Lydia's fear of loneliness.Cast adrift by the loss of Abbie, (played by a superb Florence Pugh) Morley makes the tough rules of Lydia's (played by a powerfully raw Maisie Williams) school open up the raw nerves of Lydia's grief,thanks to the closed emotions sending Lydia's fear and terror across the school like a magik myth,whose spell is cast in a hauntingly ambiguous final note by Morley,as the school falls into the falling.

source: The Falling

source: The Falling

((Warning this piece contains a spoiler)) I have just watched this film and I am quiet confused. I just could not understand the whole story. It started a mystery and ended so. It started with a fine flow until things begun to get me really lost with the story. I did not really feel that there was actually a story-line. I kept waiting for the scene where someone actually tells me what was wrong in there?! It is one of the movies that keep the audience wondering because it has many scattered messages and problems that are never solved at the end. However, I loved how the friendship of Abbie and Lydia was pictured, so intense and real. This part got me very convinced and I was expecting Abbie and Lydia to have gone through the mystery and solved it together…alas. . However, I loved Florence Pugh's performance in this film. I felt like after she died, the whole story died with her. Maisie Williams's could have done better because at some parts, her acting made the situation even more confusing….and strange. The visuals in the film were amazing and the music as well. I am upset because I was waiting so badly for this movie to be released.

This film evoked many memories from school days in an all girls grammar school, especially as I was watching it as part of a reunion with my old school friends. I was fascinated from the first scene... at times disturbing and at others strangely amusing, I both laughed and screamed out loud! A dark tale about teenage girls, single sex education, family conflict and the importance and impact of teenage peer groups. The film successfully recreated the sixties era with a fantastic cast led by Maisie Williams and Maxine Peake, who are both spectacular in complex and compelling roles. The film is beautifully directed by the talented Carol Morley in a departure from her usual gritty realism. Not at all what I was expecting but intriguing and well worth watching.

"Picnic at Hanging Rock" a fine film of the 70s, telling a story of how a group of schoolgirls disappeared on a visit to Ayers Rock. This film had it eerie, creepy, atmospheric, less talky than this; in other words classy. Alas this film, which I thought would match this from the reviews I read, did not come anywhere near it. Whereas this was certainly a personal project to writer / director, to everyone else it really is a non-sensical load of tosh. Neither eerie, classy, engaging or atmospheric. The school group was similar to "Picnic" i.e. pretty centre of attention girl, mixed up clever girl down to fat eat a lot girl...pretty stereotypical characters. When the fainting/shaking actually occurs, especially in the school assembly scene I'm afraid it became comical. They were obviously well drilled on how to faint. The Director did try to convey a sense of nature at work here. For example, intimating that Abbie's spirit lingered among the old oak tree, straight through to hearing fox cries, owls hooting, even in the scenes shot in Lydia's house! Needless to say the (step)brother and (step)sister "getting it on" scenes were pretty uncomfortable. On that point was not convinced on the Mother character, especially the acting. Major plus however, Florence Pugh, she is going to go far. A great looking girl with a distinctive voice and she can sing play guitar.

THE FALLING is a film detailing an outbreak of fainting at an all-girl school in 1969. Such events are well-documented in real life and often have the authorities and various specialists puzzled, although it's widely acknowledged that they're psychosomatic in nature. So there's potential here for an interesting storyline. Unfortunately, the storyline of THE FALLING is all over the place. For the first half hour it's a typical tale of teenage angst and friendship. Things take a darker turn with the introduction of incestuous sub-plots and the like, but then they become ridiculous with the well-choreographed fainting spells. Subliminal imagery abounds, alongside some hinted-at supernatural aspects, but it all adds up to far less than the sum of its components. What's the message here, anyway? What's it all about? I previously saw director Carol Morley's docu-drama DREAMS OF A LIFE and that was a similar film in that it had an interesting premise but sub-standard execution. Plus, Morley doesn't seem to be very assured at getting good performances out of her actors, and the acting is of a distinctly wishy-washy standard here. I love Maisie Williams in GAME OF THRONES, but she seems unsure of herself here and sometimes just feels like Arya in a school uniform.

Maisie Williams is extraordinary in the lead role as a band of school girls fall foul of an epidemic that causes them to faint. With no sign of any other health issues, the school teachers and parents are lead to believe this could all be a hoax at the hands of the attention seeking Lydia (Williams) who's close clique friends fall victim first. There are undertones of something much more sinister than a coming of age tale in 60's England and after several observations it's still not clear as the reason why the children have these episodes. What is clear is that Carole Morley's brand of storytelling is as intriguing as it is gripping. The ambiguity behind the happenings is only part of the story as there's complex teachers, a home relationship between Lydia and her mother (Maxine Peake) on the brink of collapse and the death of close friend Abbie (Florence Pugh) all culminating in a spiral of madness for a young girl struggling to balance popularity and victimisation. The relationship between Williams and Pugh, is mesmerising to watch and to learn that it has an end only adds to the heartache growing inside William's character. Be warned, there are scenes that may make you feel uncomfortable but these schoolgirls are innocent at heart and only darkened by their surroundings and darkness tiered down from their teachers especially that of disciplined head teacher (Greta Scacchi). There's a darkness around the children that plagues from Lydia with a domino effect, and as the teachers try to control the children's behaviour though strict discipline, the conditions of the children only intensify. Set in the midst of the sexual revolution of the 1960's there are some uncomfortable scenes that only add to Williams confused state of mind and without her friend to comfort her, the difficulties that surround her only worsen her state of mind. In many parts, 'The Falling' is a coming of age story and blurs the line between friends and unconscious followers. At its heart, this is Lydia's story but is as much about the effects of those around her as the mystery behind the girls behaviour spreads. Whether Morley's undertones of witchcraft are purposeful or accidental, 'The Falling' is a bewitching tale that is a slow build up to very little. The film's attraction to a mainstream audience may be lost in its openness to be akin to an open ended book to be read by an open mind. Whether that be one more familiar with 'Downton Abbey' or 'The Wicker Man', there is something for a hardened film fan in any genre, just don't expect the answers to be served on a plate. > Martyn Wakefield is writer and editor for BloodGuts UK Horror and has contributed over 250 reviews dedicated to the horror genre.

Having watched the trailer this looked like a very interesting movie. I was also a big fan of the directors previous work, Dreams of a Life. What starts out as a coming of age movie turns into a complete farce with some of the most cringe worthy scenes i've seen in recent years. And I'm not talking about the incest scenes. I seen A Serbian Film so this was tame compared to that. I'm talking about the fainting scenes. Just simply embarrassing. As for the 1960's Tales of the Unexpected dancing I was trying not to laugh. How on earth did anyone read this script and finance it? Some of the visuals are pleasing with beautiful spring like colours. Unfortunately this isn't enough to save it from being one of the worst movies of 2015. If you're looking for an interesting movie with a retro look and feel I suggest going for The Duke of Bergundy. Don't waste your money on this mess