Fall 2: Deadpoint is a tense exercise in vertical anxiety that narrowly justifies its existence
For fans of extreme heights, Fall 2: Deadpoint will leave you wanting more. The first couple of seasons have a lot of potential for great narrative, but Season 2 settles for the bare minimum. This season is great, however, for the survival film genre minimalists, but by no means the rest of us. Many will agree that the character development and depth could have been way better.
Verticality as a Narrative Engine
The film is at its strongest when dealing with how visceral its setting can be. By placing the story up on the risky highs of Thailand’s Mount Kwan, the directors bring the vertigo-inducing scenes of the earlier film back. The focus then falls on Craig Strahorn’s cinematography, where he shows the audience, with piercing clarity, the sheer and terrifying drop, forcing the audience to face the void below. Many would argue that the film doesn’t utilize the location to its fullest effect, but the scenes where the characters are shown to be navigating treacherous and narrow rock faces, are some of the best in the film. The sound design and thinking of which construction of these scenes bring a sense of real world danger, rather than the digital world, which the film is most adept at utilizing. When the script captures the physical struggle of the climb, that is when the film is at its best.
A Shift Toward Pulpy Melodrama
The film tries too hard by adopting a soap-opera style. Harriet Slater and Arsema Thomas try their best but are held back by some extremely clunky writing. The writing is often either hampering their work or simply not helping. There are also attempts to show them dealing with loss and family and legacy issues. These attempts do make the story way more emotionally involving, but there is also a detachment from the issue of survival. This writing basically creates more problems than it solves. It also fully loses the linear thinking and focus of the first movie.
This new film loses a lot of people who liked and preferred the first film. This is because the expansion goes way beyond what people wanted and needed. However, this expansion sticks to the basic formula of the first film, and that’s actually a good thing.
The Verdict on the Ascent
This movie will satisfy brevet audiences. It’s not too deep. If you want to feel like you are taking a roller coaster ride, then you will likely enjoy this movie. That being said, this movie is not for people who want to follow a good narrative with some character development or a good script. It is cheap, but still, it serves as a good genre entertainment piece.
Fall 2: Deadpoint: Ending Explained
(Spoilers ahead) The mountain acts as a metaphor for the cycle of grief that has ultimately led to the demise of the characters’ loved ones. The characters are constantly reminded of the fears and losses they have experienced and have to confront the ghosts of their loved ones. The film illustrates that fear is not worth holding on to when at the end of it, we die anyway. For the finale, the characters are rewarded for their dangerous sacrilegious acts and pursue the sacred. The finale suggests that climbing the mountains is a ritually destructive way to cope and a way to achieve closure.
