"The Falling" (2014)

The Trailer:

Director: Carol Morley
Writer: Carol Morley
Cast: Maisie Williams, Florence Pugh, Maxine Peake
Plot Summary: At an all girls private school in 1960's England, Lydia (Maisie Williams) and Abbie (Florence Pugh) are best friends. But after tragedy pulls them apart, a strange, mysterious fainting epidemic travels throughout the school, crumbling the strength any of the girls had.

I know I say this often, but this is definitely not a film for everyone. If you go into it with the trailer alone as your only source of pretext for the film, you'll surely be disappointed. The trailer gives the impression that this is some sort paranormal, occult, mystery film, but I can tell you right now that it's not. However, it's not a terrible film. . . As long as you don't have any high expectations for it. If you simply watch it and lets it's strange, hazy beauty wash over you you might even enjoy it like I did.

What I appreciate most about The Falling is the strange female energy that bursts from the center of it: it's intoxicating, erotic, euphoric, envious, and disturbing. There is a barely-there plot that will annoy some, but I happened to like that. It's the atmosphere that breathes life into the film. It is the actions of the girls, the teachers, the parents that drives the story along. And even when you come upon the final answer to everything, though moot it may be, you won't feel cheated for having watched it. The Falling is special in that way: it gives you a problem and instead of unraveling it and trying to find a solution for it, it veers into this other, weirder, stranger territory that is surreal and haunting. You get this bigger picture of the vulnerability of girlhood, of how easy it is to let yourself be swept away by a seemingly organic phenomena and not being able to pull your way out of it, to become so involved in something that it's impossible to get out. It is a marker of the strengths that young girls can give each other, of the bonds formed between them that verge on romance, and of the puberty-driven, lustful needs that motivate a weird sort of competition between them. It's also a vivid picture of how, when given something to grant them substance, these young girls will cling to it with everything they've got. The Falling is also a reminder of teenage angst; the feelings of anger towards the world, the desire to be part of something, the need to fit in, the thirst for something more. But even further, not only does The Falling expose the angst of teenagers, but of girls. And in the 1960's context, we are given a more oppressed version of teenage girlhood that forces the girls to conform to strange standards in which they all deal with independently. There is a constant tug-o-war between desperation and liberation that is interesting. All of these elements combined make for a bizarre display of the graduation from girl to woman, from child to a being of complexity.

Not only are we given a picture of the puzzling struggles of girlhood, we are forced to become completely isolated just as the girls are. At their prep school, they are only exposed to female energy— except for the few male teachers they have and Lydia's odd brother. Not only are they isolated in that sense, their school is located in the middle of a ominous, dense forest that completely closes them in. While on that topic, the forest is filled with writhing, gnarled trees that almost look human— suffering humans— that create thick, dense shadows. The forest is a symbol to remind us of past horrors and tragedies that have been buried and kept secret. Which only adds to the feeling of isolation. Actually, isolation is probably the most recurring theme throughout the film, that and the need to break free from that. There's this fluttery sense of freedom felt whenever one of the girls has a fainting spell that evokes a nostalgic suggestion of teenage blooming that is sometimes forgotten in adulthood. But opposite that, the film also travels to some dark places. I can't talk about those dark places too much as it would expose some of the more pivotal moments of the film, but just know that it gets disturbing. Really, really disturbing.

I'll be honest, The Falling is perplexing. Even after its conclusion, I sat there saying "what the fuck just happened?". Actually, I said that multiple times throughout the film. There are many moments that seem to serve a far greater purpose that is never revealed. But I can't help but truly like this film. It's darkly, grotesquely beautiful. The cinematography is fantastic, the direction is better, and the acting is the icing on the proverbial cake. Maisie Williams is the undeniable star of the film. She gives the most memorable and haunting performance of a girl lost in the world. I absolutely enjoyed her portrayal of Lydia, and is in fact the only reason I continued to watch the movie after my first "what the fuck" thought. Anyways, The Falling is, again, not a film for everyone: it's weird and without a solid plot (maybe its biggest flaw), but if you like films that have deeper, more profound textures and makes you think and question your own life, then The Falling is definitely for you.

"In Your Eyes" (2014)

The Trailer:

Director: Brin Hill
Writer: Joss Whedon
Cast: Michael Stahl-David, & Zoe Kazan
Plot Summary: While living two totally different lives, Dylan (Michael Stahl-David) and Rebecca (Zoe Kazan), realize that they somehow have a strange telepathic connection that allows them to see, feel, and hear what is happening to the other person. With this connection they create a bond that will take each of them to the their limits and force them each to make decisions that will change their lives forever.

A sci-fi romance, you say? Well in theory that sounds good. Actually, I can think of a few films that pull off this genre-bending (is it really genre-bending?) well, but In Your Eyes is not one of them. In all honesty, though, I think it is merely a matter of taste in which my taste isn't shitty as fuck. Haha, I kid, I kid. I just don't like romance movies, simple as that. So why, you might ask, did I watch this particular movie? Well I thought it could be interesting with a fairly original concept and all, but it ended up being the same sappy, eye-roll inducing, ridiculous story as all the rest. But if that's what you're into, then be my guest. Go ahead and watch it, cry your gross tears and let your heart fill with joy at this marvelous never-before-told love story. Like I said, it's a matter of taste.

You know, I would delve into the plot and all that but really, like I mentioned before, it's the same basic outline as any other romance movie ever made: person A meets person B, instant attraction, their love is impossible though as one/both of them has a partner already (or some kind of obstacle is in their way), but their love cannot be denied so they eventually end up together. Trust me, that's not a spoiler... Unless you've never seen a romance movie in your entire life and this is the one that you were going to watch to introduce you to the romance cinema world, in which case, I'm sorry I shouldn't have told you that they end up together. Haha, but no, seriously, it's never a question whether these two people are going to end up together. It's obvious it's going to happen, so the only reason to watch it is to see how their story will unfold. Especially because Dylan and Rebecca have never actually met each other, and have only had contact with one another telepathically. Which is where most of my grievances lie. My first issue is how they come to realize what is happening to them. Though they've had the telepathic connection all there lives it seems, they never realized it until this one day (It's never disclosed why they hadn't realized it earlier and what made this particular day special, which is a bit annoying). And when coming upon the realization they both immediately believe it to be true, that they do have some weird, unexplained telepathic connection with the other person, but their acceptance is too quick. If some crazy shit like this ever happened to me, the first thought I would have is that I'm hallucinating, or schizophrenic, or something! I would demand proof that this person who I'm telepathically communicating with is a real person and not just in my head. Good ways to prove it might be a phone call, a text message, a facebook message, but nope, Dylan and Rebecca just accept that this is fact and that their not having auditory hallucinations. Okay, whatever! My next issue is their complete lack of discretion. Whenever they speak to each other, they have to do it out loud (they can't hear each other's thoughts), so it would seem that it is of utmost importance to make it seem as though they're not talking to themselves while out and about. But do either of our protagonists do this? If you said no, then you'd be correct. I mean seriously, would it have been that hard to remember to hold your iPhone to your ear or even wear the earbuds with a microphone on it so that people don't think you're crazy? But no, our little idiot protagonists talk away to one another without a care in the world all the while everyone around them is freaked out because their talking to themselves. Which consequently leads to troubles in their respective lives. My third issue is how cookie-cutter Dylan and Rebecca are. Rebecca is the wholesome, skittish, step below the manic-pixie-dream girl; she is a damsel in distress (her husband is a total jerk and treats her like a child). While, Dylan is the at-heart good guy disguised as a bad boy: the ultimate hero. Again, I may only be annoyed because I loathe romance movies so much, but seriously, did they have to be so goddamn perfect for each other? All through the movie I kept wondering how the movie could've been different had either Dylan or Rebecca had a connection with someone else like an older person, or someone who has an adventurous life, or a famous person, or someone living on the other side of the world, or a murderer. Any one of those options would have been infinitely more interesting, though not as romantic which is what the creators were going for, I suppose. And my last issue with the movie is the sheer ridiculous, convenient, stupid ending. !!!Spoiler Alert!!! You know I can suspend my disbelief to buy the whole telepathy thing between Dylan and Rebecca, but I can't and I won't sit here and believe how 1)convenient it is that Dylan is an expert lock pick and, low and behold, Rebecca needs to pick a lock to escape the mental institution her husband has committed her to (wow, what a great Shyamalan-esque twist, much creativity) and 2) how Rebecca, who is known to be abundantly un-athletic, can outrun multiple institution staff during her escape when she didn't have a head start or anything. Really, no one believes that. Then there's an unnecessary and completely ludicrous car chase scene with Dylan and the cops while he's on his way to save Rebecca from her mental institution nightmare! Oh please, could there have been anything more stupid to add to the ending? Oh, and then both Rebecca and Dylan jump onto a moving train and escape to Canada (I think). !!!Spoiler Alert Over!!! Up until the moment right before Rebecca's great escape, the movie was okay. I could accept what was happening and was expecting them to eventually come together in real life and have their happily ever after, but no. The creators didn't just want a simple happy ending, they had to have a conglomerate of cheesy, ridiculous, action-packed moments to end the movie with a bang. Mostly, though, it just weakened the story as a whole. You know, for the most part, I can see why the creators chose such cliché characters and storyline—they knew that with such an odd premise, there needed to be some familiarity so as not to off-put the viewers—, but they could've done something else to tie up the movie in a neater fashion. That's all I'm sayin'.

Overall, In Your Eyes is a decent love story with a bit of a sci-fi twist. It's nothing special or groundbreaking, but something to watch when you want to see the beauty of a budding relationship. The acting is great. I've written about Zoe Kazan before in my post about What If in December 2015: she was lovely there and she's just as lovely here. Michael Stahl-David does a solid job as Dylan. It's a good story if you're a true romance fan. So go ahead and watch it if that's what you're into. Would I watch it again? Nah, I'll pass.