Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- unsettling
- dreamy
- melancholic
- quiet evening
- arthouse movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly admired the film's performances, unsettling atmosphere, ambitious period setting, and thought-provoking treatment of psychological contagion, while finding its melodramatic resolution uneven.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The girls' unexplained fainting epidemic functions as both a concrete crisis and an expression of collective distress.
Lydia and Abbie's friendship unfolds amid strict school discipline, sexual awakening, and constrained girlhood.
The fainting epidemic and its aftermath invite both mass-psychogenic and uncanny interpretations.
The strict English girls' school governs the characters' behavior and magnifies the epidemic's destabilizing effects.
Films like The Falling, and why
Picnic at Hanging Rock
shared 1960s girls' school setting, psychological mystery, unsettling atmosphere, and themes of female friendship and repression
If....
shared boarding-school rebellion, period drama, sexual awakening, and institutional tension
The Innocents
shared eerie psychological ambiguity, female-centered dread, and supernatural suggestion within a period setting
Don't Look Now
shared 1960s atmosphere, psychological disturbance, visual unease, and themes of repression
Movie Details
- Director
- Carol Morley
- Release Date
- 2015-04-24
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Rating
- 5.1 / 10 (200)
Cast
- Maisie Williams
- Maxine Peake
- Greta Scacchi
- Monica Dolan
- Mathew Baynton
- Florence Pugh
- Joe Cole
- Morfydd Clark
- Anna Burnett
- Evie Hooton
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Falling about?
- At a strict 1969 girls' school, an intimate friendship and a spreading fainting epidemic expose the volatile pressures of adolescence, repression, and collective anxiety.
- What is The Falling like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Falling as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Falling violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in The Falling.
- What did critics think of The Falling?
- Critics broadly admired the film's performances, unsettling atmosphere, ambitious period setting, and thought-provoking treatment of psychological contagion, while finding its melodramatic resolution uneven.
- Which films are like The Falling?
- Films with a similar feel include Picnic at Hanging Rock, If...., The Innocents, and Don't Look Now.
- How long is The Falling?
- The Falling runs 103 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Falling?
- In United States, The Falling streams on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel.
