‘The Falling’ DVD Review: Maisie Williams Shines In Eccentric Film

The Falling is an eccentric film about a troubled young girl who becomes increasingly distressed after her best friend suddenly dies.

‘THE FALLING’ DVD REVIEW

The Falling is set in an English girl’s school in 1969 and revolves around a troubled young girl named Lydia, her best friend Abbie and their classmates. Lydia (played by Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams) and Abbie (Florence Pugh) are best friends with a very unique connection. Lydia is quite an eccentric young girl. She is highly intelligent, but also very emotional. Abbie is very popular in her school, but is also very rebellious individual — sleeping with boys and breaking school rules.

When Abbie finds out she is pregnant, the two girls plan to end the pregnancy by themselves. Abbie starts having dizzy spells at school and other complications from the pregnancy, until one day she gets a nosebleed, faints and dies. Abbie’s death sends Lydia into a state of hysteria, and suddenly she starts to have fainting spells herself. The other girls in the school, who all loved Abbie as well, start to mimic Abbie’s dress style, hairstyle and even the way she would speak and act. Soon enough, Lydia and her classmates all begin to have fainting spells, and since most of the fainting happens in the school (where Abbie died) the teachers become concerned there may be something about the school that’s causing the girls to become ill.

Lydia’s brother, Kenneth (Joe Cole), who was sleeping with Abbie, suggests that something evil may be causing the girls to have fainting spells. In their grief, Kenneth and Lydia begin to get inappropriately close to one another. They both loved Abbie and they feel that being close to each other makes them closer to her, as well. Their mother, Eileen (Maxine Peake), who suffers from agoraphobia and can’t leave the house, is completely oblivious to what is happening in her daughter’s life.

Abbie’s death affects everyone in different ways. Eileen, who was very close to Abbie, starts to close herself off from the world even more, and Lydia becomes increasingly annoyed with her mother, blaming her for their father leaving. The headmistress, who wants to dismiss the girls’ fainting as hysteria is torn, because she is also concerned that the school may get into trouble if she does nothing.

Occasionally the pacing was a little slow, but overall the story was told very well. The characters are all very interesting, from Lydia’s phobic mother to the apathetic headmistress, played by Monica Dolan. Williams, who has previous experience playing troubled characters, gave an excellent performance in the film. The Falling is a very eccentric story. As it takes place in a very quiet, secluded area in England in the late 60s, the film, too, is quite somber, with very soft or little music. The effect is interesting, though, as it helps to capture the morbid intensity of Lydia’s experience.

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