WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
Monsters. We all have to deal with them at one point in life or another. In what form they take, what power over us they have, and hence how we might choose to rid ourselves of them or otherwise live with them is a completely different tale altogether. As a small girl, Annessa (Jessica Hilbrecht) lived in the shadow of a broken home, yet found ways to occupy herself within a safe world filled with happiness and wonder as any child should. Years turn on, but the loss of her mother (Lindsey McNeill) and subsequent, ongoing issues with her father, Alvin (Robert Beddow), cause the now-teenaged Annessa (Emma Houghton) to be less than truly happy, both at home and school.
Subject to unpopularity on top of related harassment and ridicule, Annessa’s attempts to attain some semblance of acceptance is met with disdain and prejudice from classmates and basic apathy at home from her troubled father. However, her circumstances and life outlook change dramatically in first coming face to face in the woods with Charlie (Tom Antoni), a disfigured giant of a man with the mentality of a 5-year old. Despite this, an undeniable connection followed by friendship develops between the two outcasts, bringing a joy neither would have thought possible. But as the world does with misfits, situations arise that threaten to destroy what they each have. More tragically, the primal nature Charlie holds within him to protect things he possesses opens doors to potentially fatal choices for them both.
Next, my Mind:
Edmonton, Alberta’s Christopher White, who wrote, directed, produced, and edited this first foray into indie feature-length film, successfully makes his intentionally reversal black & white film stock-shot effort burst forth as a tribute to classic silent film-era monster movies. Invoking that period’s tone, mood, and character-driven horror/thriller atmosphere, yet still bringing it into the modern age, the cinematography is alive with grays and shadows, ebbing and flowing along with the characters, and providing the grainy look desired here. It honestly makes everything about the narrative feel stripped down to its bare essence, and that is needed in this style of storytelling, when both the “monster” and the girl are in that place of absolute emotional and physical vulnerability.
Houghton is a serious gem in this film, as her portrayal of Annessa is so beautifully honest, heartfelt, aching, and driven that one cannot resist falling completely into sympathy for her and empathy with her as her journey through the betrayal-filled existence she inhabits is given a blatant ray of unexpected sunshine via the likewise fantastic Antoni as Charlie, the looming, almost “Hunchback of Notre Dame”/”Beauty & The Beast”-like creature he is, despite really only being the product of his own harsh upbringing, longing for someone to not be afraid of him, but rather offer the simplicity of acceptance, friendship, and sense of being loved, which he gains in Annessa. How these two actors enact the pair’s spiraling downward lives is equally heartbreaking yet strangely endearing.
Fine supporting turns by Colin McDonald as Annessa’s less than scrupulous boyfriend Kyle and Leasa Lachance as a wickedly catty, elitist Tynell add to the greater themes being presented here. Overall, “I Fall Down” is a fresh example of its style of filmmaking while also being a platform to illustrate the depths human beings can sink to in their treatment of one another, and that while those darker urges may exist within, how a supposed “monster” can end up having the best heart and understanding to share.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
