One thing I very much liked about "The Falls" is that it's explicitly about COVID and the impact it's had on humanity's mental health. Here we are over two years into a pandemic that has changed the world forever, and yet I can barely think of any movie that has acknowledged its existence. It's a weird disconnect I've been having trouble getting past.
In "The Falls," a mother/daughter relationship takes an unpredictable turn when the two are forced to quarantine together. It's a movie about how terrifying mental illness is, both for the person experiencing it and the person taking care of the one who's ill. But more than that, it's also about the need for younger generations to get out of their own heads and try to see the point of view of those who are older. That's not a perspective I see explored in movies very often. Usually the burden is on the parents to understand the kids and grant them their autonomy. Maybe it's where I'm at in my life right now -- 47 years old, a child who's just become a teenager, manager of people who are a good 15 years younger than me, nursed my dad through a terminal illness and am now taking care of my mom -- but I clicked with this movie and its declaration to a younger generation that the world isn't all about them.
Grade: A-
In "The Falls," a mother/daughter relationship takes an unpredictable turn when the two are forced to quarantine together. It's a movie about how terrifying mental illness is, both for the person experiencing it and the person taking care of the one who's ill. But more than that, it's also about the need for younger generations to get out of their own heads and try to see the point of view of those who are older. That's not a perspective I see explored in movies very often. Usually the burden is on the parents to understand the kids and grant them their autonomy. Maybe it's where I'm at in my life right now -- 47 years old, a child who's just become a teenager, manager of people who are a good 15 years younger than me, nursed my dad through a terminal illness and am now taking care of my mom -- but I clicked with this movie and its declaration to a younger generation that the world isn't all about them.
Grade: A-