Short Film Review: 'The Fall Line' (2020)
The Fall Line is the directorial debut from Maryann Lonergan - who also wrote and edited the film. We’ve gotten a number of submissions from the Pratt Institute recently (Tiptoe and The Jungle of Accounting), and each one has been nothing less than exce
★★★★
NR - Thriller (9 minutes)
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“Two Park Rangers are trying to prove themselves in different ways while isolating themselves through a Winter Caretaking job at their local National Park. Tension rise as one of the Rangers falls victim to his bad habits.”
— Official Synopsis
The Fall Line is the directorial debut from Maryann Lonergan - who also wrote and edited the film. We’ve gotten a number of submissions from the Pratt Institute recently (Tiptoe and The Jungle of Accounting), and each one has been nothing less than exceptional. I personally appreciate the amount of versatility among the filmmakers. Each short has an entirely different tonal palette.
Here, Lonergan evades the tedious trend of completionist storytelling through dialogue — leaving the audience to mull over what they’ve seen. And, most importantly for a thriller, the atmosphere is establishes by the droning, synth-heavy score of Scott Osborne as the credits roll. Before then, though, it rest upon the use of diegetic sound (from within the film) as the wind carelessly blows, or at the rush of river water. This approach is uneasy, and signals to the viewer that something is seriously off.
Not to mention, the performances from The Fall Line’s two leads — Mike Greca and Michael Mulhearn — are fascinating to watch. To make matters even more interesting, Greca’s character, Everette, is about as much of an internalized person as one can possibly be. You’ll want to peel back the layers of his psyche just to see what is truly going. Mulhearn’s character is hardened from [presumably] numerous winters as a caretaker of a national park. As the short continues, the contrast of personalities between the two is palpable; and thus, the tension increases dramatically.
Agustina Biasutto, the film’s cinematographer, opts for a static frame in The Fall Line's opening minutes. But as the films grows more and more unsettling, Biasutto switches to a hand-held approach to intensify those uneasy feelings; a brilliant decision to effectively lead the audience along in this cold, mid-winter thriller. While there are a few questions you might have at the end of the film, the answers can surely be found on a second watch. The only real issue that persists in the short is the consistency of the audio mixing. It isn’t bad by any means, but some sharpening in that department would only make the film stronger.
Overall, The Fall Line is a wonderfully gracious example of a thriller done right. As evidence of that, it has been officially selected in the Monthly Indie Shorts Festival and is a semi-finalist for the Dumbo Film Festival. Be sure to watch the trailer below and tell us what you think!
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