“Arty, quirky, cool.” These words about meeting the love of your life in a coffee shop also apply to the new movie, Falling. With the backdrop of London and a soundtrack featuring Roosevelt, the movie Falling has a refreshing script.
Jillian (Isabel May) drives a devastating wedge between best friends Jack (KJ Apa) and Johnny (Archie Renaux). Their friendship unravels because Jack starts dating Jillian and Johnny finds her irresistible too. Once she joins Johnny for a silly, awkward dance at Jack’s birthday party, Johnny finds her ridiculously charming.
Jack abandoned his writing career to become a lawyer, earn more money and afford Soho House. He’s more action-oriented – wait until you see how that literally pays off! Meanwhile, Johnny toils away in a bookstore, slowly making progress towards writing his own book. He’s a dreamer who never thinks his grass is green enough – a philosophy he applies to every girlfriend.
Jillian is very adventurous, loves to travel and coordinates events for hotels. She likes “life in motion” and declares “plans are stupid,” but Jack makes her realize “stability can be surprisingly attractive”. I loved seeing Isabel May all grown up for the first time since the Netflix series Alexa & Katie!
It’s cute when Jack first sees her dancing alone at home. However, a pattern emerges over time where Jack and Johnny look into Jillian’s apartment and not vice versa. This male gaze is worth mentioning because Jack and Jillian live in apartment buildings directly across the street from each other on the same floor. Window blinds only appear when they have a fight, so there’s definitely an imbalance.
That said, it’s nice to see Jack mature and embrace virtual workouts. The cast makes me want to explore the residential side of London, but I’m not a fan of how they try to make smoking cool.
KJ Apa gives the last look in the most dramatic yet poetic way possible. “Just because it’s messy doesn’t mean you didn’t grow.” How many romance movies are so quotable? Falling is an incredible new film with multiple full circle moments and an unexpected ending about the consequences of falling in love.
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Disclosure: I received a screener to share a review.