I was on Reddit last night when I came across a post that asked people to list out films with extremely visually pleasing images and I opened the comments to see a lot of people calling out The Fall. It’s quite old I said after I looked it up but I decided to trust their judgement by watching it.
Yunno, every once in a while, you stumble on a film that doesn’t just tell a story. A film that feels like a storybook comes to life. That was exactly how I felt about this film. It’s beautiful in that dreamy, painterly way, but also incredibly sad in ways I didn’t expect. Trust me, this is not your typical fantasy. It’s equal parts wonder and heartbreak.
Set in a 1920s Los Angeles hospital, the story centers on Roy, a bedridden stuntman who’s recovering from a serious injury and Alexandria, a curious little girl with a broken arm and an even more broken sense of reality. Roy starts telling her an epic, whimsical story about five mythical heroes on a revenge mission. But underneath the adventure is his own pain, bitterness and ulterior motives.
What makes The Fall stand out immediately is the visuals. Exactly what intrigued me to see it. Directed by Tarsem Singh, It’s okay to infer that this movie is absolutely gorgeous. Every frame looks like a painting. One shot across 20+ countries with no CGI, just raw landscapes, costume design and clever camera work. I am not an artist, nor am I a photographer but I can tell the cinematographer did a decent job as the imagery feels almost too beautiful to belong in the same world as the pain the characters are experiencing and yet, that contrast is what makes it hit harder.
The relationship between Roy and Alexandria is the emotional core of the film. Roy (played by Lee Pace) is deeply broken, and his storytelling is a way to escape, but also manipulate. And Alexandria (Catinca Untaru)? She brings this wide-eyed innocence that’s so genuine. It’s almost documentary-like. Her performance is raw, unpolished and exactly what the story needed.
As Roy tells his story, we get swept into a world of masked bandits, warriors, evil emperors and mystical landscapes but the fantasy starts blending with reality, and that’s where the real emotional gut-punches come in. The story becomes less about heroism and more about how pain, imagination, and vulnerability can coexist.
The only knock I’d give is that the pacing can feel uneven, especially if you’re not someone who enjoys slow, meditative storytelling. It lingers more on feeling than plot. But for me, that wasn’t a defect, it was the point.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely, but with a little warning: it’s not the typical fantasy you might be expecting. It’s sad, intimate, and emotionally layered. Go into it ready to feel something, not just to see pretty things or to admire the little girl’s innocence.
Rating? A strong 9/10. An underrated visually jaw-dropping, emotionally rich, and one of the most unique takes on storytelling I’ve ever seen.
PS: you may get too hooked in the tale and drift off to sleep. Hehehe.