Falling is at its strongest when exploring the challenges of care in families torn apart by a history of intolerance. Falling is now available to rent or buy on all major digital platforms.
Viggo Mortensen’s long-overdue directorial debut offers us a complex and emotional story of care, pain, love and regret. His powerful screenplay delicately unpicks the realities of dementia as it tears through one family’s life, further fracturing the relationships between a son, daughter, and father.
Willis (Lance Henrikson) has spent his life on a farm in upstate New York. His first marriage failed, followed by a second that would also fall foul of his temper and suspicion. Willis’ children were caught in the middle of his marital turmoil as they grew into adults. Yet both John (Viggo Mortensen) and his sister, Sarah, stayed by his side despite his volatility.
However, as Willis slowly succumbs to dementia, it’s John who picks up the burden of his care. Here, John’s life as a gay man in a loving marriage with a young daughter suffers from his father’s relentless homophobia as he tries to encourage his dad to move from the family farm. But how do you care for a man unwilling to accept support?
Falling is at its strongest when exploring the challenges of care in families torn apart by a history of intolerance. Here, its exploration of turbulent father/son dynamics is both assured and emotional as unspoken regrets, hidden love and years of pain bubble to the surface.
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