"Fall 2: Deadpoint"

"Are you down?"

“Fall” was the sleeper late summer hit of 2022.  The survival thriller is not only stunning, but also mind-bending. The mega hit propelled a sequel and a trilogy.  

Following the fatal fallout of “Fall,” Jax (Harriet Slater), the grieving sister of the fallen Shiloh/Hunter, has been haunted by the memories of their sisterly relationship.  Shiloh was the brave one, the popular one, as seen from her massive social media followers, as well as the news, which has made her famous posthumously.    

A former college friend of Shiloh, Luce (Arsema Thomas), catches up with sorrow-filled Jax. Luce persuades Jax to follow her belated sister’s footsteps and face her fears, which is to climb and walk the plank of Mount Kwan, Thailand’s most dangerous hike.  This expedition is listed on Shiloh’s bucket list diary as her next daredevil adventure.   

Restrained and reluctant, and rightfully so, Jax ends up joining recalcitrant and reckless Luce in Thailand. Finding the right hiking guide takes a secret code. John (Tom Brittney) is the man for the mission impossible job. John warns them of potential hallucination, headache and nausea for a plank walk at that altitude.  

With the imposing Mount Kwan reaching into the clouds looming in front of her, Jax is once again hesitant, but ends up being roped into the treacherous trek up.  And treacherous is putting it mildly. Death wish is more like it. The trio is illegally climbing up rusty steel ladders with loose bolts up a towering rock mountain.

Once the trio reaches up 4,000 feet above sea level, the plank walk starts – on a rickety, narrow wooden plank with a width of around a little over a foot wide plastered across the side of the mountain, built by centuries ago.  There’s an equally rusty chains where the hikers can clip on and off their flimsy harnesses to move forward one step at a time, and nothing more.  

The plank walk is perilous enough in a sunny, clear weather.  It becomes impossibly deadly when the rain begins, crumbling rocks slide to destroy parts of the plank, leaving Jax and Luce stranded, and separated from John. Panic, paranoia, regret, fear and terror set in.  

The young women are trapped in such high altitude, suspended on a shaky strip of wood, at mercy of the searing sun and pelting rain and moving clouds, with no food and water, and no cell service.  No way out and no means to get help.  The backpack with supplies and radio communication is hung over precariously on a steel bar, remnants of the disintegrating plank, feet away.  

The view atop, looking over the rolling mists, vast valley of clouds, and forested trees down below, is impossibly beautiful, although it’s not something you can marvel in when you’re literally teetering on the edge of life and death.  One slight foot slip, you’re gone. One wrong move, you’ll plummet to your death. 

Jax and Luce try every way possible to get to the backpack, resulting in some of the most harrowing scenes captured.  Extreme leaning and leaping, sliding down the broken beam, hanging on to a single structural bar, swinging between pegs, dangling for dear life – while hungry, dehydrated, exhausted, injured, desperate and scared out of their wits, not to mention a trust issue when something comes to light. 

The filmmaker knows how to make vertigo-inducing scenes look and feel real.  Like the "Fall" before it and "The Walk," the sensations are truly felt; I had shivers running all though my feet and hair stood at the back of my neck.  

The story follows the framework from the first installment, yet a couple of twists keep the film fresh. There’s more human action in “Fall 2” than “Fall,” although the characters’ actions are head-shakingly worthy, leading to a flash point.  

While focusing on the peril, you might miss a clue that sets up for “Fall 3.” The ending shows what to expect in the final installment and I’ll be anticipating with bated breath.   

For both thrill seekers and the timid who love survival thrillers, “Fall 2: Deadpoint” is thrillingly death-defying, as well as a spectacular sky-high jumping point from summer to fall. Don't miss this on the big screen!

***

TRIVIA: While Mount Kwan plank walk in Thailand isn't real, Mount Huashan plank walk IS real! Check this out: Huashan Plank Walk | Huashan Cliffside Path Map, Tips, Guides

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"Tony" (Anthony Bourdain)

"I was – to be frank – a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive and thoughtless young lout, badly in need of a good ass-kicking."

Before the one and only, “Anthony Bourdain,” as the world knew him, he was just Tony. 

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, summer of 1975, is where the story begins and ends. One spectacularly messed up summer where a 19-year old Tony (Dominic Sessa) finds himself working as dishwasher, after getting robbed, needing money and a place to stay.  

This is not the Anthony Bourdain everyone knew. A world-famous celebrity chef, best-selling author, television star, global food explorer and traveler. A young, arrogant, reckless and directionless Tony arrives in Provincetown, following a trail of his high school crush, Nancy (Emilia Jones).  

This impromptu trip is after Tony lied to his parents that he got a writer’s fellowship for college.  As an aspiring writer, who is telling everyone that he’s writing a novel. After Tony sees that Nancy has a boyfriend, he gets steaming drunk, acts out, and gets thrown out of a restaurant.  His trouble doesn’t stop there.  He is robbed and out of cash.

Eventually Tony and Nancy run into each other, and Tony decides to keep the writer’s charade.  It’s one lie after and the lies pile up.  In order to impress a girl, he keeps digging into deeper holes.  

Luckily for Tony, he’s taken in by the head chef and owner (Antonio Banderas, "Haywire") of The Flagship, the same no-frill seafood restaurant, who threw him out earlier. For a place to crash, specifically, the chef’s hammock on the porch, Tony works as a dishwasher.

Here is where Tony learns and immerses himself in the pressure-cooker kitchen action and rough-and-tumble culture among the salty characters. Sal (Leo Woodall), who hooks Tony into the bad boy lifestyle, is a standout prick, dishing out one shenanigan after another. 

The kitchen scenes are rough and not for the meek, although eventually Tony forms a bond with his teammates, and especially with the salt-of-the-earth chef-turned-mentor.

Tony can now wake up without having a bucket of cold water thrown over his face, learns discipline and grueling work. Not just washing dishes, he learns to prep food, and it’s not without cuts and burns.  Shucking oysters never looks more nerve-wracking. Amidst the boiling chaos and fast-paced kitchen scenes, the tomato-and-salt moments are quietly grounding.   

Tony does have an eye for the restaurant business.  His fancy Friday special menu idea is well-received, as well as a plan that brings the community together over food. Part of his redemption act also means admitting the truth about his writer charade.  

The film is also atmospheric, like Cape Cod watercolor painting comes to life, where you feel like breathing in the salty air and feeling the sea spray on your face, walking along the white sand dunes and weathered beach shacks, watching fishermen go out to sea, cooking lobsters, roasting freshly caught fish over bonfire, having clambake on the beach. The entire film has a distinct, nostalgic New England beach town feel. 

The film is not meant to cover Bourdain’s entire career.  On the contrary, spiced with a dash of creative license, the story condenses into a slice of beachside life in one summer. 

Sessa plates the portrayal of the legendary culinary figure at the start of adulthood perfectly imperfect.  A formative summer peppered with serious mischiefs that leads to a decision with no reservations that will shape the rest of his life.  

Here's a carefree, unseasoned young man with a whole life ahead of him, carrying those raw kitchen confidential misadventures with him, fueling a new flame to venture into parts unknown, facing a future beyond his wildest imaginations.  

“You think I want to spend the rest of my life working in a f*** kitchen?" Ah, the irony.

Inspired by the early chapters of the Anthoy Bourdain's memoir “Kitchen Confidential,” Tony” serves up a briny, consequential coming-of-age story, seasoned with a blend of authenticity, chaos and care.

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