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''A Fall from Grace'' is a 2020 American thriller film produced, written, and directed by
Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmma ...
and his first to be released by
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
. The film follows a woman who finds a dangerous new love and the novice attorney who defends her in a sensational court case. This was the final film of actor
Cicely Tyson Cicely Louise Tyson (December 19, 1924January 28, 2021) was an American actress. In a career which spanned more than seven decades in film, television and theatre, she became known for her portrayal of strong African-American women. Tyson recei ...
before her death in January 2021. The film was panned by critics with main criticism focusing on the screenplay.


Plot

Jasmine Bryant (
Bresha Webb Bresha Webb (born Breshae Renee Webb; May 6, 1984) is an American actress. She starred as Imunique Jefferson in the TV One comedy series '' Love That Girl!'' from 2010 to 2014. She later has appeared in films ''Meet the Blacks'' (2016), ''Acrimo ...
) is a public defender who constantly takes plea deals in small town Virginia. Her husband Jordan (Matthew Law) is a police officer who is discouraged after witnessing an older woman he attempted to save complete a suicide attempt. Jasmine is assigned by her boss Rory (
Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmma ...
) to defend Grace Waters ( Crystal Fox), a woman accused of murdering her husband Shannon DeLong (
Mehcad Brooks Mehcad Jason McKinley Brooks (born October 25, 1980) is an American actor and former fashion model. He is known for his roles as Matthew Applewhite in the second season of ABC's series ''Desperate Housewives'' (2005–2006), Jerome in '' The Gam ...
). Grace insists that she is guilty and will agree to a plea deal if she goes to a prison close by her son Malcolm (Walter Fauntleroy). Jasmine is troubled by case details, including Shannon's missing body. Rory is not pleased that Jasmine wants to represent the suspect because the department does not have the budget for a trial, and he expects the media frenzy will disrupt their lives. Grace’s best friend Sarah Miller (
Phylicia Rashad Phylicia Rashad ( ) ( née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress, singer and director who is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby ...
) tells Jasmine that Grace was feeling sad after her divorce, and she pushed her to get out and meet someone new. She ended up marrying Shannon. After researching the case some more, Jasmine and her colleagues Tilsa (Angela Marie Rigsby) and Donnie (Donovan Christie, Jr.) believe Grace is innocent. Grace tells Jasmine that she met Shannon at a gallery exhibit of his work. He charmed Grace and they married three months later. Grace says that Shannon soon became cruel and secretive. After he got her passwords and secretly stole from her accounts, he mortgaged her house with forged documents. Eventually, the bank fired Grace. The last night, Grace walked in on Shannon and another woman having sex in the marriage bed. Later the couple argued; she beat him with a baseball bat and pushed him down the stairs to the basement. Grace drove away, calling Sarah from the country to confess the killing. Sarah tells Jasmine that when she went to Grace's house, she saw her son Malcolm leaving the house. Because Shannon's body is missing, Sarah believes that Malcolm helped Grace dispose of it. At the trial, Jasmine fails to cast doubt on prosecution evidence at proving Grace's innocence. Calling Sarah as a witness backfires because phone records show numerous phone calls between the women on the night of the murder, and Sarah finally admits on the stand that Grace confessed to killing Shannon to her. Grace is found guilty by the jury. As she is being led away, Grace sees Sarah in the gallery, comforting a sobbing Malcolm. Grace notices that Sarah is wearing a pendant identical to one that Shannon had that was supposedly one-of-a-kind. In her cell, Grace thinks back to the times that Sarah was involved in her relationship with Shannon, and screams to the guards that she needs to call her lawyer. Feeling defeated, Jasmine stops by Sarah's house (a residence for old ladies) and notices an elderly woman named Alice (
Cicely Tyson Cicely Louise Tyson (December 19, 1924January 28, 2021) was an American actress. In a career which spanned more than seven decades in film, television and theatre, she became known for her portrayal of strong African-American women. Tyson recei ...
) trying to escape from the house. Alice wants to leave the house and reveals that other women have died there, including Shane Fieldman (Jordan's victim from the beginning of the film). When Jasmine discovers there are numerous elderly women locked up in the basement, she is kidnapped. Jordan discovers Sarah's criminal history and searches for his wife. Shannon turns out to be alive and is revealed to be Sarah's son. Jordan knocks on the door and asks Sarah if Jasmine is there and she denies it. When Jordan calls her, he hears her phone ringing from inside the house, so he bursts in, tussles with Sarah, handcuffs her, and then looks for Jasmine as Sarah escapes. Jordan and Shannon fight as Jasmine tries to break free. Shannon is shot and is presumably killed. As the police rescue the elderly women, it is revealed that Sarah and Shannon are really mother and son criminals Betty and Maurice Mills, who have been kidnapping elderly women for their social security information and conning middle aged women out of their life savings for over 25 years with Grace being one of those middle aged women. Grace gets one more hearing and this time, Jasmine succeeds at defending Grace by presenting new evidence that Grace was victimized by Betty and Maurice's scheme to steal her life savings, and another piece of evidence that reveals that Betty and Maurice are wanted in several states for stealing from other numerous women, which is enough for the judge to grant Grace her freedom. While everyone celebrates Grace's freedom, Rory congratulates Jasmine for uncovering such a crazy scheme. Meanwhile, Betty is on the run from the police and has just been hired to take care of an elderly woman in a nursing home.


Cast


Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
took place at Tyler Perry Studios in fall 2018, over the course of five days.


Release

''A Fall from Grace'' was released in the United States by
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
on January 17, 2020. The film was watched by 26 million during its first week.


Reception

''A Fall from Grace'' received largely negative reviews. The film holds an approval rating of on
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on reviews with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Drama for drama's sake does not a great movie make, but boy is it fun to watch ''A Fall From Grace'' unravel." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film holds a rating of 34 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Many on social media have criticized the glaring errors in the film in the forms of seeing boom microphones, continuity errors, and extras staring directly into the camera and "miming" actions, possibly attributed to the very limited production schedule. Sometime after the film's release, the movie went through further edits and alternate cuts to fix these problems. There were little to no announcements regarding these changes. The line "Ashtray, bitch!", has become something of an internet meme due to its forceful, yet unintentionally funny delivery. Tyler Perry claimed that the line was not in the script and something he had added on the spot stating, "that was my father doing stupid stuff".


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fall from Grace, A 2020 films Films shot in Atlanta American thriller films 2020 thriller films Films with screenplays by Tyler Perry Films directed by Tyler Perry English-language Netflix original films 2020s English-language films African-American films 2020s American films