''Fall'' is a 2014 Canadian drama film. Written and directed by

Terrance Odette Terrance Odette is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is most noted for his films ''Saint Monica'', which premiered at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, and ''Fall'', which premiered at the 2014 Vancouver International Film F ...

, the film stars

Michael Murphy Michael, Mick, or Mike Murphy may refer to: Artists and entertainers * Michael Murphy (actor) (born 1938), American actor * Mike Murphy (musician) (1946–2006), American drummer for the Bee Gees and Chicago * Michael Bryan Murphy, lead singer o ...

as Father Sam, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest who receives a letter asking about a

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

incident he participated in 40 years earlier. The film was inspired by a past encounter of Odette when he was 14, but is not a direct portrayal of his childhood. The film's cast also includes

Wendy Crewson Wendy Jane Crewson (born May 9, 1956) is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film '' The Doctor''. Crewson has appeared in many Hollywood films, inc ...

Suzanne Clément Suzanne Clément (born 12 May 1969) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in Xavier Dolan's arthouse films ''I Killed My Mother'' (2009), ''Laurence Anyways'' (2012), and '' Mommy'' (2014). With Emilie DeQuenne, she shared the Un Cert ...

Katie Boland Katie Boland (born 1987 or 1988) is a Canadian actress, writer, director, and producer. She began her career as a child actress in film and television and has since branched out into adult roles, in addition to writing, directing, and producing ...

Linda Kash Linda Kash (born 17 January 1961) is a Canadian actress. Career An alumna of Second City, she played Trudy Weissman in the 1998 Jean Smart sitcom ''Style & Substance''. She has also played various roles in popular television series, such as '' ...

and

Joel Bissonnette Joel Bissonnette is a Canadian-American actor. Early life and education Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Bissonnette was raised in Montreal, Quebec. He is a graduate of the Dawson College Theatre Program in Montreal. Career Bissonnette is best ...

Plot

The film follows the mundane life of Father Sam, who tends to his small

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

parish. He appears to simply be wearily going through the motions of his life routine. Father Sam's life is forced into descent when he receives a letter from a man named Christopher, now on his death bed, who Father Sam had mentored 40 years ago. The letter alludes to an incident when Father Sam shared a bed with Christopher when he was 14 years old, and asks whether anything inappropriate had occurred. This leads Father Sam to embark on a roadtrip to

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

where he visits his mother and sister, and then to confront Christopher's widow Catherine. She bitterly accuses him of having sexually molested her late husband. Father Sam denies the accusation, but it is apparent that not even he is exactly sure about what happened 40 years ago during that night.

Cast

as Father Sam *

as Sheila *

as Catherine *

as Chelsea *

as Marcie *

as Michael

Critical response

Reviews of the film are mixed. On

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 ...

the film has only 5 critical reviews. In their comments, some critics view the film as "quietly haunting and effective". Others like Gary Goldstein state that "Murphy’s quietly precise performance ultimately can’t overcome the film’s chilly gravity and unsatisfying finale". Liam Lacey of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' says the film has a promising premise but the "follow through is solemn to the point of dullness". Similarly, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' states "The Bottom Line: Veteran character actor Michael Murphy delivers a quietly mesmerizing performance in this frustratingly static drama". However, Joe Leydon at ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the film had "the overall ambiance of stark, stripped-to-essentials emotional and aesthetic rawness that might have made

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson contributed notably to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, and s ...

proud".

Awards

The film garnered five

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

nominations at the

3rd Canadian Screen Awards The 3rd Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 1, 2015, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2014.Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

(Murphy), Best Art Direction/Production Design (William Layton),

Best Cinematography This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

( Norayr Kasper) and

Best Sound Editing This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

(Elma Bello)."Canadian Screen Awards Unveil Nominations"
''

'', January 13, 2015. Odette was nominated for the Directors Guild of Canada's

DGC Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film The DGC Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film is an annual Canadian award, presented by the Directors Guild of Canada to honour the year's best direction in feature films in Canada. Winners and nominees 2000s 2010s 2020 ...

in 2015.Pat Mullen
"'The Calling' Leads Directors Guild of Canada Nominations"
''Cinemablographer'', June 18, 2015.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 3574904 2014 films Canadian drama films Films about Catholic priests Films shot in Ontario Films set in Ontario Niagara Falls in fiction 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films