Afraid of heights? You might want to pass on this one!
After a prolonged personal absence from the cinema (initially due to COVID-19 closures, followed by a sweltering hot summer where I seldom find myself interested in moviegoing..) I recently returned to the Big Screen to check out this great little film, directed & co-written by Scott Mann.
What could possibly go wrong..?!
The premise is simple enough: two young thrill-seeking experienced climbers decide to ascend a crazy high (2,000ft+!) disused TV tower/mast located somewhere in the middle of a desert-like region of the USA (according to WikiPedia, the primary filming location was actually parts of the Mojave Desert).
Miles from anywhere, loose nuts and bolts in close-up as they make their way up the rickety rusting structure... what could possibly go wrong..?!
"Plenty", as it turns out, you won't be surprised to hear.
The story begins just shy of one year prior, where a fatal climbing accident in the opening minutes sets out the stall for the central story that follows.
Starring Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner (as the cautious, grief-stricken Becky and her daredevil friend Hunter respectively), this is a great, more than a little stressful film - which largely achieves precisely what it sets out to do. As some reviews elsewhere online I've since read can't help but point out: yes.. it is rather silly at times. Having said that, I found myself buying into the entire episode considerably more than I feared I would. This comes down to a wise resistance to avoid entirely implausible leaps-of-faith and such like. Furthermore, whilst I gather that the tower itself is of course fictional, the (one assumes real..) lower-level sets look entirely convincing - as do the vertigo-inducing CGI shots from far, far up - during the scenes where Becky and Hunter initially successfully reach the very top of the metal mast. Prepare to find yourself perched on the very edge of your cinema seat during those sequences!
Thinking about marketing materials, a promotional set of lobby cards for this particular film would have struggled to avoid repetition (without potentially giving away any key plot spoilers) - but nevertheless it could have included some stunning images, courtesy of the fine cinematography on show framed by Miguel "MacGregor" Olaso.
This is certainly a film I would recommend - and ideally try and catch it on the big screen while you can, as it will lose the all-important sense of scale (and yes, height) when released on streaming and physical formats.
My verdict:
7/10. Worth the climb.
