A wonderfully atmospheric trailer has arrived for The Falling, one of Women and Hollywood’s most anticipated films of the year. Starring Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams (who plays badass Arya), the psychological drama is set in 1969 at an all-girls school where a twitching and fainting epidemic is afflicting the maturing student body. In a review of The Falling, we called the film, which is written and directed by Carol Morley, “swoon-worthy” — and the trailer is a good indication why.
“May I have absolute silence? Sit. Stand.” These are the first words we hear in the trailer, establishing an immediate sense of the deference and perfection demanded of the young female students. There’s a clear expectation that they must resist any urges to behave or even think contrary to how the school and their headmistress expects them to. They’re confined by rigid rules, which govern the length of their skirts and maintain silence in common areas.
The trailer focuses on two friends, introspective and clever Lydia (Williams) and rebellions and id-driven Abbie (Florence Pugh). “We’re not kids anymore,” declares Abbie. Lydia’s assertion that “nobody knows who I am anymore, what I’m really like” confirms that the pair, and their peers, have very clearly moved on into the turbulent realm of adolescence. We see footage of sex, fainting, and violence — not kids anymore, indeed.
The cinematography is beautiful, and the school appears simultaneously looming and claustrophobic. We described The Falling as “a bold, compelling, and utterly inspiring piece of work,” and the trailer helps get that point across.
The film has an April 24 release date in the UK. No word yet on when The Falling will make it to US theaters.
