THE FALLING
Director: Carol Morley
Cast: Maisie Williams, Florence Pugh, Greta Scacchi, Monica Dolan, Maxine Peake, Matthew Baynton
Rating: (R16)
Two and a half stars (out of five)
Sometimes the abstruse nature of the film compels you to stick with it, if nothing else, to see what happens.
Masquerading as a mystery set in an all-girl school where a friendship is tragically broken, The Falling is either a piece of art-house genius, an odd yawn fest, or both.
Abie (Florence Pugh) and Lydia (Maisie Williams) are best friends trying to navigate their way through problems at home, and burgeoning sexual proclivities.
When the sexually precocious Abie strikes up a relationship with Lydia's brother that threatens the girls' bond, and then mysteriously dies, a weird phenomenon sweeps through the school starting with Lydia.
One by one, pupils spontaneously faint while the stern teaching staff refuse to admit that anything is untoward.
Constructed from strong performances by Pugh and Williams, The Falling is chock-full of beguiling imagery and hints of the supernatural, just without any real substance or tangible story arc.
The fact that we'll never get to understand what is triggering the phenomenon wouldn't matter too much if you could sense some method in the madness.
Perhaps it is there, but with so many abstract indie film references to call on and a thoroughly annoying soundtrack courtesy of Tracey Thorn, it's easy to dismiss The Falling as a visually seductive flight of fancy.
Jaded cinephiles will probably convince themselves they like it.
Other viewers will ask themselves ''what was that all about?''.
