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The Fallout, a tragic drama concerned with the aftermath of a school shooting, arrived this January 27, 2022, on HBO Max. Written and directed by The Secret Life of the American Teenager star Megan Park, the movie makes a bold statement about the school-shooting epidemic from the psychological perspective of Generation Z.
The movie is noteworthy for asking meaningful questions and for marking the inception of a new-age female filmmaker, Megan Park, who shows powerful writing and captivating directorial style in this thought-provoking drama.
The movie stars Jenna Ortega as the lead character Vada Cavell and other promising young actors, including Maddie Ziegler as Mia Reed, Niles Fitch as Quinton Hasland, Will Ropp as Nick Feinstein, and Lumi Pollack as Amelia Cavell.
'The Fallout': Movie review
A messed-up story told in a strikingly restrained manner
Circling the self-proclaimed 'low-key' teenager Vada, played by Jenna Ortega, dealing with unsettling trauma and grief following a formidable incident in her high school, the movie gets underneath the audience's skin with its unexpectedly restrained narrative style.
The Fallout essentially portrays how dreadfully awkward and confusing the impact of trauma experienced by a batch of high-school students can be. The movie also displays how three classmates, very unlikely to become friends under normal circumstances, are bonded by unexpected calamity.
The narrative of the movie The Fallout is quite subtle and restrained from the very beginning. For instance, the audio representation of the shooting while showing the frightful condition of Vada, Mia, and Quinton, hiding in the school bathroom, make it even more heart-wrenching and impactful.
Subtle use of discomforting dialogues is also quite noticeable in the movie. One of the most prominent examples of this is when Vada asks Mia, "Did you have the craziest nightmare last night?", and Mia answers, "You have to be able to sleep to have nightmares."
Therefore, the subtle and unique approach to a heart-breaking story makes it stand out among other new generation movies dealing with significant issues.
Gripping performance by the promising young actors
Without a shred of doubt, Jenna Ortega, as Vada, blows away the audience with her character-portrayal of a rational teenager who, nonetheless, is essentially a teen, whirling through an unimaginably tragic incident on top of the prevailing issues in The Fallout.
Her bizarre, impulsive, and at times even funny flares as she struggles to cope with the shooting showcase an empathetic and grounded scenario of teenage grief.
The emotional vulnerability staggeringly portrayed by Maddie Ziegler as Mia is quite applaudable as well. Her on-screen chemistry with Jenna Ortega, in particular, brings a delicate sense of balance to the movie. The distinctively different character portrayals by the young actors give an arresting picture of trauma and how everyone deals with it differently.
Other actors in this tragic drama, including Niles Fitch as Quinton Hasland, Lumi Pollack as Amelia Cavell, and briefly seen Shailene Woodley as the therapist, do not fail to make a pronounced mark.
Subdued yet artful direction by Megan Park
Megan Park accentuates realism while telling the story of a shaken generation with her understated yet voguish directorial style. She roves from small yet powerful details such as the Black Lives Matter sign to aesthetic shots of Vada and Mia experiencing a calming moment inside a pool with sheet masks on their faces in The Fallout.
Amelia's dance practice for her Tik-Tok video in the background while Vada is focused on texting also reveals Park's in-depth understanding of today's generation.
It is quite evident from the movie that director Megan Park is brave enough to raise disturbingly important questions and authentic enough to leave them unanswered. She deliberately shows that trauma never really disappears, rather it deepens and evolves with it just like the individuals who hold it.
Watch The Fallout, streaming on HBO Max from January 27, 2022.
