FALL 2: DEADPOINT

"Jax" (Harriet Slater) is disposing of the property of her recently deceased sister when she encounters her college friend "Luce" (Arsema Thomas) who encourages "Jax" to embrace some of the challenges sister "Shiloh" had intended to carry out before her untimely death. One such trip involves the pair travelling to Thailand and walking a precarious route four thousand feet above sea level to visit a sacred dragon that will eat all of their fears. Turning up, they discover that this route has been deemed unsafe by the authorities and that it's a no-go area. Foiled? Well, no - they meet "Jon" (Tom Brittney) who offers to guide them for $5k. A bit steep? Yes, but not as steep as the ladder up the cliffs to a rotting wooden path supported by scaffolding poles (allegedly built by monks decades ago!!). This area is prone to earthquakes, so guess what happens as they meander along towards the Devil's elbow? Actually, to be fair to this it's not it's predictability that lets it down. That has to be the responsibility of a writer who has produced some of the most banal dialogue ever to hit the silver screen and to some acting that, even when precariously perched on a plank of wood, doesn't convey any sense of fear or peril whatsoever. The last twenty minutes would actually be comical if they weren't so risible, and that sense of acrophobic menace that existed in the first film (2022) is distinctly lacking as the twist(s) in this story fail to resonate plausibly. Even the photography looks as if the camera had been turned on it's side and at no point did I actually believe that anyone had ever left the ground for this - even the drone pilot. This will look fine on the television on a winter's Friday night after some vino, but you'll never need to watch it twice.

Trying to tie this to the first movie is possibly the downfall of this entire endeavor. The main character is related to one of the main characters from the first movie and carries some trauma about her dead sister, but the movie isn't about that, and it serves as a long dying hook for a story that doesn't play out. In substance, the movie is pretty much like the first one, and the twist isn't welcome, nor is it interesting. The first movie had a ludicrous premise, and while this movie has a similar premise, it is nowhere near as ludicrous and therefore not as entertaining. It is a gorgeous movie, but it is not wonderful.