''Fall'' is a 2014 Canadian drama film. Written and directed by

Terrance Odette Terrance Odette is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is most noted for his films ''Saint Monica'', which premiered at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, and '' Fall'', which premiered at the 2014 Vancouver International Fil ...

, the film stars Michael Murphy as Father Sam, a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest who receives a letter asking about a

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...

incident he participated in 40 years earlier. The film was inspired by a past encounter of Odette when he was 14, but is not a direct portrayal of his childhood. The film's cast also includes

Wendy Crewson Wendy Jane Crewson (born May 9, 1956) is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film ''The Doctor''. Crewson has appeared in many Hollywood films, inc ...

, Suzanne Clément, Katie Boland,

Linda Kash Linda Kash (born 17 January 1961) is a Canadian actress. Career Kash was born 17 January 1961, in Montreal. She was a cast member of Second City and played Trudy Weissman in the 1998 Jean Smart sitcom '' Style & Substance''; she has also playe ...

and Joel Bissonnette.

Plot

The film follows the mundane life of Father Sam, who tends to his small

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

parish. He appears to simply be wearily going through the motions of his life routine. Father Sam's life is forced into descent when he receives a letter from a man named Christopher, now on his death bed, who Father Sam had mentored 40 years ago. The letter alludes to an incident when Father Sam shared a bed with Christopher when he was 14 years old, and asks whether anything inappropriate had occurred. This leads Father Sam to embark on a roadtrip to

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

where he visits his mother and sister, and then to confront Christopher's widow Catherine. She bitterly accuses him of having sexually molested her late husband. Father Sam denies the accusation, but it is apparent that not even he is exactly sure about what happened 40 years ago during that night.

Cast

* Michael Murphy as Father Sam *

as Sheila * Suzanne Clément as Catherine * Katie Boland as Chelsea *

as Marcie * Joel Bissonnette as Michael *

Cas Anvar Cas Anvar (; born 15 March 1966) is a Canadian actor known for his role in the SyFy/Amazon Prime Video science fiction television series '' The Expanse''. Early life Anvar was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, to Iranian parents. They moved to Mont ...

as Reza

Critical response

Reviews of the film are mixed. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film has only 5 critical reviews. In their comments, some critics view the film as "quietly haunting and effective". Others like Gary Goldstein state that "Murphy’s quietly precise performance ultimately can’t overcome the film’s chilly gravity and unsatisfying finale". Liam Lacey of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' says the film has a promising premise but the "follow through is solemn to the point of dullness". Similarly, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' states "The Bottom Line: Veteran character actor Michael Murphy delivers a quietly mesmerizing performance in this frustratingly static drama". However, Joe Leydon at ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the film had "the overall ambiance of stark, stripped-to-essentials emotional and aesthetic rawness that might have made

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson made a notable contribution to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, an ...

proud".

Awards

The film garnered five

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

nominations at the

3rd Canadian Screen Awards The 3rd Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 1, 2015, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2014.Best Picture The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

, Best Actor (Murphy), Best Art Direction/Production Design (William Layton), Best Cinematography ( Norayr Kasper) and Best Sound Editing (Elma Bello)."Canadian Screen Awards Unveil Nominations"
''

'', January 13, 2015. Odette was nominated for the

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC; ) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...

's DGC Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film in 2015.Pat Mullen
"'The Calling' Leads Directors Guild of Canada Nominations"
''Cinemablographer'', June 18, 2015.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 3574904 2014 films Canadian drama films Films about Catholic priests Films shot in Ontario Films set in Ontario Niagara Falls in fiction 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films