It’s stating the obvious to say that movie trailers are designed to convince you within the space of a couple of minutes that the project in question is worth your time and money. Great promos draw in crowds, and terrible ones accomplish the opposite, but last year’s Fall turned out to be in a unique class of its own.
Scott Mann’s insanely intense survival thriller gained plenty of buzz for a trailer that was nothing short of jaw-dropping in the way it sold both the premise and the underlying sense of danger seeping out of every frame, but the footage was so well-received that it ended up putting people off the film as a result.
Anyone with even the slightest feelings of acrophobia wouldn’t go with a hundred miles of Fall, especially not on the biggest screen possible, but those who were brave enough ended up being richly rewarded. A nerve-shredding and dread-laden story that leaves you perched on the edge of your seat throughout, sweaty palms and heart palpitations were the order of the day from beginning to end.
With that in mind, a celebratory Reddit thread showering Fall in praise ended up devolving into an outpouring of appreciation for the trailer’s knee-trembling terror, with many commenters noting that very rarely has a marketing campaign stirred up such feelings of fear, discomfort, and vertigo-induced nosebleeds.
Of course, it’s pointed out that the acclaimed box office success doesn’t dispel any of those feelings throughout its relentless 107-minute running time, positioning Fall as the rare film that’s so good and effective at selling itself that it can actively convince people they aren’t made of strong enough stuff to withstand the end product.
