The summer movie season sees the release of the biggest blockbusters of the year, and 2026 was no different. Arguably the biggest release was Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, due in large part to how it was the first movie filmed entirely with IMAX cameras, allowing audiences to fully immerse themselves in the adventure. Just weeks after that epic landed theaters, Spider-Man: Brand New Day was unleashed, the first sequel in that MCU franchise since 2021’s record-breaking Spider-Man: No Way Home. Even with its predecessor’s immense achievements, Brand New Day surpassed No Way Home in a number of ways, solidifying this year as one of the best for theaters.
Even though a number of the year’s biggest releases are still going strong at the box office, we’re entering a unique period of time where awards-season titles haven’t yet started to debut. Instead, we get movies that are much more modest in scope and scale, which can sometimes result in unexpected surprises. Back in 2022, one unexpected surprise release was Fall, which explored two adventurers who became stranded at the top of an old TV tower. While its reception wasn’t quite as triumphant as other massive movies from that year, the film went on to become a streaming hit, as audiences enjoyed the edge-of-your-seat notion of being trapped thousands of feet in the air.
Fall was enough of a hit to earn the sequel Fall 2: Deadpoint, which lands in theaters this weekend. While the concept is somewhat similar, featuring characters stuck in a precarious position, it’s largely a standalone outing. Critics have weighed in on the new sequel, with its current Rotten Tomatoes score of 58% positive reviews confirming the divisive experience.
Even though the original Fall didn’t blow critics away, the general consensus is that it accomplished what it set out to do, with the movie sitting at 80% positive reviews. This sequel clearly hasn’t captured the same magic, as confirmed by the much lower score. Even though there isn’t significant narrative tissue connecting this movie to its predecessor, it follows Jax Hunter (Harriet Slater), sister of the first movie’s Shiloh Hunter (Virginia Gardner). Jax and her friend Luce (Arsema Thomas) go on a climb in a mountain in Thailand and, like Shiloh, find themselves trapped at tremendous heights.
Over at Variety, Todd Gilchrist gave the movie a positive review, saying, “Fall 2 still feels kinda special: if not hand-crafted, then at least mostly guided by the author of the original. Given the first film’s word-of-mouth success (it was discovered on Netflix after debuting in theaters in tenth place), it’s unclear if there’s actually a devoted fandom for this altitudinally-advantaged franchise or it was simply a welcome time-filler in the waning days of the pandemic. But anyone hoping for a similar-but-not-the-same experience will likely be satisfied.”
Bill Bria at /Film also gave it a positive review, noting, “Fall 2 proves its mettle by being a nail-biting thriller that feels like it’s not a mere retread, all while remaining connected enough to the first film so that it feels like it’s a continuing story rather than a lazy namesake. The most remarkable aspect of the movie lies in how it demonstrates that the concept and the characters have further to climb, something that I certainly couldn’t guess from the first film.”
Arsema Thomas as Luce in Fall 2: DeadpointLionsgate
Of the negative reactions, though, The AV Club‘s Simon Abrams explains, “Fall 2: Deadpoint often feels like a speedrun through a tense and absorbing scenario that keeps getting interrupted by tedious and unconvincing scenes. By the loopy finale, you’ll wish that the filmmakers had either put more effort into developing their characters or just more honestly treated them like the cyphers that they are, and made them better vehicles for circumstantial peril. As it is, this thankless sequel’s highs simply aren’t high enough.”
Given that the original movie’s success came in streaming and not at the box office, we might have to wait until the sequel lands on a streaming service to net a more resounding following.
Release Date
September 2, 2026
Runtime
97 Minutes
Writers
Jonathan Frank, Scott Mann
Producers
Christian Mercuri, David Haring, Mark Lane, James Harris, Scott Mann
Cast
Juju Journey Brener
Young Jax