The Fallout (2021)
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A high school student struggles to navigate the profound emotional trauma following a school shooting.
The story
High school student Vada goes to the restroom in the middle of class after her little sister Amelia calls her when she has her first period. While she is in the bathroom, a school shooting occurs. Vada hides in a stall with her schoolmates Mia and Quinton, whose brother is killed in the shooting. Following the incident, it's revealed that at least 16 students were killed, and Vada has become depressed and isolated from her family, as well as her best friend Nick, but spends more and more time bonding with Mia.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
High school student Vada goes to the restroom in the middle of class after her little sister Amelia calls her when she has her first period. While she is in the bathroom, a school shooting occurs. Vada hides in a stall with her schoolmates Mia and Quinton, whose brother is killed in the shooting. Following the incident, it's revealed that at least 16 students were killed, and Vada has become depressed and isolated from her family, as well as her best friend Nick, but spends more and more time bonding with Mia. She cannot bring herself to enter the bathroom where she hid and wets her pants when she hears the sound of a soda can being crushed. In order to cope with her trauma, she takes ecstasy, and Nick has to help her through the resulting high. After another night of drinking, Mia tells Vada that she is falling in love with her, and they have sex. Vada and Nick argue about her poor coping mechanisms, resulting in her venting to Quinton and then trying to kiss him, who gently rejects her as he is not emotionally ready for a relationship. She withdraws further from her family and friends, including Mia. Later, Amelia admits to Vda that she assumed Vada resented her for the phone call that had put her in more danger. Vada assures her that that is not the case, and the two reconnect. Vada reconciles with her parents and Mia. By her next session with her therapist, Anna, Vada has made genuine progress in coming to terms with what happened, though she admits that she and Nick might not reconcile. As Vada waits for Mia outside the latter's dance class, she receives a notification on her phone about a shooting at another school, and has a panic attack.
- First release year
- 2021
- Runtime (minutes)
- 92
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Megan Park
- Writers
- Megan Park · writer
- Cast and characters
- Jenna Ortega · Vada Cavell; Maddie Ziegler; Niles Fitch; Will Ropp; Julie Bowen; John Ortiz; Lumi Pollack; Shailene Woodley
- Genres
- drama; independent; teen drama
- Themes
- trauma; grief; post-traumatic stress disorder; coping mechanisms
- Tone and mood
- sensitive; piercing
- Premise and plot tags
- high school; LGBTQ-related; school violence
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the lead performance and the direction.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 84 · scale: 100 · review count: 12
- Production trivia
- The film was the number one most-watched streaming original film in the United States during its release week.; Finneas O'Connell's score for the film marked his first film composing debut.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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