The Fallout

I really hate to be ~that person~ and talk about a film I saw at a festival that isn’t available to watch, but I’m going to do it anyway. I got to see Megan Park’s film THE FALLOUT this week at SXSW and thought it was a fantastic debut. Written and directed by Park, the film follows two high school students (Jenna Ortega and Maddie Ziegler) after they are trapped in the bathroom together during a school shooting. The shooting happens off-screen but we stay with Ortega and Ziegler in real time for a harrowing five minutes. The rest of the film follows Ortega’s character, Vada, as she struggles to come to terms with what has happened. It’s an incredibly empathetic film that never feels like trauma-porn; it simply sheds a light on the varied ways teens might process such an awful event. I should note that the film also looks super stylish and is buoyed by a great soundtrack and score. Universal has already acquired all distribution rights to the film so it should be gracing your various screens in no time! 

—Julia Hammer, Creative Executive