Why is it that love always seems just out of reach when we find it? In Isaac F. Davis’ short film, Fall on Me, we find love is as beautiful and as it is tragic. The writer-director’s majestic tale is the story of two lovers, Atticus (Francis Edemobi) and Ava (Ashley Fuller). Though they are madly in love, something within them keeps them apart.
Atticus has always been alone, but in Ava, he’s finally found the one. He’s worked all his life for this moment, for Ava. He believes being perfect is the only way she will be “magnetized” to him. Though Atticus invests so much effort into his physical appearance and inward character, he wonders if this love he has found is too good to be true.
On the other hand, Ava has been hurt and damaged in the past by former partners and lovers. In Atticus, she sees the perfect man, but her past has built up walls of distrust. She also wonders if Atticus is too good to be true or if loving him is too much of a risk.
“She also wonders if Atticus is too good to be true or if loving him is too much of a risk.”
Fall on Me will surprise you when it starts. Though there is a soap opera style to the narrative, Davis makes excellent use of the short film format to tell his story and dive deep into his characters. The plot is broken into three acts. The first tells the story of our two lovers with a sweeping soundtrack that will bring you back to the golden age of Hollywood (e.g., Rock Hudson and Doris Day). The soundtrack in this section conjures familiar feelings of Hollywood romance while allowing Atticus and Ava to reveal their feelings about one another and themselves.
The second act becomes much more experimental. Davis takes us into the ego of the minds of his leads as they express their feelings, fears, and desires. The final act then wraps it all up as any Hollywood love story should.
Romance in cinema is more than just saying, “I love you.” In Fall on Me, Davis deconstructs the complicated nature of love and romance and, yes, finds the tragedy within true love. He uses his unique storytelling style to take us through the emotions of love by getting us to invest in his characters immediately. The short does what every romance story should do by making us, the audience, feel. We fall in love, we struggle, we beg, we plead. Then it ends in one of only two ways it possibly can.
For screening information, visit the Fall on Me official web page.
"…Davis deconstructs the complicated nature of love and romance..."
