Fallen
Directed by Gregory Hoblit
- crime
- drama
- thriller
- fantasy
The story
Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.
What it’s like
Cool, desaturated Philadelphia tones with rain-slick streets, sodium-lamp orange in the interiors, and a murky green-grey palette that thickens as the case goes on. Director Gregory Hoblit frames much of it with steady, unhurried compositions, letting detectives sit in dim squad rooms and stairwells while the camera holds on faces, and the supernatural touches arrive as eerie stillness rather than spectacle: a whispered voice carried from one character to another, a song that keeps resurfacing on the soundtrack. The score is sparse and brooding, with low strings and long silences that make a crowded street feel lonely. The mood is weary, paranoid and gloomy, with a slow-burning dread that suits a rainy evening alone and a viewer who likes puzzles that unravel slowly. Violence is present and occasionally sharp, including a few murders and a jolting execution at the opening, but it is not gory and the camera tends to cut away. Its people are a burned-out cop and a determined partner slowly losing their footing. It suits viewers who want a dark, atmospheric police mystery with a metaphysical undercurrent, rather than something gentle.
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