The Falling

The stiflingly rigid atmosphere of a 1960s British girls' school pervades director Carol Morley's brooding film about a fainting epidemic that afflicts the student body following a tragic death. Classmates Abbie (Florence Pugh) and Lydia (Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams) are feeling the first pangs of youthful longing and are searching for ways to respond. After the more extroverted Abbie experiments with Lydia's older brother and winds up pregnant, she's troubled by seizures that leave her unconscious. Soon other girls are collapsing in swoons as well, sometimes in groups. The spinsterish teachers are incapable of dealing with this hysteria outbreak, while psychologists called in to consult can offer only bland bromides as an explanation for what's happening. Lydia receives no help in coping at home, where her agoraphobic mother doesn't even notice that Lydia is growing uncomfortably close to her all-too-accommodating brother. For much of its running-time, The Falling channels the mysteriously hypnotic mood of Peter Weir's masterful Picnic at Hanging Rock, telling a story of how sexual repression can cause inexplicable physical symptoms. But it falters in the final reel during a series of confrontations that are more melodramatic than revelatory. Still, the lovely visuals and Williams' intense performance make this a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)