Movie review
October 2, 2020 · 112 min · M
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Falling (2020) is a family drama written and directed by Viggo Mortensen in his feature debut. It follows John Peterson, a gay man in California living with his husband and adopted daughter, as he brings his dementia-afflicted father Willis from rural life to stay with them, leading to repeated clashes. The story centers on caregiving burdens, past family trauma, and generational conflict driven by the father's vocal homophobia, racism, and misogyny. The gay family unit and the father's bigoted outbursts form a recurring, audience-visible element in the premise and key scenes.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Falling.
Woke representation / casting
Prominent gay protagonist with husband (Asian actor) and adopted daughter as the central modern family unit; visible throughout and core to the worlds-collide premise, though it fits the California setting and story logic.
Woke political dialogue
Father's repeated homophobic, racist, and sexist rants dominate conflict scenes and are shown as destructive; no activist or left-wing counter-dialogue or lectures from other characters.
Identity-driven story themes
The protagonist's gay identity, marriage, and family structure versus the father's rejection form a major recurring driver of tension, character behavior, and emotional arcs alongside dementia.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Portrays the father's traditional rural values, past abuse, and prejudices as personally toxic and damaging to his family, with implicit contrast to the son's accepting household, but lacks modern activist framing of patriarchy, systemic issues, or institutions.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No substantial backlash claiming the film pushes woke, activist, identity-political, or left-wing content; reception stayed focused on dramatic execution.
Creator track record context
No relevant prior work cited indicating activist or identity-politics patterns.
Production
