John is a middle-aged man who lives in California with his husband Eric and their adopted daughter. His aging father Willis is a hard, traditional farmer whose mind is failing. John brings Willis west, hoping he will settle closer to family. Old wounds, cruel words, and very different values make the visit painful and tense.
The story puts a gay marriage and a modern mixed family right at the center, then pits them against a father who is openly anti-gay, racist, and sexist. Viewers hear slurs and digs about race and sexuality again and again. The film frames the patient California household as the good, caring side and the old rural father as stuck in ugly ideas. That clash is easy for a normal viewer to notice. It is not a long speech movie, but identity, acceptance, and “old ways vs new ways” are built into the whole plot.
Community feedback
Was our 76% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Falling.
Woke representation / casting
Lead is a gay husband in a same-sex marriage with an Asian American partner and an adopted daughter in a mixed modern household. That family is the story’s home base and is clearly set against the white rural father. Queer casting is front and center, so this scores high under the elevated LGBTQ rule. Diversity is audience-visible and story-driving, not a tiny side note.
72%
Woke political dialogue
Willis often uses anti-gay, racist, and sexist insults. Family meals and daily life turn on those lines. Side beats include digs tied to politics, race, and Eric’s background. John rarely gives long activist speeches; the political talk mostly comes through the father’s hate and the family’s calm pushback. Noticeable, not nonstop lectures.
50%
Identity-driven story themes
The core plot is a gay son and his husband caring for a homophobic father who rejects their life. Acceptance of the queer family, plus racism and old vs new values, power the conflict. Mortensen framed it around social splits on sexuality, race, and gender. Queer identity is central to the premise, so the score sits high.
78%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Traditional rural fatherhood and hard “old man” masculinity are shown as cruel, bigoted, and out of date. The progressive California home is the caring moral center. The film hits toxic traditional gender and family norms hard. It is not mainly about tearing down churches, capitalism, or the whole West as a system.
55%
Woke character or canon changes
Not present in this title.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No clear, major right-leaning campaign treated the film as woke or DEI propaganda. The loudest casting fight was left-side criticism of a straight actor playing gay, which does not count here.
0%
Creator track record context
Key driver is Mortensen (cached ~30): progressive and political, more classical left than DEI brand. Bekerman (~54) raises the average a little; most other producers score very low. Overall mild-to-moderate progressive crew context that fits the film’s tolerance themes.
32%
Production
Movie · 2026
While people across 1990s Iraq struggle to survive the war and food shortages, Saddam Hussein requires each school in the country to prepare a cake to celebrate his birthday.
Movie · 2019
Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert…
Movie · 2025
A logger leads a life of quiet grace as he experiences love and loss during an era of monumental change in early 20th-century America.
Movie · 2023
The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s.
Movie · 2017
Members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots battle deadly wildfires to save an Arizona town.
Movie · 2022
Based on a true tragedy, the emotionally triggering film sheds light on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus), a religious minority in the 1990s Kashmir valley, who were…
Movie · 2024
On the brink of the Second World War, a young Norwegian man's drive to resist the Nazis sets a new course for his future – and the future of his country.
Movie · 2023
American ballet dancer Joy Womack is accepted into Moscow's infamously tough Bolshoi Ballet Academy, with the dream of becoming a great ballerina.
