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The generation known as Millennials doesn’t have the best reputation. The stereotypes suggest that they’re weak and whiny and entitled, incapable of handling real-world responsibilities. And the 20-somethings in the indie drama Taking the Fall don’t exactly help to disprove the stereotypes.
Taking the Fall follows Tyler (Munro Chambers) as he gets out of prison and finds that things are very different for his old college friends. Six years ago, Tyler took the fall for his friends and was sentenced to prison for marijuana possession and distribution. When he’s released, his friend Justin (Roland Buck III) surprises him with a dinner party with the old gang. But as Tyler listens to their complaints about their meaningless existence and how trapped they are in the jobs they hate, he’s disappointed by how little they’ve accomplished while he was away.
Tyler’s 20s have been completely different from that of his friends. While they were enjoying their college years, starting careers, and settling down, Tyler was locked away in a very different environment. His friends have been living a life of social media and homebrews and Airbnb, and it’s painfully clear that Tyler just doesn’t fit in.
Even if you’ve never found Millennials to be particularly annoying, you definitely will here. These characters are rude and insensitive and shallow—not to mention entirely self-absorbed. If they’re not engrossed in whatever’s happening on their phones, they’re either complaining about their lives or their jobs or they’re attacking each other for their choices. And as they sit down together for dinner, you’ll be nearly as irritated as Tyler is as he looks on, realizing that he made such a huge sacrifice so his friends could become this selfish and miserable.
Fortunately, though, despite all of the exhausting Millennial drama, there is a little bit of hope here. Justin is the one person in the group who’s living his life and following his passion—even if his attempts don’t always succeed. He’s not giving in to the pressures around him. And despite the challenges that Tyler knows he’s facing, he has the same kind of attitude. He’s determined to pursue his dreams, to find himself, and to be less miserable than his old friends.
Admittedly, it’s not always easy to sit through dinner with these self-obsessed 20-somethings. It tends to make for an exhausting experience. But if you can get past the insufferable characters in this Millennial indie, it might give you just the slightest bit of hope for this troubled generation.
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