Two strangers strike up a close and unexplainable bond in Aylin Tezel’s first feature. Here’s our Falling Into Place review.
Falling Into Place, Aylin Tezel’s directorial debut, begins with partial close-ups. A collarbone here, a finger there, maybe half a face. We see only fragments of people before we see the whole person. It’s a sentiment that intertwines itself with the larger story, too.
Tezel appears as Kira, a young woman trying to get over the breakdown of a long-term relationship. She’s on the Isle of Skye alone, on a trip she was supposed to take with her ex. At the same time, Ian (Chris Fulton) comes home to visit family, although just the mention of his sister sends him running to the hills.
Outside the local pub, these two broken people find a few hours of solace with each other. They’re both running away from something, mostly themselves, but at least together they manage to dull the ache a little. It’s like social paracetamol for a head wound; not very effective, but better than nothing.
During the first half of the film, as we follow these two strangers through a drunken night and a complicated morning, we know barely anything about Ian and Kira. They know very little about each other, too, but that doesn’t seem to get in the way of their connection. Maybe these small parts of each other are enough for now; maybe, with all their own problems, there’s no room for anything else.
Tezel, who also wrote the script, occasionally dips in and out of frustrating cliches as this is explored. “I think maybe we should just fuck,” Ian offers. “Would you just fuck me to distract yourself from yourself?,” Kira replies. Falling Into Place feels the need to put into words what we already know, but there’s truth in Tezel’s script nonetheless.
Once their Before Sunrise-esque Scottish daydream comes to an end, Kira and Ian both return to their lives in London, each unaware the other shares their city. They’re so close to each other, but London seems endless and their paths stay separate. Their brief time together keeps haunting them and maybe, just maybe, the couple will find each other in the cold, bustling capital.
Or at least, that’s what we hope as we watch their lives slowly spiral out of control.
As the film ticks on, Kira and Ian deal with their loneliness in different ways. Ian turns to casual sex despite living with his girlfriend; Kira can’t stop listening to old voice notes from her ex. Both characters are borderline unlikable, and watching them for nearly two hours tests our patience at times.
Yet it’s here that Falling Into Place navigates beyond the cliche, suggesting that love doesn’t heal all. Ian and Kira are both unwilling to let go of their torment, but Tezel never tries to convince us they’re the victims of circumstance.
Both Tezel and Fulton are willing to give us a lot of themselves on screen, which certainly helps. They’re both convincingly vulnerable, but Fulton arguably has the meatier character. Ian is the asshole of the story, the cheater, the closed-off, struggling musician who is told to make his music more personal in order to break through. Fulton is able to carefully balance between insufferable and tragic without making Ian into a stereotype.
As in Drake Doremus’ Like Crazy, Falling Into Place deals with a distant memory of a romantic connection and the potential it holds. If a meeting had worked out, would it be worth it?
Just like Doremus’ gentle romance, Falling Into Place leaves a sense of hopeful uncertainty. No promises, no absolutes, just a suggestion that we can be better.
Falling Into Place is in UK cinemas 6th June.
