Falcon

Directed by Noel Wyatt

2025

I’ve mentioned this before in reviews for Midlands Movies; reviewing low budget, independently made films requires a change in mindset. There’s a level of compromise, with allowances made for the odd rough-around-the-edges performance or some shaky effects work. On the opposite end of the compromise, however, is a film where the basics – the script, the cinematography – are up to a certain standard.

This isn’t to say that there can’t be mistakes. But there must be a general understanding of storytelling. While Falcon was made with the best intentions, writer/director Noel Wyatt (billed here as Noel Hitchcock) said that they wanted to create opportunities for military veterans, as well as disabled actors and women, it features a few too many basic errors to reach its potential.

To start, it falls into the trap of telling audiences instead of showing them. For example, at the start we see disabled veteran Marcie (Rachel Fletcher) in the park who stops at a set of stairs and says, “wheelchair accessible my arse”. This is superfluous. We’ve already had clear shots of Marcie in her wheelchair and the steps. The audience doesn’t need this extra piece of explanation.

Another example comes later in the film, after Todd (George Weighall), a teenager who lives on the same estate, is forced to work for drug dealer Arron (Aston Gallagher). While out with his friends, Todd explains the situation to them. It’s not a bad thing to show them being clued into the events so far, but Todd explains in granular detail, essentially acting as a catch-up for anyone starting the film at the half hour point. This could have been trimmed; giving the friends some prior knowledge of Arron and his dealings, allowing Todd to simply say that he’s been forced to work for him.

Elsewhere, there are some continuity problems. Todd’s bike is thrown over the balcony by Arron when they first come into contact, but is seen undamaged a few scenes later, with its licence plate intact on the handlebars. This is important stuff – given the events later in the film, the bike is unnecessary, and we could have Todd walking around after it’s destroyed.

In fact, as one of the film’s main themes is the growing levels of poverty, leading to rising crime rates, it could have added desperation to the character and created more realism to the lengths he is pushed too.

Later, when Marcie and Todd start swapping Arron’s cocaine out for flour to put him out of favour with his bosses, the size of the bag changes and whilst it has no bearing on the plot, it does show a lack of attention. These aren’t small errors; a watch switching from the left wrist to the right, or a drink magically refilling between cuts. These are things even casual viewers will notice.

And it sadly feels all a bit rushed. There’s a moment when Arron bumps into the camera, and we watch awkwardly as the actor shuffles around it. Why couldn’t a second take be done of this 30 second scene?

This extends to some characters too. Marcie’s therapist Brian (Paul Tivey) opens her confidential file to reveal a blank piece of paper, despite it suggested she has been going to him regularly. Now there’s an argument that the two scenes involving Brian could be cut altogether. But to not have a few sheets of printed paper in Marcie’s file suggests these scenes were added late and shot quickly to boost this up to a feature length film.

Given that the film’s other key theme is the treatment of veterans after they leave the military, there could have been more to say about funding for mental health support of those suffering from PTSD as well as support for those who cannot get back in work after serving in the military. Reading through the crowdfunder notes for this film, that seems to have been the intention.

Unfortuantely, things are rushed to get to the main story about tackling a local drug dealer. Falcon strives to be a Ken Loach piece but needs to be put back through the editing suite to unearth those themes clearer.

In the end, this would sit far more comfortably as a 30min short. Cut the therapy scenes and have Brian mentioned in passing, showing Marcie’s disillusionment with the support offered. Have Todd become embroiled in the drug dealing plot earlier, so that when he initially mugs Marcie, it comes from a place of desperation rather than feeding into the stereotypes of council estate kids.

The film could do with a little more focus on the antagonist Jim (Dennis George Norton). A fellow veteran who Marcie sees at the Veteran Breakfast events, it’s revealed in the closing moments he is Arron’s boss, pushing drugs into the estates. What better way to show the themes than to have two veterans, one mentally broken by his duty, another physically, pushed in two directions by the poverty they found when they came back home?

There are a lot of important stories to be told about the treatment of veterans, and the increasingly poor living conditions of those on the breadline. Sadly, by throwing subplots into the mix, letting errors slip through the cracks, and not putting the script through a thorough edit, Falcon is unfortunately not the socially conscious film it really wants to be.

2/5

★★

2 / 5

Matthew Tilt

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