The Falls

The Falls

Year: 2012

Runtime: 115 mins

Language: English

Director: Jon García

RomanceDrama

Love is not a sin. Two missionaries, RJ and Elder Merrill, travel to a small Oregon town to serve their mission and teach the words of Joseph Smith. Living together and confronting the challenges of leaving home, they help each other discover strengths, share a deep passion for their faith, and learn to express forbidden feelings, risking the only community they have.

Hopeful
Bittersweet ending
Moderately emotional
Medium intensity
Steady pacing
Moderate complexity

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Timeline & Setting – The Falls (2012)

Explore the full timeline and setting of The Falls (2012). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Present day

The events take place in a contemporary setting, reflecting modern church dynamics and social attitudes toward sexuality. The characters navigate 21st-century life while adhering to traditional LDS rules and expectations. The story moves between a rural hometown, a mission in Utah, and urban neighborhoods, showing current-day points of contact with the world.

Location

Idaho, Utah, Portland, Oregon

The story unfolds across a small town in Idaho and the urban setting around Portland, Oregon, as well as the Mormon training sites in Utah. Idaho is portrayed as the close-knit home where RJ’s faith and family expectations shape his choices. The Portland area serves as a backdrop for urban street engagements during missionary work, while Utah houses the training environment for missionaries.

🏔️ Idaho 🗺️ United States 🏙️ Portland

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 12:14

Main Characters – The Falls (2012)

Meet the key characters of The Falls (2012), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

RJ Smith (Nick Ferrucci)

A young, devout Mormon whose strict faith collides with his emerging romantic feelings. He is earnest and thoughtful, torn between obedience to church rules and his desire for authentic love. His journey centers on choosing honesty over conformity, even at great personal cost.

🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ ⛪ Religious conflict 💗 Romance 🧭 Identity

Chris Merrill (Benjamin Farmer)

RJ’s missionary partner who starts out strict and rule-bound but gradually questions the mission’s constraints. He is loyal and empathetic, yet internally conflicted as love grows between him and RJ. His arc traces the tension between duty, personal desire, and faith.

💔 Forbidden Love ⛪ Duty 📜 Doctrine

Rodney

A U.S. Marine veteran with PTSD who welcomes the missionaries into his life and invites them to share meals and conversation. He becomes a catalyst for their emotional awakening and introduces them to new experiences, including marijuana, that alter their perspective.

🌿 Substance Use 🗺️ Road Trip 🗣️ Guidance

Thomas Smith

RJ’s father figure, a church member who embodies the traditional authority of the family and faith community. He reacts with anger and disappointment to RJ’s sexuality, and his stance heavily influences RJ’s sense of belonging and courage.

👨‍👦 Family ⛪ Religious Authority 🗣️ Pressure

Elder Harris

An LDS church elder who oversees missionary activities and provides a frugal sense of guidance and order in the mission, highlighting the hierarchical structure of the church. He stands in contrast to the personal journeys of RJ and Chris.

🗣️ Leadership 📜 Doctrine 🤝 Mentorship

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 12:14

Major Themes – The Falls (2012)

Explore the central themes of The Falls (2012), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🏳️‍🌈 Sexual Identity

RJ confronts a same-sex attraction that challenges the church’s teachings, forcing him to choose between personal truth and communal expectations. The film tracks his struggle to reconcile love with the fear of social and familial rejection. The tension exposes the emotional cost of hiding one’s identity in a rigid religious framework.

⛪ Faith vs Freedom

The mission environment imposes strict rules that clash with RJ and Chris’s evolving feelings. The narrative probes how religious obligations can suppress personal growth and honesty. It also shows the pain of disciplining one’s heart to conform to doctrine.

💞 Love and Consequences

A forbidden romance develops between RJ and Chris, transforming their bond and undermining the mission’s agenda. The relationship reshapes their priorities, with betrayal and alienation looming as a result. Their love raises questions about loyalty, happiness, and the cost of authenticity.

🗺️ Identity and Duty

Institutional expectations constrain personal identity and future choices. The film portrays how family, church leadership, and mission culture shape decisions about honesty and belonging. It examines the long arc from concealment to courageous self-acceptance.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 12:14

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Movies about forbidden love like The Falls

Stories where love defies oppressive rules, demanding a difficult choice.Discover more movies like The Falls that explore the tender and painful dynamics of forbidden romance. If you liked seeing love challenge authority in The Falls, you'll find similar emotional stories about defying societal, religious, or cultural rules for a chance at connection.

forbidden lovetenderdefiantstiflingemotional riskself-discoveryromantic tension

Narrative Summary

Stories in this thread typically follow characters who find a deep, unexpected connection in an environment that explicitly forbids it. The plot revolves around the tension of hiding their feelings, the risk of discovery, and the ultimate choice they must make between their love and their place in the world they know.

Why These Movies?

These movies are grouped together because they share a core theme of love versus duty. They create a specific emotional mix of tender intimacy, stifling pressure, and defiant hope, often leading to a bittersweet or costly resolution that feels earned and emotionally resonant.

Movies about faith and identity crises like The Falls

Introspective dramas about personal truth clashing with deeply held beliefs.Find movies similar to The Falls that delve into the quiet turmoil of a faith crisis. If you were moved by the introspective journey of self-discovery amidst religious conflict in The Falls, this collection features other emotional dramas about rebuilding identity.

introspectivemelancholicfaith crisisself-discoveryidentityemotionalthoughtful

Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern follows a protagonist deeply embedded in a belief system who experiences a catalyst that forces them to question its tenets. The story unfolds through internal monologue, meaningful conversations, and symbolic acts, building steadily towards a poignant moment of realization or decision that changes their life's path.

Why These Movies?

These films are connected by their focus on the quiet, profound struggle of reconciling personal truth with external doctrine. They share a melancholic yet hopeful mood, a steady, introspective pace, and a medium emotional weight centered on the universal theme of finding one's authentic self.

Unlock the Full Story of The Falls

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The Falls Summary

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The Falls Summary

The Falls Timeline

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The Falls Timeline

The Falls Spoiler-Free Summary

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The Falls Spoiler-Free Summary

More About The Falls

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