The Falls (2012) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

RJ discovers same-sex attraction after accidentally witnessing intimate activity in a park. Given his strict Mormon upbringing, he interprets these feelings as a sin that threatens his eternal salvation. He chooses to suppress and bury these feelings because acting on them would mean betraying everything his faith, family, and community represent. The church teaches that such desires are wicked, so RJ attempts to ignore what he discovered about himself to preserve his planned future as a missionary and church member.

Foreshadowing: The park incident plants the seed of conflict that later resurfaces when RJ meets Chris, making his later emotional pull toward his partner feel inevitable rather than sudden.

• rj smith
• same-sex attraction
• mormon faith
• church teachings
• suppression

The dinner with the man who challenges church leadership and accuses the prophet of disturbing acts deeply unsettles Chris. Unlike RJ, Chris has been raised entirely within the church hierarchy, his father holds a high position in church leadership. When the man's accusations provoke Chris's anger, he experiences a crisis of faith. The confrontation forces him to question whether the institution he dedicated his life to is as pure as he believed. This disillusionment leads him to stop enforcing the strict mission rules and begin going through the motions instead of genuinely pursuing conversions.

Foreshadowing: Chris's defensive reaction at the dinner reveals how personally he identifies with the church's integrity, making his later collapse of faith more understandable.

• chris merrill
• missionary work
• loss of faith
• church leadership
• disillusionment

The moment occurs during a walk in a secluded area near railroad tracks. Chris initiates a conversation about doubt and temptation, revealing his own internal struggle. RJ attempts to deflect, but Chris leans in for a kiss, and they both confess their mutual love. The emotional buildup, from weeks of living together, supporting each other through missionary work, and sharing vulnerable moments, reaches a breaking point. Both men have been suppressing their feelings while growing closer, and the remote location provides the privacy and emotional safety to finally act on what they feel for each other.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes of RJ watching Chris sleep with tenderness and the restaurant confrontation where RJ defends Chris establish the romantic tension that culminates in this moment.

• rj smith
• chris merrill
• first kiss
• railroad tracks
• mutual confession
• love

When the zone leader discovers them together in bed, the consequences fall differently on each man. RJ has no family connections within the church hierarchy, so he is immediately sent home in disgrace as punishment for violating the church's code of conduct. Chris, however, has a powerful advantage: his father holds a high position within church leadership. This family connection protects Chris from similar punishment and allows him to complete his mission. The discrepancy highlights how the church's response to their relationship is shaped by power dynamics and nepotism rather than uniform enforcement of rules.

Foreshadowing: Chris's reference to his father's position early in the film plants the seed for this unequal treatment when discovery occurs.

• zone leader
• sent home
• church hierarchy
• chris father
• nepotism
• mission consequences

The zone leader notices their declining missionary performance, they're prioritizing each other over door-to-door work and appear less committed to their assignments. Concerned about their lack of dedication, the zone leader visits their apartment and finds the door unlocked. When he enters, he discovers RJ and Chris together in bed, exposing their romantic relationship. This discovery triggers the chain of events that ends RJ's mission prematurely.

Foreshadowing: The film explicitly shows the couple reducing their missionary commitments and focusing on their relationship before this discovery occurs, making their decreased productivity a warning sign the zone leader eventually investigates.

• zone leader
• unlocked apartment
• discovery
• mission failure
• caught together

After being sent home in disgrace, RJ faces his father, former girlfriend, and church leaders who expect him to condemn his feelings and apologize for violating church doctrine. Instead of complying, RJ refuses to apologize and declares his intention to live honestly. This defiance represents his complete break from the church's view that his sexuality is a sin. Having experienced genuine love with Chris and confronted the contradiction between his identity and church teachings, RJ chooses self-acceptance over conformational pressure, even knowing it means losing his community and former life.

Foreshadowing: The moment where RJ tells Chris 'I love you' under the trees represents his first act of honest self-expression, setting the stage for his later public defiance.

• rj smith
• self-acceptance
• church confrontation
• refuse apologize
• identity
• defiance

Rodney remains a contact throughout the film, continuing to shape the couple's choices even as their own priorities shift. A PTSD-stricken veteran haunted by war trauma, Rodney finds temporary solace through companionship with RJ and Chris, as well as substances like marijuana that help him cope. He shares stories of road trips and freedom that later inspire RJ and Chris's own plans for the future. While his ultimate fate isn't detailed, he serves as a mirror for the protagonists, someone seeking escape and healing through movement and connection, much like the ending where RJ plans a road trip across the American West.

Foreshadowing: Rodney's road trip stories plant the idea that becomes the film's hopeful ending, showing how their mentorship relationship circles back to inspire their future.

• rodney
• marine veteran
• ptsd
• road trip
• mentorship
• temporary solace

The ending shows RJ planning a three-month road trip with Chris across the American West, representing their hope for a life beyond church restrictions. This journey symbolizes freedom from the claustrophobic rules of their former life and a commitment to exploring their relationship on their own terms. The road trip is a classic American motif for self-discovery and new beginnings. Unlike the controlled, schedule-driven existence of missionary work, this open-ended journey represents authenticity, adventure, and the possibility that love and personal truth can coexist outside the boundaries that once defined them.

Foreshadowing: Rodney's earlier stories about road trips and his philosophy of escaping through travel foreshadow this exact outcome for the main characters.

• road trip
• american west
• freedom
• new beginning
• future together
• self-discovery

Chris chooses to reveal his internal struggle because he's been experiencing his own crisis of faith since the dinner confrontation that challenged church leadership. The remote, secluded location near railroad tracks provides the privacy and emotional distance from their missionary routine that allows honest conversation. Chris's vulnerability, admitting doubt and temptation, invites RJ to reciprocate honesty. This moment represents a shift from surface-level partnership to genuine emotional intimacy, where both men can acknowledge what they've been suppressing while living under the strict mission rules.

Foreshadowing: Chris's earlier disengagement from mission work signals his internal conflict, which reaches its breaking point in this confession scene.

• chris merrill
• doubt
• temptation
• vulnerability
• railroad tracks
• emotional intimacy

Despite being allowed to finish his mission and facing church disapproval, Chris chooses to stay connected to RJ through US mail. Their relationship, born from shared vulnerability and genuine love, proves stronger than the institutional pressure to sever ties. Chris's letters represent hope and continuity, they refuse to let the church's rejection define their connection. This ongoing contact also sets the stage for the hopeful ending where they plan their road trip together, suggesting their relationship transcends the circumstances that initially divided them.

Foreshadowing: The mutual confession of love under the trees establishes the emotional foundation that makes their continued contact believable and meaningful.

• letters
• long-distance relationship
• chris merrill
• connection after mission
• hope