Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    EA Sports Madden NFL 26 Head Coach But Why Tho 5

    Dear EA Sports, Why Can’t I Make A Hot Coach?

    08/14/2025
    Blade in Marvel Rivals Season 3.5

    Blade Can Shut Down The Other Team In Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 If You Know How

    08/08/2025
    John Cena and Cody Rhodes during Summerslam 2025

    The SummerSlam 2025 Main Event Was A Fever Dream We All Needed

    08/08/2025
    Street Fighter 6 Sagat

    Sagat Brings Depth And Approachability To ‘Street Fighter 6’

    08/07/2025
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

    Battlefield 6 Really Wants You To Play Support (But Knows You Won’t)

    07/31/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » FANTASTIC FEST: ‘Falling Stars’ Is A Quiet Hidden Gem

FANTASTIC FEST: ‘Falling Stars’ Is A Quiet Hidden Gem

Kate SánchezBy Kate Sánchez09/22/20233 Mins Read
Falling Stars - But Why Tho
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

There is nothing more ambitious than attempting to build out a world just slightly different from the one we live in by using nothing but dialogue. Minimalistic in nature, this approach takes a writing skill and a deft hand to immerse the audience. In the case of Falling Stars, the world in which we’re asked to take a journey in is one where, each year in late October, witches use the darkness as cover to descend to earth to harvest those caught outside without protection.

The titular falling stars, witches a threat, a myth, a wonder that invokes fear and awe in equal measure with others giving reverence, waiting to be taken. To help the townspeople, the authorities have put a curfew in place to limit the disappearances. But boys will be boys when three brothers leave the house to see the body of a witch, shot down by a friend who buried her in the desert.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Directed and written by Richard Kapala and Gabriel Bienczycki, Falling Stars prioritizes the personal over the spectacle as the brothers face the consequences of their curiosity. After confirming the very strict rules about how to behave around the body, the friend and the brothers unearth the witch, much akin to poking a dead body with a stick, but with substantially worse consequences in the works if they are cursed. And sure enough, they do end up cursed after the baby of the family accidentally desecrates the corpse and triggers a chain reaction that endangers him and his loved ones for the Harvest.

A directorial debut for Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki, Falling Stars evokes strong similarities to Pontypool or The Vast of Night in terms of how to use dialogue alone to set the stage and the future of the characters. Here, there are nods to the classic understanding of witches, but they aren’t restricted by it. Instead, the directing duo works to reinvent a witch lore that is unique to his world and subtly reinvent the ways in which we think about witches and their power.

Falling Stars does a lot of world-building with so little. By centering the development of the witches, their curse, and how humans exist in it through conversations, writer-director Richard Kapala makes the film into a horror slice of life. It’s this format that offers the emotional payoff. While it may seem simple, this minimalistic horror film captures the audience by effortlessly lowering them into a new world just slightly unlike our own and allowing us to see into one family with one problem and work through it with all the tension and angst that comes from it.

While the nature of the narrative leaves holes for prying questions and and the pacing has moments of oddity, the film is a stellar exploration of folklore and how to tell a story with just the world at the center.

Smartly directed and stripped down, Falling Stars is a breath of fresh night air in a time of films pushing to be bigger, louder, and yelling to be heard. Falling Stars, its script, and its actors are able to pull off a large lore swing with an intimacy that makes a difference, making it one of the gems of Fantastic Fest 2023.

Falling Stars screened as a part of Fantastic Fest 2023 programming.

Falling Stars
  • 8.5/10
    Rating - 8.5/10
8.5/10

TL;DR

Falling Stars, its script, and its actors are able to pull off a large lore swing with an intimacy that makes a difference, making it one of the gems of Fantastic Fest 2023.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘The Continental: From the World of John Wick’ Episode 1 — “Brothers in Arms”
Next Article REVIEW: ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ Is An Exhaustive Love Letter To Poe
Kate Sánchez
  • Website
  • X (Twitter)
  • Instagram

Kate Sánchez is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of But Why Tho? A Geek Community. There, she coordinates film, television, anime, and manga coverage. Kate is also a freelance journalist writing features on video games, anime, and film. Her focus as a critic is championing animation and international films and television series for inclusion in awards cycles. Find her on Bluesky @ohmymithrandir.bsky.social

Related Posts

Madelyn Cline and KJ Apa in The Map That Leads to You
8.0

REVIEW: ‘The Map That Leads To You’ Is YA Romance Done Right

08/19/2025
Lurker promotional still from MUBI

REVIEW: ‘Lurker’ Probes The Intoxication Of Fame

08/19/2025
The Knife (2025) promotional still
7.0

REVIEW: ‘The Knife’ Is Simple And Too Much At The Same Time

08/17/2025
Still from Shin Godzilla
8.5

REVIEW: ‘Shin Godzilla’ Is More Relevant Than Ever

08/16/2025
Fixed promotional key art from Netflix Animation
6.0

REVIEW: ‘Fixed’ Is Top-Notch Animation But Bottom Of The Barrel Comedy

08/15/2025
Denzel Washington Highest 2 Lowest
7.0

REVIEW: ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Has A Ton Of Fun Missing It’s Own Points

08/15/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Still from Shin Godzilla
8.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘Shin Godzilla’ Is More Relevant Than Ever

By Sarah Musnicky08/16/2025Updated:08/17/2025

It is understandable how Shin Godzilla succeeded at the box office nearly a decade ago. The strength of its story still stands today.

Botanical Bliss Update Palia But Why Tho 5 News

Palia’s New Botanical Bliss Update Brings New Flora, Decorations, And Quest Mechanic

By Matt Donahue08/18/2025Updated:08/18/2025

The Botanical Bliss update adds new event, more plushes, and a host of quality-of-life improvements and more to celebrate 2 years of Palia.

BOOTS Netflix First Look promotional images News

First Look at Coming-of-Age Story BOOTS, Coming to Netflix This October

By But Why Tho?08/17/2025

Netflix is reporting for duty this fall with the new eight-episode series BOOTS, a comedic drama starring Miles Heizer and Vera Farmiga

Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Art Interviews

EXCLUSIVE: How The ‘Nuestra Magia’ Secret Lair Found Its Identity And Raised Over $1M

By Kate Sánchez08/15/2025Updated:08/15/2025

We spoke with Ovidio Cartagena about Magic: The Gathering’s Nuestra Magia Secret Lair drop, its impact, and the real treasure within.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here