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
    Momo and Okarun share a close moment in Dandadan

    Momo And Okarun: The Gold Standard For Shonen Romance

    07/03/2025
    Ironheart Episodes 4 6 But Why Tho 1

    ‘Ironheart’ Explained: Explore MCU’s Bold New Chapter

    07/01/2025
    Buck in 9-1-1

    ‘9-1-1’ Has To Let Buck Say Bisexual

    06/29/2025
    Nintendo Welcome Tour promotional image of the maraca mini-game

    The One “Game” That Justifies The Nintendo Switch 2 Purchase

    06/25/2025
    Destiel Confession in Supernatural - Castiel (Misha Collins) and Dean (Jensen Ackles)

    The Destiel Confession: The Lasting Importance Of Supernatural’s Greatest Ship

    06/22/2025
  • Squid Game
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
  • Summer Game Fest
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

The Old Guard 2
5.5

REVIEW: ‘The Old Guard 2’ Is Distracted And Half-Baked

07/02/2025
Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey in Jurassic World: Rebirth
5.5

REVIEW: ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ Is Best When Nobody Is Talking

06/30/2025
MEGAN 2.0 promotional image
7.0

REVIEW: ‘M3GAN 2.0’ Puts Action First

06/29/2025
F1 (2025) promotional key art
8.0

REVIEW: ‘F1’ Is A High-Octane Blockbuster

06/24/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Promotional image form Netflix
9.0

REVIEW: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Brings Beautiful Animation And An Even Better Message

06/20/2025
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later
8.5

REVIEW: ’28 Years Later’ Is How Franchises Should Return

06/18/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Taecyeon and Seohyun in The First Night With The Duke Episodes 7-8
7.5
TV

REVIEW: ‘The First Night With The Duke’ Episodes 7-8

By Sarah Musnicky07/03/2025

The First Night With The Duke Episodes 7-8 spends welcome time in pre-domestic bliss before new developments stir up trouble.

Together (2025) still from Sundance
8.0
Film

REVIEW: Have A Grossly Good Time ‘Together’

By Kate Sánchez01/27/2025Updated:07/04/2025

Dave Franco and Alison Brie’s Together (2025) is disgustingly funny, genuinely ugly, and just a good time at the movies.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4 Alcatraz
9.0
PS5

REVIEW: ‘Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4’ Gives Old Games New Life

By Kyle Foley07/07/2025

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4 is another example of how to breathe new life into a classic without losing touch of what makes the originals great.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

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