A Fall from Grace

A Fall from Grace is a 2020 American thriller film produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry and his first to be released by Netflix. The film follows a woman who finds a dangerous new love and the novice attorney who defends her in a sensational court case.[1]

A Fall from Grace
Official poster
Directed byTyler Perry
Produced by
  • Mark E. Swinton
  • Will Areu
Written byTyler Perry
Starring
Music byJay Weigel
CinematographyTerrence Burke
Edited byLarry Sexton
Production
company
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • January 17, 2020 (2020-01-17)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Jasmine Bryant (Bresha Webb) is a public defender who constantly takes plea deals in small town Virginia. Her husband Jordan (Matthew Law) is a police officer who is feeling down after one of his recent victims jumps off a roof to her death. Jasmine is given a new case by her boss Rory (Tyler Perry) to defend Grace Waters (Crystal Fox) the woman accused of murdering her husband Shannon (Mehcad Brooks). Grace insists that she's guilty and will agree to a plea deal if she goes to a prison close by her son Malcolm (Walter Fauntleroy). Jasmine is troubled by the details of the case, including the fact that Shannon's body was never found.

Rory is not pleased that Jasmine wants to try the case because the department doesn’t have the budget for a trial, in addition to the media frenzy. Grace’s best friend Sarah (Phylicia Rashad) tells Jasmine that Grace was feeling sad after her divorce and she pushed her to get out and meet someone new, which led her to Shannon. After researching the case some more, Jasmine and her colleagues Tilsa (Angela Marie Rigsby) and Donnie (Donovan Christie, Jr.) believe Grace is innocent.

Grace tells Jasmine how she met Shannon, and the story unfolds in flashback. At Sarah's persuading, Grace goes to an art gallery show where she meets Shannon, the exhibition artist. He sends her one of his photographs with a rose. They begin to date and he charms Grace with nice words and wine. After three months, Shannon and Grace are married. Slowly Shannon's niceness turns into cruelty and he keeps secrets from her. Eventually, Grace is fired from her job at the bank when it is discovered that money is missing from her accounts. Thinking someone has stolen her identity, Grace discovers that Shannon has stolen from her accounts using her passwords, and has also mortgaged her house with forged documents. Finally, Grace walks in on Shannon in their bed with another woman, and he forces Grace out of the room asking for privacy. That evening, in anger, Grace beats Shannon with a baseball bat multiple times and throws him down the stairs to her basement. Grace then drives to the middle of nowhere to call her friend Sarah and tells her she killed her husband.

Sarah explains that she went to Grace's house and witnessed her son Malcolm leaving the house. Because Shannon's body is missing, Sarah believes that Malcolm helped Grace dispose of it. At the trial, Jasmine miserably fails at proving Grace's innocence. Calling Sarah as a witness backfires because phone records show numerous phone calls between the women on the night of the murder, and Sarah finally admits on the stand that Grace confessed to killing Shannon to her. Grace is found guilty by the jury. Feeling defeated, Jasmine stops by Sarah's house (a residence for old ladies) and notices that an elderly woman named Alice (Cicely Tyson) is trying to escape from the house. Alice wants to leave the house and reveals that other women have died there, including Shane Fieldman (Jordan's victim from the beginning of the film). When Jasmine discovers there are numerous elderly women locked up in the basement, she is kidnapped. Jordan discovers Sarah's criminal history and he goes to look for his wife Jasmine. Shannon turns out to be alive and is revealed to be Sarah's son. Jordan knocks on the door and asks Sarah if Jasmine is there and she says no. When Jordan calls her, he hears her phone ringing from inside the house, so he bursts in, tussles with Sarah, handcuffs her, and then looks for Jasmine as Sarah escapes. Jordan and Shannon fight as Jasmine tries to break free. Shannon is shot and is presumably killed.

While the police are rescuing the elderly women, a news reporter reveals that Shannon's real name is Maurice Mills and Sarah's real name is Betty Mills, who is also Maurice's mother and for the past 25 years, they've been kidnapping elderly women and holding them hostage for their social security information and Maurice is also wanted in 9 states for conning at least 16 middle aged women out of their life savings with Grace being one of those women. Grace ends up back in court with Jasmine showing off evidence of how Grace was victimized by their scheme, which makes the judge dismiss the case with a sincere apology to Grace as well. While everyone is celebrating Grace's freedom and Rory congratulating Jasmine for uncovering such a big scheme, police are unable to locate Betty, who just got hired by an unsuspecting daughter to care for her elderly mother.

Cast

Production

Principal photography took place at Tyler Perry Studios in fall 2018, over the course of five days.[2]

Release

A Fall from Grace was released in the United States by Netflix on January 17, 2020.[3] The film was watched by 26 million during its first week.[4]

Reception

As of June 2020, the film holds an approval rating of 17% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 23 reviews with an average rating of 3.36/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Drama for drama's sake does not a great movie make, but boy is it fun to watch A Fall From Grace unravel".[5] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 34 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6]

Many on social media have criticized the glaring errors in the film in the forms of seeing boom microphones, continuity errors, and extras staring directly into the camera and "miming" actions, possibly attributed to the very limited production schedule.[7] The line "Ashtray, bitch!", has become something of an internet meme due to its forceful, yet unintentionally funny delivery.[8][9] Tyler Perry claimed that the line was not in the script and something he had added on the spot stating, "that was my father doing stupid stuff".[10]

References
  1. "Netflix To Release Tyler Perry's New Film 'A Fall From Grace'" (Press release). Blackfilm. November 22, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  2. White, Abbey (January 14, 2020). "How Tyler Perry Filmed Netflix Thriller 'A Fall From Grace' in 5 Days". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  3. Schaffstall, Katherine (December 27, 2019). "Netflix's New Releases Coming in January 2020". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  4. Hipes, Patrick (February 3, 2020). "Tyler Perry's 'A Fall From Grace' On Netflix Watched By 26 Million In First Week". Deadline. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  5. "Tyler Perry's A Fall from Grace (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  6. "A Fall from Grace Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  7. Ifeanyi, KC (January 23, 2020). "Tyler Perry's Netflix film 'A Fall From Grace' is a mess—and Twitter has the receipts". Fast Company.
  8. Jackson, Panama (January 23, 2020). "12 Thoughts, Facts, and Opinions About Tyler Perry's Wildly Ridiculous, Entertaining Movie, A Fall From Grace". The Root.
  9. Double Toasted (January 20, 2020). "TYLER PERRY'S A FALL FROM GRACE MOVIE REVIEW | Double Toasted". YouTube.
  10. blacktreetv (January 19, 2020). "Is "Ashtray Bitch" the most epic Tyler Perry Line Ever? A Fall From Grace". YouTube.
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