The Giant Falls Review
Director: Marcos Carnevale
Date Created: 2026-04-02 02:40
2.5
The Giant Falls Review: Directed and written by Marcos Carnevale, this Argentinian Netflix film, El último gigante, has a runtime of 1 hour and 40 minutes, and it stars Matías Mayer as Boris, Oscar Martínez as Julián Araya, Johanna Francella as Mich, Inés Estévez as Leticia and others.
The Giant Falls Review
Netflix’s The Giant Falls is all about a man named Boris, who is essentially a tour guide and whose life is focused on taking different people on a tour of the magnificent Iguazú Falls. However, his life is set to take a dramatic turn when his estranged father, Julián, returns after almost three decades. Boris is an adult now, and his life has been all about being abandoned. There is no question of his forgiving his father, nor is he interested in getting close to him. However, the question is, is the return of the father only about forgiveness, or is there much more to the story?
The Argentinian movie The Giant Falls starts off very interesting, but then it starts to rely heavily on the trope of the absent father wanting to make things right, and while this is a powerful trope, the film doesn’t really delve deep enough to make this a fresh and impactful story. It often feels like the film is skimming the surface, even when conflict is presented.
Matías Mayer gives a somewhat grounded performance as Boris. He works well as a man who is carrying around a lot of anger and confusion, though the script doesn’t always allow him to explore this character very well. Oscar Martínez works well as Julián, a man who is both charming and selfish at the same time, making this character very believable. The film struggles with how it handles the character of Julián. There are some moments where it feels like this film wants you to sympathise with this character, though it is hard to do so with the actions and motivations of this character.
The actors help to make this film a bit warmer. Ines Estevez, as Leticia, does add some emotional balance to the film. She plays the part of a woman who has found some peace with her past, which Boris has not. Johanna Francella plays a part that, while small, does give some insight into Boris’ current life and what he stands to lose. There is also an effort to bring some humour into the story.
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Where the Netflix movie The Giant Falls fails most is in its writing. The emotional scenes are quite contrived, and it seems like the movie is always trying to elicit a response from the viewer about what is happening, rather than allowing the viewer to respond naturally to what is happening on screen. The conflict in this movie is forced, and there are moments in the plot of this movie that are meant to shock the viewer, rather than aid in the development of the characters.
The other problem with the movie The Giant Falls is its pacing. Although it is a relatively short film, there is a bit of uneven pacing to this film. There are moments that drag a bit too long, and moments that gloss over important details that could have been fleshed out a bit more. It is difficult to become too invested in the characters’ journey, especially when the film is supposed to make one care a lot about relationships that are not fleshed out too well.
However, this does not necessarily mean that the film is so bad that one should not watch it. Indeed, there are times when one gets the feeling that the film is getting its act together, especially when Boris and Julián share some scenes, as if to imply that perhaps the film itself is better than what one initially gets from seeing it.
Netflix The Giant Falls Review: Summing Up
Overall, what you get from The Giant Falls is a movie that has an interesting concept but an execution that doesn’t quite match the promise of the story. While it aims to be an emotional drama about the importance of forgiveness, regret, and second chances, what it becomes is a movie that, while having some redeeming qualities in the performance and cinematography departments, ends up feeling like just another movie in the long line of movies about the reconciliation of fathers and sons.
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