Film Title: The Ledge
Cast: Brittany Ashworth, Ben Lamb, Louis Boyer, Nathan Welsh, Anaïs Parello, David Wayman
Director: Howard J. Ford
Writer: Tom Boyle
Distribution: Saban Films
Production: Evolution Pictures
Release Date: February 18, 2022
Review by: Mother of Movies
This review discusses key plot points and the film’s climax. If you’re planning to watch and want the suspense intact, bookmark this for later, though honestly, the real suspense is wondering why anyone thought this premise would work.
“The Ledge offers breathtaking views from impossible heights, but its characters make decisions that defy survival instinct while the script mistakes brutality for depth.“
When Survival Thrillers Forget the Survival Part
Hear me out. Fall (2022) became the talk of the town, a movie about two women stuck up a pole that somehow made for genuinely excellent viewing. So when The Ledge appeared with a similar “person trapped in precarious high place” ethos, I was intrigued. The premise sounded promising: one climber from a group gets trapped on the side of a mountain, forced to fight off a pack of frat boys who want her dead.
Fall shouldn’t have worked as well as it did, but the filmmakers employed tried-and-tested formulas (think The Shallows relocated to vertigo-inducing heights) and made them sing. The Ledge attempts a similar route, borrowing from survival thriller conventions, but where Fall soared, this one mostly just… falls flat. Much like the majority of its characters.
Bros Before Basic Human Decency
The Ledge weaves toxic masculinity and “bro code” mentality into its DNA. A group of blokes head to the forest for some climbing as part of a bachelor party, because nothing says “celebrating impending marriage” like scaling dangerous rock faces with your mates, apparently.
They encounter two women also marking an important occasion on the same imposing cliff. Kelly (Brittany Ashworth) is mourning her boyfriend’s death on this specific rock face and wants to reach the summit in his memory. Her friend Sophie (Anaïs Parello) tags along for moral support, unaware she’s about to become collateral damage in the worst boys’ weekend ever.
When both groups arrive simultaneously, they end up around a campfire for the evening. One thing leads to another, and Josh (Ben Lamb), one of the four men, decides that being rejected by a woman in front of his mates warrants an attempted sexual assault. He follows Sophie into the forest as she heads off to relieve herself.
After the failed attack, Sophie runs into the darkness and plummets over a cliff edge. Her screams echo back to camp. The men investigate and can generally piece together what happened. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, bro code activates like some horrifying group-think protocol, and Josh convinces his mates they need to finish her off.
Each takes a turn bashing her head with a rock. It’s brutal, senseless, and designed to make your skin crawl. But here’s where the film’s logic starts crumbling faster than loose shale: Kelly hears the screams, heads out to investigate, and has the presence of mind to grab her camcorder and film the men as they commit murder. Points for evidence gathering, I suppose.
Climbing Up When You Should Be Running Down
The rest of the film sees Kelly decide the cliff face is her best escape route. She ascends the mountain while the four men… wait at the top for her. Yes, you read that correctly. There’s a pathway that leads to the summit, and while Kelly risks life and limb climbing up, Josh, Zach, Reynolds, and Taylor leisurely stroll up the easy route to ambush her at the top.
This is where The Ledge loses its grip entirely (pun absolutely intended). The survival thriller framework demands impossible choices and desperate ingenuity. Instead, we get a protagonist who chooses the hardest possible route while her pursuers take the stairs. It’s like watching someone crawl through ventilation shafts in Die Hard while the villains use the elevator.
When Cinematography Can’t Save Storytelling
The film’s saving grace is its cinematography. There are genuinely striking shots of precarious footholds, vertiginous drops, and Ashworth’s committed physical performance as Kelly navigates treacherous terrain. The camera work captures the visceral danger of free climbing with sweaty palms-inducing effectiveness.
But stunning visuals can’t compensate for a narrative that’s lost its footing. The men are walking stereotypes, toxic masculinity personified without nuance or complexity. There’s no internal conflict, no moment where one of them questions the escalating horror they’re participating in. They’re cardboard cutouts of “bad men” rather than characters.
It’s exhausting watching films that present this kind of pack mentality, where a charismatic sociopath can manipulate everyone around him without resistance. Josh is meant to be menacing, but he’s more tedious than terrifying, a louse who somehow commands absolute loyalty despite being transparently awful.
The payoff, while offering some satisfaction, feels hollow when you realize Kelly would have been infinitely better off scrambling down the mountain and literally running in any direction away from these idiots.
Similar Films to The Ledge to Consider
If The Ledge intrigued you but left you wanting more, consider these alternatives:
- Fall (2022) – The obvious comparison, featuring two women stranded atop a 2,000-foot TV tower with superior tension and problem-solving.
- Frozen (2010) – Adam Green’s ski lift survival thriller that maximizes a simple premise with genuine dread.
- The Shallows (2016) – Blake Lively versus a shark in a contained survival scenario that balances character and spectacle.
- Revenge (2017) – Coralie Fargeat’s stylish and brutal examination of sexual violence and survival that commits fully to its themes.
- Bystanders (2024) – Feminine rage at its finest and a different kind of revenge.
The Bigger Picture: Survival Thrillers in the Post #MeToo Era
The Ledge arrived in 2022, in an era where audiences are increasingly critical of how sexual violence is deployed in genre films, particularly when it serves as character motivation or plot device rather than being examined with appropriate weight. The film gestures toward commentary on toxic masculinity and male violence against women, but it doesn’t interrogate these themes deeply enough to justify their inclusion.
Compare this to films like Promising Young Woman (2020) or even the more straightforward revenge thriller I Spit on Your Grave remake (2010), which at least committed fully to their examination of sexual violence and its aftermath. The Ledge wants to be a tense survival thriller with social commentary, but it ends up being neither, too superficial for meaningful critique, too unpleasant for pure escapism.
The Verdict
The Ledge is rated
2.5 The Ledge is not on Netflix in the USA, but it is streaming in the UK there out of 5
Stunning Views, Shallow Depths
The Ledge offers breathtaking cinematography and a committed lead performance, but its characters make decisions that defy survival instinct while the script mistakes brutality for depth. It’s a survival thriller that forgets to make you care about the survival.
Where Can I Watch “The Ledge”?
Is The Ledge based on a true story?
No, The Ledge is not based on true events. It’s a fictional survival thriller, though it draws on real fears about isolation, male violence, and the dangers of rock climbing.
Is The Ledge worth watching?
If you’re a completist for survival thrillers or a fan of climbing cinematography, there’s some value here. However, the frustrating character decisions and shallow treatment of serious themes make it a difficult recommendation. Brittany Ashworth’s performance is the main reason to watch.
What is the message of The Ledge?
The film attempts to critique toxic masculinity and the “bro code” that enables male violence against women. However, its execution is too surface-level to offer meaningful commentary, resulting in a message that feels more exploitative than insightful.
Does The Ledge have a happy ending?
Without spoiling specifics, the film offers a conventional thriller ending where the protagonist gets some measure of justice. However, the journey there is so illogical that the payoff feels unearned.
