Diksha Sundriyal
‘Fall’ follows the story of Becky and Hunter, who get trapped on the top of a 2000ft tower with no way back to the ground. It is a treacherous situation because the women have barely space enough to sit in one place without the fear of falling down the edge. As they try to come up with a solution to their problem, a couple of secrets between them come to light making an already difficult situation even tenser. What causes this problem is the tattoo “1-4-3” that Becky notices on Hunter’s foot. What does it mean and why does it change everything between the two of them? Let’s find out.
A Dream Code: 1-4-3 as a Secret I Love You
“1-4-3” in ‘Fall’ is a codeword for “I love you”. The first time it is used in the film is in Becky’s dream, right before she heads out of the motel to start the dangerous climb to the top of the tower. In the dream, Becky finds herself sleeping next to her husband, Dan. She tells him that she loves him, but he doesn’t say it back. Instead, he says “1-4-3”, revealing that this is his way of saying “I love you”. The dream is heartbreaking for an already grieving Becky as she is still a mess over losing Dan.
A short while ago, Dan, Becky, and Hunter went mountain climbing. They were a close-knit group and had been doing such adventure activities together for a while. They had a lot of experience in all this, but one misstep led to an accident that claimed Dan’s life. While climbing, he was startled by a bird and lost hold of his rope. He tried to take control of the situation while Becky tried to help him, but the rope didn’t hold and he fell down to his death.
It was to get some closure to Dan’s death by spreading his ashes from the top of the tower that Becky agreed to go with Hunter. Doing this with Hunter meant a lot to Becky because they were best friends and Hunter was there when Dan died. It is Hunter that Becky opens up to about her husband’s death, not her father, who had been trying to reach her all this while. This is why it comes as a great betrayal to her when Hunter confesses that she and Dan were having an affair.
On the top of the tower, when Hunter takes off her shoe to stuff the phone in it, Becky notices the tattoo. Later that night, she notices Hunter in their wedding video looking at her and Dan dancing. It sparks her curiosity and she asks Hunter about the tattoo. This is when Hunter breaks down and tells Becky that she and Dan had an affair before they got married. It went on for a couple of months, but when Becky asked Hunter to be her maid-of-honor, Hunter realized how messed up the whole situation was.
Hunter broke things off with Dan right before he was to marry Becky, but that didn’t change her feelings for him. She got the tattoo as a symbol of her love for Dan, though Becky was never supposed to see it. After Dan’s death, Hunter went into her own spiral of grief, which is why she couldn’t be there for Becky. But when she finally came around, the secret ruined their friendship, making it all the worse because it happened when they were both on the top of the tower with no way to escape the confrontation. For Becky, this only meant that her father was right all along and she had been betrayed by her husband and her best friend.
Read More: Is Fall Based on a True Story?
