The End Review
Move over, Emilia Perez; there’s a new oddball musical in town. Documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing) makes his narrative feature debut with The End, an ambitious, original sci-fi musical that, as the title suggests, takes place after the end of the world.
The End is a post-apocalyptic chamber piece that sees one privileged family and a few key staff members make the best of a bleak situation. Musicals have long been a way for audiences to escape but for this family, breaking into song and dance seems like something of a necessary coping device for them. The planet has gone to hell. The atmosphere has ignited, and oil fires will burn on the surface for hundreds of years. Billions have perished, and this family has been nestling in an underground palatial bunker for the past 25 years with their heads buried in the sand and a song in their hearts.
As far as fallout shelters go, theirs is pretty cushy, complete with an art gallery of interchangeable seasonal canvases, a library, and a swimming pool. Their home is a perfect allegory for modern-day ignorance; one can be oblivious to the atrocities of the world if one can passively spectate in comfortable surroundings. A sentiment that is echoed in Jonathan Glazer’s chilling The Zone of Interest.
The ensemble of characters in this are only known by their familial roles or their occupation. Tilda Swinton is known as Mother and Michael Shannon is known as Father. On their staff is Doctor (Lennie James), Friend who was a Michelin star chef (Bronagh Gallagher) and Butler (Tim McInnerny). Mother and Father also have a twenty-something Son (George MacKay) who was born and raised in the underground shelter. Over his entire existence, all he has ever known is this bunker and its small selection of inhabitants. His parents have done their best to provide him with some semblance of a normal upbringing by celebrating all the typical annual holidays, such as Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. Mackay embodies Son with the wide-eyed naivety and optimism of someone who has never faced true adversity.
But his world is thrown into disarray when a stranger known as Girl (Moses Ingram) shows up outside their compound seeking sanctuary from the horrors outside. It’s been twenty years since the family has even seen another person, but they now face a moral dilemma with her arrival. Do they open their home up to a stranger or send her packing?
From a technical standpoint, there is a lot to admire in Oppenheimer’s debut feature. The setting of the underground bunker is particularly impressive, with its cavernous outer shell juxtaposed with the opulent interiors of the family home. Mikhail Krichman’s cinematography and Jette Lehmann’s set design work wonderfully in tandem to create a visually unique dystopian setting. One that feels baron and unforgiving but ironically punctuated by luxurious home comforts.
There is a lot of thematic substance in the screenplay, which Oppenheimer co-wrote with Rasmus Heisterberg and Shusaku Harada. Father was a bigwig in the energy sector and it becomes apparent he helped play a part in humanity’s downfall. As he ruminates on his questionable actions, he has his son transcribe them into his memoir as something for his readers to admire. But the grim reality sets in; what good is writing a book when there’s nobody around to read it? It’s through the character’s introspections that Oppenheimer invites the audience to do the same. To ponder our day-to-day complacency as we watch our world leaders slowly chisel away at our planet and humanity.
This is why The End will be a challenging watch for many because, despite sturdy performances and its classification as a musical, it’s lacking in joy or hop. Musicals are meant to help us forget about our problems but this one only amplifies our collective global anxieties about our future – but that’s essentially Oppenheimer’s point. There’s a (purposeful) lack of dynamic theatricality in Oppenheimer’s direction. The songs aren’t catchy and are glorified soliloquies that leave a lot to be desired. There’s not a lot of fun to be had watching a film like this because what’s fun about our self-inflicted demise?
★★★
In select UK cinemas March 28th / Tilda Swinton, George MacKay, Michael Shannon, Bronagh Gallager, Moses Ingram, Lennie James, Danielle Ryan, Tim McInnerny / Dir: Joshua Oppenheimer / Mubi / 12A
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