Overview
Twenty-five years after environmental collapse left the Earth uninhabitable, Mother, Father and Son are confined to their palatial bunker, where they struggle to maintain hope and a sense of normalcy by clinging to the rituals of daily life—until the arrival of a stranger, Girl, upends their happy routine. As tensions rise, their seemingly idyllic existence starts to crumble.
Two decades after an unspecified environmental disaster has rendered the surface of the Earth uninhabitable, a wealthy family are living their lives in an underground bunker carved out of a converted salt mine, with a handful of companions. Never granted any names, this band are simply known as Mother, Father, Son, Girl, Butler, Friend, and Doctor. Defined by status and hierarchy, they continue to live their higher class society, appreciating fine art and cuisine, whilst Father works with Son on his memoirs (as though they will have any purpose in a destroyed earth). However, one day a stranger enters the caverns, having lost her family – the only character granted a name, Mary. Her inclusion into the mix causes concerns for the group, with the Son wanting her to stay, but Mother untrusting of this stranger and wishing her to leave so they can return to their old status quo.
The End is a curiosity of a film – and it is a musical. From the early moments characters break out into song to explore their inner monologues and desires, be it a desire to break free of the enclosed world and see the surface, a desire for love, or a desire to feel important. The songs are lacking anything to captivate, and feel a little flat, which makes sitting through the bloated runtime quite a chore. The basis of the core story – being a look at class and culture divides through the lens of a handful of survivors of an apocalyptic event – is quite sharp and fascinating. How could society uphold itself when there is no society to uphold, and if more people enter your protected world, would you want them to bring society with them? These themes and the main story and emotional beats are represented well by a cast of names whom you come to expect this level of talent from. Tilda Swinton and George MacKay are the standouts, but that’s not to disparage Moses Ingram, Danielle Ryan, Michael Shannon, Lennie James, Tim McInnerny, and Bronaugh Gallagher who all deliver.
But not when singing, which slows the film down and works to the detriment of any connection we are supposed to have with these characters. In addition, the film starts to run out of ideas after the half way stage, having tackled the social themes head on pretty early, and spends the last hour plodding along with nothing seemingly more to say.
The End is a unique, wonderful looking, and intriguing idea of a film that doesn’t quite manage to balance itself out well enough, which is a shame as there is a lot to give credit for within. It’s a film you admire the ambition of more than enjoy the result.