Film FestivalMovie Review

Film Review: HOW IT ENDS: A Delightful Film with Some Very Fun Performances [Tribeca 2021]

 

Zoe Lister Jones Cailee Spaeny How It Ends

How It Ends Review

How It Ends (2021) Film Review from the 20th Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a movie directed by Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein, and starring Zoe Lister-Jones, Cailee Spaeny, Whitney Cummings, Tawny Newsome, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Logan Marshall-Green, Helen Hunt, Bradley Whitford, Bobby Lee, Olivia Wilde, Fred Armisen, Glenn Howerton, Ayo Edebiri, Sharon Van Etten, Lamorne Morris, and Paul W. Downs.

Advertisement
 

Real life husband and wife writers/producers/directors Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones have created an original, fun new comedy called How It Ends. This film, which also stars Zoe Lister-Jones herself in the film’s juicy leading role, is unique in every sense of the word. She’s cast opposite young actress Cailee Spaeny and it’s a dream pairing of two terrific actresses with a fascinating, fun premise at the film’s center.

There’s an asteroid that’s going to hit Earth in several hours and two women are going to share their last moments together and try to party until the end of the world arrives. Shot during the pandemic and set in L.A., the film has bright, sunny scenery and a lot of recognizable performers in small roles throughout. It’s the type of film that could be compared to the Oscar-winning (for Best Original Screenplay) Juno thanks to the movie’s tremendous creativity.

As the film opens, we meet Liza (Lister-Jones). She is a technical genius who created a popular app. She is eating pancakes for breakfast and preparing for a great last night on Earth alongside a younger version of herself (Spaeny). These two women are actually the same person and that is the stroke of genius the plot unveils that makes it such an admirable idea. Liza is actually getting “in touch with her younger, inner self” and, during the course of the film, she will encounter people from her past who have helped make her, for better or worse, the person she now is.

Lister-Jones and Spaeny are two geniuses in the craft of acting and play off each other with both precision and timing that seems effortless. As they walk the mostly empty streets of a picturesque L.A. because Liza’s car was stolen, they bond and realize that they depend on each other more than they ever realized before.

There is a nice series of cameos by stars who must have been excited to work on a project as original as this one is. Bradley Whitford does a nice job playing Liza’s father who hasn’t lived up to the task of being a very good dad. Helen Hunt serves as Liza’s mother who could also have been a better parent. Hunt’s cameo is well acted as her character is very important to Liza and helps provide her with more understanding and self-realization.

There are so many other players in the picture. Lamorne Morris is effectively funny as Larry, Liza’s ex-boyfriend and, perhaps, the film’s funniest sequence has Liza herself (the older version) holding up a large radio she has found. This scene is reminiscent of John Cusack’s scene in the beloved movie Say Anything… where he held up a boom box to profess his love for Ione Skye’s character. Liza had feelings for Larry but, despite this fact, she admits she just wants to move on. There is no music coming out of the boom box and Liza hilariously admits that she just thought holding up the radio was a cool visual.

Olivia Wilde as Liza’s old friend and Sharon Van Etten as a guitar player Liza encounters also put in memorable turns in the picture. There are other fun small roles in the film but I’ll leave you to discover them for yourself.

How It Ends has its flaws. Some scenes feel more improvised than they should and the film is a little shorter than I would have liked it to have been but it is, for the most part, hugely entertaining. You’ll have a good time discovering Liza and younger Liza and learning all about them as the movie goes through its hysterical comic paces. It is definitely recommended.

Rating: 7/10

Leave your thoughts on this How It Ends review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more Tribeca Film Festival news can visit our Tribeca Film Festival Page, our Tribeca Film Festival Twitter Page, and our Film Festival Facebook Page. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notification? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, and Flipboard.

FilmBook's Newsletter

Subscribe to FilmBook’s Daily Newsletter for the latest news!

Thank you for subscribing.

Something went wrong.

Thomas Duffy

Thomas Duffy is a graduate of the Pace University New York City campus and has been an avid movie fan all of his life. In college, he interviewed film stars such as Minnie Driver and Richard Dreyfuss as well as directors such as Tom DiCillo and Mark Waters. He is the author of nine works of fiction available on Amazon. He's been reviewing movies since his childhood and posts his opinions on social media. You can follow him on Twitter. His user handle is @auctionguy28.
Back to top button
Share via
Send this to a friend