The End Review
The End (2024) Film Review, a movie directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, written by Rasmus Heisterberg and Joshua Oppenheimer and starring Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, George MacKay, Moses Ingram, Tim McInnerny, Lennie James, Bronagh Gallagher and Danielle Ryan.
Filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer creates a vivid home of despair in the hopeful at times but ultimately too downbeat movie, The End. Taking minimal inspiration from a comedy called Blast From the Past, an old Brendan Fraser movie from the 1990’s, The End is focused on a world where all hell has broken loose and a family winds up living in a bunker where they try to rationalize their lives despite the fact that nothing they do is ever going to amount to anything for anyone other than themselves. Nobody else exists, right? While one can argue that their lives are interesting, they are also lacking much excitement due to the confinement the characters are experiencing. When a new girl comes into their lives, these people act cautious but the movie never really delivers on its promise to make it all move the viewer beyond the overall curiosity factor of the basic premise itself.
Michael Shannon stars in the film with Tilda Swinton. These are two of our finest performers and they play Mother (Swinton) and Father (Shannon), respectively. They try to raise a character known as “son” (played by the superb George MacKay of The Beast) the best way they know how to under the extreme circumstances that they find themselves accustomed to. There’s a lot of time-filler sequences found at the outset of the movie as we meet Mother’s good friend (portrayed by the terrific Bronagh Gallagher). There’s also a butler (a perfect Tim McInnerny) and a doctor (a very interesting Lennie James). When Girl (the superlative Moses Ingram) enters their lives, there’s seemingly plenty to be skeptical about. But, despite this fact, the plot develops rather predictably as Girl and the son enter into a friendship that is based on a mutual respect for one another.
In this film, the outside world has completely been obliterated and the bunker becomes a place that feels like it could be found in theatrical shows that one would see Off Broadway. There’s a lot of character development, especially in regards to MacKay’s character but we fail to relate to him because of the fact that he’s never experienced much. He is sheltered as one would expect him to be and finds in Girl a true friend. Mother, a dancer, and Father try to throw a wrench into some of his interactions with Girl to stop him from following his heart and question whether or not the pair has had sex.
Meanwhile, MacKay and Ingram share some great scenes together as their respective characters learn about each other through simple interactions that help them feel comfortable together. Tilda Swinton is very complex, too, as Mother tries to know best even though Father gets too involved in business that he needs to just let be. These two characters of Mother and Father seem to have a secret which will be revealed that will make us understand why they behave as they do throughout the course of the picture.
I’ve purposefully failed to mention this is a musical. It doesn’t always feel like one until the characters burst into song in a way that doesn’t always suit the material at hand. Seeing Michael Shannon sing is something I always thought would be a great experience but it’s a bit awkward here. The whole construct that is put together by Oppenheimer had a lot of potential. There’s hope to be found in places in which there is none. It’s part of the human condition but the movie is titled The End so we can probably guess where it’s heading even if Oppenheimer tries to sway us to believe otherwise.
I think Moses Ingram has a very good grasp of her character here which helps her feel easy to sympathize with and George MacKay has an intriguing rapport with Ingram on-screen that helps the movie move along at a brisker pace than it does in the slow-moving opening scenes which may set the stage for what is to come but lack a certain level of overall pizzazz.
The supporting players make their presence known whether their existence is absolutely necessary or not. They serve as didactic characters who have a purpose in the story but given the padded running time, they may have been expendable if the movie had to be edited. This film plays like a rough cut that needs to be chopped down. Oppenheimer should have focused more on the center of the Girl and the son character. If it was more of a love story, then some of the other scenes could have been shortened. This film is more ambitious than that. But, audiences would rather see it as a love story than watch other awkward characters who just seem to be barriers to the son being able to live his life. Yes, the son is naive but he’s also gotta live and learn regardless.
Though Swinton and Shannon are believable as a couple, they never really gel on-screen. Their performances are better individually than as a pair. That may well be the purpose but the movie needed to make us think a certain way about these characters for the plot detours (twists) to work. Instead, they feel forced.
Nevertheless, The End is partially salvaged by Moses Ingram’s very heartfelt turn within the movie. She has a lot of energy and plenty of subtext that she brings to her role. Ingram has a promising career ahead of her and while the end is near for the characters in the movie, for Ingram, this movie is only the beginning of what will be a very prosperous future.
Rating: 6/10
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