End of Animal is certainly the dullest post Apocalyptic film that I've ever seen. An odd mix of art house drama in a decidedly mainstream setting, it is at its heart a genre film but denies us the pleasures that can be derived from being part of this grouping.
Soon-Young, our pregnant protagonist, is traveling to meet her mother when, good natured person that she is, she agrees to share her cab with a mysterious stranger going the same way. This nameless individual seems to know intimate details about both Soon-Young and the cabbie and ominously starts a countdown that ends with a bright flash. When she regains consciousness, Young is alone with only the cab radio working, through which this mysterious man offers her help and advice in order for her to survive the chaos that he predicts. Interesting enough, but the film does almost nothing with this setup. Instead, it turns into something of a stage play, composed of short vignettes where Soon-Young and others she meets on her journey to a nearby rest house, engage in meaningless, banal conversations.
Without any real threat (the films trite point is that human beings pose a danger to themselves in a desperate situation like this) the potential is wasted. Deliberately paced and rather dull, it adds insult by ending on a note of theological/cosmic consequences that, if you are attentive to the dialogs, gives itself away if you think about the obvious parables that the characters represent. For a better art-house, post apocalyptic film, you are better off renting Michael Haneke's bleak yet hopeful Time of the Wolf.
