The End of All Things

This is a film that stayed with me long after the credits rolled. Thought provoking, and completely realistic in spite of the almost satirical concept, it felt at once a timely film and one that was universal. After a slow start, it builds to something very unique and fascinating.

The reviews who left a ten must be friends with this producer!!!!! It was one of the worst films I've ever watched, ever!!!! Worst ever worst worst worst!!!!!!! It's not even worth 1 star in my opinion!!!!!!!!!!

This feature takes a sidestep away from the generic post-apocalyptic fantasies we have seen numerous times previously. And it is all the better for it. The film is gritty, and focuses on the fragile relationships that are conceived by the setting, compounded further by the occurrence of an interesting discovery by one of the protagonists.

The film is full of beautiful shots and the effects are are superbly executed for what is evidently a low budget feature.

If you enjoy a thought provoking film, then I would recommend giving this a go.

Firstly, the storyline description is really misleading and even a little off putting. It's loosely accurate but it does not capture, or even really describe, what this film is about. A more accurate take would perhaps be, "In a bleak post-apocalypse world, three survivors lives are altered when one of them has a life changing encounter with a pre-apocalypse piece of technology". At least that would give a more accurate sense of what this movie is about.

Realistically this is not a movie that you can describe in one or two sentences. It's a movie about visuals and ideas that really has to be watched to be understood. Even a scene by scene description of this movie still wouldn't capture it's power to engage the viewer. In a genre where so many of the offerings are so generic that they are forgotten as soon as they are finished this one will stick with you. My wife and I were still talking about this one for days after we watched it.

Having said all that, let's talk about the movie. It's a small movie. There are only six people on screen and three of them are there for only short times. This movie is all about the three main characters and their relationship and interactions. It takes place in just three settings, two ruined farmhouses and a few forested countryside spots. There aren't any zombies, or mutants, or killer robots, or cannibal hordes, or ruined cities, or aliens. It's just three people living in a bleak, cold, grey world where everyday requires grinding effort to survive.

The movie opens wordlessly with the viewer watching the three survivors (whose names we don't ever learn) going through what are clearly their well honed survival routines. It's a harsh life in a overcast, grey world and our survivors are clearly just barely getting by. There are no frills or extras in their life and while there is clearly some tensions between them they also seem deeply bonded and connected with each other. With minimal dialog the actors really convey the the tightly knit character of the relationship these three share. They may have been thrown together at random in the apocalypse but now they are a unit, "a family".

After a bad day of hunting rabbits (which seem to be the only game animal remaining) the "man" (who seems to be in his mid thirties) tells the "woman" (who seems to be in her mid twenties) that he and the "boy" (who seems to be in his late teens) need to go on a scavenging run. The next day the two men set off through an empty countryside to check out deserted houses they find along the way. Ultimately coming to the house where their lives will all be altered.

The "mysterious relic" should be obvious to the viewer, it's a computer tablet of some sort. The man and the boy are exploring a very large house and find what is clearly a nursery (there's a crib in the room). The man asks the boy to look around in there while he checks out the rest of the house. While he's sifting through the stuff in the room the boy picks up a small rectangular piece of what looks like clear glass (so we are talking near future tech, maybe 10 to 20 years in our future). While he's examining it, he turns it on and a program comes up. What he sees, in the few minutes the device stays on, changes him and that's what this movie is really about.

Saying anything more would spoil the movie. What comes next is gripping, thought provoking, surprising, and emotionally engaging. There are several twists that are really unexpected, but totally logical, and a devastating climax. The acting is really good and the production values are top quality. There are no snags or obvious flaws in the sets or scripts to make the viewer fall out of the spell being woven and in the end I think you will find yourself thinking about this movie long after the credits end.

The movie shows a post-apocalyptic time with only a few survivors. As some older people still remember how it used to be, the young ones do not, and you can clearly see they start to see the world differently. As the girl and the boy find a children's book, they start to think it had some deeper meaning. Slowly, they develop their own religion, hoping that if they repeat their ritual every day, there will be sun and rain.

The movie reflects on human nature, the sense of good and evil, something that has always been there inside of us. It made me think of before, when humans were only a few and scared, always searching for answers. It gives you a glimpse of how a religion can come to be out of despair and fear.