2024 Chicago International Film Festival Movie Review: The End

Known more for his work as a documentarian, director Joshua Oppenheimer makes his feature directorial debut with The End, a musical about the last family on Earth.

Deep inside an underground bunker lives a family comprised of Mother (Tilda Swinton), Father (Michael Shannon), Son (George McKay), Friend (Bronagh Gallagher), Butler (Tim McInnery), and Doctor (Lennie James). The world ended years ago, and they have been living in this bunker since, despite having a part in its destruction. One day, they are visited by an unexpected Girl (Moses Ingram), who throws their perfect world off its axis.

The plot of The End is one we’ve seen before, as the seemingly last person/people on Earth realize they are not alone. But what Oppenheimer does with this classic tale is fascinating. There are no flashbacks and hardly any conversations about what took place. All we know is that there are fires everywhere and there are no survivors (or so we think). The End isn’t focused on what happened, but rather on what is happening with this family. When Girl arrives, we start to learn more about the truths hidden amongst the people in this bunker, and Son, who was born in the bunker and only knows of a world Mother and Father tell him, begins to question everything he thought he knew. This story is also told in the style of a Golden Age musical, which adds another surreal element to the film that is unlike anything we’ve seen from a film like this before.

Oppenheimer’s decision to make this into a musical was bold and inspired but didn’t fully work. A lot of the songs sound very similar and none of them are showstoppers. Swinton and Shannon each get solo numbers towards the end of the film, but even they are lackluster in comparison to other musicals. I also kept wondering about the logistics of the bunker that they skipped over. Where do they store their food and how much do they have? How much medicine do they have? Aspects like that, though small, would have added more depth to the characters and given more life to the bunkers.

While not fully successful, a movie like The End is important because it’s a truly unique experience. It’s a new twist on the “Last Man on Earth” storyline by making it not about the events that led to the end of the world and look more at the domestic issues and truths that lie when an unexpected visitor comes into their lives, all told through musical numbers. The performances are committed and great across the board and the production design of the bunker is stunning. The End is a strange movie, but I haven’t seen anything like it in 2024.

The End played in the International Competition category at the 2024 Chicago International Film Festival.

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