This apocalyptic musical doesn’t hit all the right notes.
“The End” is a musical directed by Joshua Oppenheimer (“The Act of Killing,” “The Look of Silence”) and set after the end of the world and featuring what may be the last family on Earth. And one of them may have been the cause of it. As you begin to watch the movie, you think their sanctuary is covered in snow, like it’s another ice age, but it’s actually a salt mine. And it looks like a perfect setting to a film taking place after the apocalypse, especially if its theme regards a social class.
So if Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel can smoke pot and face off demons in “This is the End,” maybe Tilda Swinton or Michael Shannon or George MacKay can sing in “The End.” But the movie ends up being apocalyptic with the cynical and boring screenplay that tries and fails to distinguish itself from much better apocalyptic movies. In fact, it’s basically repeating itself.
There are some songs to represent what life has brought to these survivors, and they were written by Josh Schmidt. Sometimes they can be presented with passion and as a throwback to the Golden Age of Hollywood, there are some moments that remind us of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. But other songs can be tedious or repetitive.
The characters in this film consist of Swinton as a former dancer, Shannon as her energy tycoon husband, MacKay as their son, Bronagh Gallagher as their chef and family friend, Tim McInnerny as their butler, and Lennie James as their doctor. They all live under the salt mine with plants and fish to fee them, wine chilled for years to bitter results, a shooting range, and a pool for them to do their laps. Dessert anyone? Yes, they still have desserts, but no Twinkies for you Tallahassee. And there are also tests about what to do in the event of a life-threatening situation, which the young man has his conflicts with.
They come across another survivor (Moses Ingram), who just lost her family. Of course, they consider killing her, based on the fact that when it comes to apocalypse, trust is very limited. How can they trust her? They don’t know her and where she comes from. But they manage to spare her.
Of course, MacKay, who was born in a doomsday shelter, has his chemistry with Ingram and shares with her his passion about wanting to see the outside world, which is highly unlikely given the circumstances. It’s like something out of “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast,” if you read between the lines, especially when they sing.
And of course again, there are regrets about past choices within the characters. Some of them are poised to tear the family apart. And how they handle them are soapy.
In my opinion on the most current movie musicals, “Joker: Folie a Deux” was a cynical mess, “Wicked” was a glorious one, and “The End” has potential, but still sells itself short in this particular genre regarding the end of the world.
I admired the performances from Swinton and Shannon, the art direction, the production design, and some of the songs, but they’re all substance and no centers. This could have been a perfect musical with the right direction and ambiance by Oppenheimer, but instead, it just wanders around with unmemorable conflicts and flat characters. You feel that the last people on Earth should be more interesting.
Will “The End” become a cult classic or an Indie hit? We’ll find out either within the month of December or within the 2020s. I have great taste in musicals and independent features, but this one didn’t want me in the bunker.
In Select Theaters This Friday