The End – Film Review
by Brian Merriman

Written and directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
Written by Rasmus Heisterberg, Shusaka Harada, Nathaniel Philip
Starring Tilda Swinton, George Mac Kay, Moses Ingram, Bronagh Gallagher, Michael Shannon, Tom McInerney, Lennie James

The End is literally the beginning of this movie. We are set in a bunker in a salt mine somewhere as the world is burning. No strangers are allowed, if they have survived. Our ‘family’ consists of a mother, her best friend, a father, his best friend, a doctor, a son and a stranger. It is a stellar cast.

The setting is weird and bizarre, and the genre they chose is equal to that. It is partly a musical by Marius de Vreit and Josh Smith. There are no songs you will come out humming, despite the strong arrangements. They are quite bland, and the voices of the skilled actors are quite thin, with the notable exception of the harmonies of Gallagher and Ingram.

Having survived isolation in Covid, we are an audience that is open to responding and empathising with this isolation. The (almost stage) set is opulent with antiques and artwork. We do see how they feed themselves in this bunker, but where all the other supplies come in from remains a mystery. There is an endless wardrobe.

It is great to see George Mackay, the star of 1917, on screen in a big movie again. He plays ‘the son’ and has a new outfit in every episode. There are almost as many costume changes for him as there are producers – an endless list including Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland. There is an equally endless supply of medicine, wine, power, wardrobe, and petrol…but no clue as to where it comes from or how it is sustained.

Tilda Swinton’s Mother character is like them all, damaged by the experience, but coping. The Father (a nice study by Michael Shannon) is riddled with guilt about his previous profiteering in the energy business. He evokes his son to write his history for whoever might survive to read it. There are secrets, repressed relationships and sexuality and a constant politeness to ensure the fragile pleasantness of the environment remains undisturbed. There are some truths revealed, but many are still hidden in this confined space.

Add in a stranger (Ingram) and the next phase of the family’s evolution begins. The son emerges into manhood, and as with all endings, it appears to be happily ever after. It also appears that this is the intention of the writers and director Oppenheimer, but nothing here is as it appears to be.

This is a strange movie and a movie about strangeness. It is the most unlikely vehicle for a musical, and the quality of the composition doesn’t enhance. It adds to the oddness.

I’m not convinced that The End is the beginning of something new, but it is something different.