The End We Start From

This is Jody Comer's film throughout: the camera hardly leaves her from start to finish. Its a low-budget disaster/dystopia movie with some obvious references to climate change and how it could impact on ordinary people and society. The End We Start From isn't a classic disaster movie with overused CGI, a cast of thousands and a budget running into several hundred millions (thankfully) Its an insular, intimate portrait of one woman and her newly born baby trying to survive a terrible natural disaster and on this level, it largely works.

Comer gets some sterling, if fleeting acting support from Joel Fry, Katherine Waterson, Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Strong, yet every scene is a platform for her acting ability. Sometimes she says nothing at all, just shows some wonderful maternal love and support for her infant and displays a naturalistic presence in the face of hopelessness.

The movie itself is sparse to say the least. It just about gets across the message of how things could be in this type of situation. However, many scenes are far too abstract and simplistic. A little more context is required, even just a background radio giving out emergency bulletins or a broken road sign along a soggy road to give some geographical placing. Society breaks down, as it inevitably would and the Brits show their legendary stoicism, but it's all on one level, not much horror and no humour - both essential in any successful disaster, dystopian movie; it borders on the boring.

In the end the excellent Comer pulls it through.

The End We Start From hadn't been on my radar before and the trailer didn't give a huge amount away. I had no expectations but it wasn't a bad little film. It had a made for TV style and was clearly produced on a low budget. If you are expecting epic disaster or dramatic dystopian events then you will be disappointed. If you enjoyed 28 Days Later or How I Live Now then The End We Start From should be an enjoyable watch for you, although both those films are better than this. Jodie Comer is quite captivating but I feel like her big starring film role is yet to come. Luckily it wasn't overlong so it didn't drag on.

Wikipedia told me this was a story about a woman escaping London after an ecological disaster wipes out 99% of humanity. This is definitely not true. Poignant, but not really a disaster flick. If you are a sicko like me and love scenes of destroyed, ruined cities and absolute destruction, there are very few of those and the movie does not lean on them at all.

Other than that, Jodie Comer is great, and I thought Waterston was great as well. If you want to see a young mum of a newborn getting stuff done and developing her own agency as both a mother and a woman while dealing with ecological disaster, this will do nicely.

A woman tries to find her way home with her newborn while an environmental crisis submerges London in floodwaters.

I think this film does not know what it wants to be. It's very pretentious, with lots of sombre scenes that don't mean anything, to a far-too-loud score that is overly dramatic, to interactions that don't really mean anything.

It hints at times of the breakdown of society, and the lack of Govt strategy to deal with the problem, and the stoical resolve some people show in getting back to normal. But they are inferred by me rather than implied by the film. I think if the film has a point then it is only one that was invented by the watcher to make sense of it.

The acting isn't too bad throughout but I don't think they really have much to work with. There's very little dialogue and much of what there is can be confusing. Interactions between people seem to be standalone murals which the director hopes look impressive but have no real connection to the story. There's also some very weak plot lines which seem to go nowhere and it feels as if they were just an idea that didn't last.

I watched it simply because Jody Comer put her name to it and I expected it to shine because of her but sadly, I think she picked a pig in a poke with this one.

It's not vile, it's not dire, it's simply not very good. The worst thing is it is tedious and monotonous including having to turn the volume down all the time for the silly soundtrack and then back up again for the dialogue.

It's not the worst film I've ever seen but I won't ever feel the need to watch it again.

Far better than the reviews suggest, this is a well made indie climate fiction road movie in a similar style to 28 Days Later and Children of Men. But unlike those two excellent films, this is a character driven and a more ambient experience. It still follows a linear plot and is not what I would describe as overly art house (think Terrence Mallick) but I can understand why it might be a little slow and non-immediate for some. But it is a beautifully shot movie with great performances and a standout turn by the excellent Jodie Comer, who displays believable strength and vulnerability in a story that steers clear of contrivance, cliche, and convenience.