The End

One negative reviewer of this film wrote "The point of a movie that's directed to an audience is to give a purpose at the end." But that's not always the case. This film is about love and hate, fear and joy, boredom and mystery and the persistence of hope. I thought the film unfolds well, at first glance looking a bit Agatha Christi, and then for a few moments like a slick Christian apocalyptic genre film, but while there are moments when a viewer might say Book of Revelations, the film turns in a different, infinitely human and humanistic direction ending as an exploration of the truth we all face- humans live and die, and we can do that well or badly. selfishly or generously, thoughtless and unthinking or thoughtfully.

Fin is a deeply philosophical film without a single lecture, and while sometimes quiet (though never for long) I found it deeply engaging. I don't give an 8 of 10 score often, but this is a film I'll watch more than once. A few reviewers here have suggested that Fin lacks in action or special effects. Instead, I offer congratulations to director Jorge Torregrossa for a film that uses special effects and action to assist in the telling of a story rather than allowing such techniques to take the place of a story. Bravo to composer Lucio Godoy for an especially fine score.

After twenty years, Sara (Carmen Ruiz) invites her friends to reunite again in the same isolated cabin where they met for the last time. Félix (Daniel Grao) goes with the younger escort Eva (Clara Lago) posing of his girlfriend; his ex-girlfriend Maribel (Maribel Verdú) leaves her two children with her mother and travels with her husband Rafa (Antonio Garrido); the wolf Hugo (Andrés Velencoso) travels with his wife Cova (Blanca Romero); the lonely pothead Sergio (Miquel Fernández) travels alone. Sara is worried since their friend Ángel "Prophet" (Eugenio Mira) has not arrived yet. There is a secret about something that happened twenty years ago with the prophet that was the reason to keep them apart.

During the night, the group is around a bonfire and Ángel never shows up, and Sara discloses that it was Ángel's idea to gather his friends on that day. Out of the blue, there is a lighting followed by thunder and all the power is cut – batteries of cellular have run down; the cars have flat batteries and the group argues. Soon Eva learns that twenty years ago, Ángel was forced to consume drugs that have seriously affected him. He became violent and started to foresee the end of the world, ending in an asylum. None of his friends but Sara has ever visited him in the institution, and they first believe that Ángel has plotted an evil scheme against them. One the next morning, Rafa vanishes and they believe he has walked to the nearby town and the group decides to do the same. But soon, each one of them disappears in the end of the days.

"Fin" is an intriguing and very well acted Spanish thriller, with Maribel Verdú that is one of my favorite Spanish actresses and the unknown Clara Lago, one of the most beautiful new faces in the cinema industry. Unfortunately, the pointless conclusion gave me the same sensation I had when "Lost" ended. The writers succeeded in creating the engaging mystery but without any answer to the events but the simplistic explanation of the apocalyptic end of the world, with Eva apparently surviving. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Fim dos Tempos" ("End of the Times")

THE END is, as the title would suggest, a film about the apocalypse. At least, it appears to be about an apocalypse of sorts, but given that this is a film that offers zero explanation or indeed any kind of reasoning about what's actually happening, your guess is as good as mine.

The saving grace of the film is that it's superbly shot, with wonderful outdoor cinematography and lots of vibrant moments. The set-piece with the dogs is as beautifully shot a piece of cinema as I can recall. The plot is simple stuff, with a group of twentysomething friends heading out into the countryside for a get together when 'something' happens - something explosive, and devastating.

When people begin to disappear, things get really weird. The lack of explanations make this both frustrating and rather spooky. The characters are thinly-drawn and there's a little too much time spent on triviality, but for the most part this is an intriguing, quirky slice of science fiction, well made by those talented Spaniards.

I got to check this film out at the Palm Springs Film Festival. The previous reviews I had read for this were pretty negative so I went into it with admittedly low expectations. So I was pleasantly surprised when I got out having enjoyed the film a great deal. The End follows a group of friends reuniting after 20 years at some property outside of civilization. As the movie progresses it creates a very tense atmosphere when unexplained events begin occurring. Without giving away too much I'll just say the film is more or less a Metaphysical Horror Film with more attention focused on what is happening as opposed to how it happens. It succeeds at creating a grand scope within a simple plot and settings. It is much better than it's current rating given on the site.

i almost liked it

everything was laid out nicely, there was the promise of mystery, a hint of drama;

the characters began as nicely scratched, but it almost ended there - too early to achieve completeness in any direction of the story why didn't anyone in the group think aloud of any theory of what was happening? first there was complete denial, then - complete acceptance and unquestioned submission to their faith

also - emotion; there scarcely any emotion in these people, making this otherwise good looking movie - empty

oh, well, i won't say it is bad, though - just, incomplete

5 out of 10