The End We Start From

Like all the best disaster movies, The End We Start From understands that the most important aspect is making sure you care about the people who are trying to survive this possible apocalypse. Whilst it has its fair share of bleak moments, showing how quickly and violently civilisation can crumble, it's ultimately a hopeful disaster movie.

Jodie Comer is absolutely phenomenal in her finest cinematic showcase to date. She displays a whole range of emotions from the unbridled joy of having a child to the fear of never feeling truly safe in a constantly changing environment whilst having a really beautiful friendship with a super likeable Catherine Waterston. Her chemistry with Joel Fry is also endearing.

Mahalia Belo's direction can show the brutality of this changed world without wallowing in misery. The scale is pretty impressive, especially considering the low budget and it ends on a final shot that makes the whole thing coalesce. The score by Anna Meredith really stands out because it doesn't sound like anything else in the genre. It's so modern and understated.

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.

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.

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.

Society is thrown into chaos after a natural disaster, a woman faces a huge challenge to keep her new born baby safe.

It's a film that's hard to hate, but virtually impossible to love, it promised so much, but offered relatively little.

It's a disaster story, but not a disaster movie, the focus is very much on the mother, and motherhood, we learn relatively noting about the disaster, it's just a talking point for that most part.

You can't argue with the acting, Jodie Comer and Joel Fry are both very good, but the script could have been a little sharper, and a bit more interesting, it's a little disjointed.

It's watchable, it has some interesting elements, but ultimately it was a little disappointing, and that ending, it reminded me of that hilarious ending from The Day after tomorrow.

Mehhh.

6/10.