Fin

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.

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")

Usually, when there is a weak script, everything fall with it... But this movie is different. Even if the storyline is incomplete, or lack of imagination, the actors are so good that you still follow the adventure (without big expectations) until the end.

The cast is solid, the acting is flawless, the soundtrack is good, so... A script with a bit more originality would have made a very good movie.

Don't expect a kind of apocalyptic movie like The Road, or crude has HELL (Bright), but more of a soft philosophical end of time story, a reset of humanity.

But anyway, congratulations to the actors, you all did a very good job.

Thrilling film about mysterious events spread across the planet , being well directed by Spanish filmmaker Jorge Torregrossa . This is a mix of drama, thrills , adventure and end of world doom and gloom ; add to that a really magnificent cast . A group of old friends formed by three couples (Maribel Verdu-Antonio Garrido , Daniel Grao-Blanca Romero Miquel Fernandez-Clara Lago) , and two singles (Carmen Ruiz , Andres Velencoso) gets together for a weekend in a mountain log cabin . Years have gone by and yet nothing seems to have changed between them. But lurking behind the laughter and stories is a murky episode from the past starred by another friend nicknamed 'the Prophet' (Eugenio Mira) that continues to haunt them . Then weird deeds take place , such as rare disappearance , goats stampede , dangerous dogs are hungry and chasing them and many other things . They develops an irrational fear and on their way for help, the bunch starts to disintegrate, just as a new natural order is unveiled before their amazing eyes .

Jorge Torregrossa's The End packs intrigue, intense drama , action and astonishing suspense film about strange sudden incidents altering their plans, leaving them stranded with no line of communication to the outside world and deadly explosions across the Earth . Nice performance for a consolidating as well as promising star-cast , as it stars lovely Spanish players such as Maribel Verdu of Pan's Labyrinth, , Clara Lago of Tongue of butterflies , Daniel Grao of Julia's eyes , Blanca Romero, and Antonio Garrido , among others . Interesting as well as thought-provoking script written by Jorge Guerricaechevarria of Cell 211 fame and The Orphanage's Sergio G. Sanchez . Good direction who does have its thrilling moments , most of them in the second half , being mostly dramatic and tragic . This chiller with supernatural elements was compellingly realized by Jorge Torregrossa , a little famous director , being best known in his native country as a TV director (such as Gran Hotel , Imperium, 14 Abril Republica , Tierra De Lobos) . The motion picture marks Jorge Torregrossa's debut feature as a director but was garnering so much attention from international sites . He offers us an intelligent flick of the apocalyptic world movie, intimate and committed . Rating : Above average . Well worth watching .

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.