Fin

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.

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.

Okay the movie begins with an old friends gang meets together after the several years of gap in a mountain cabin. They talk and remember the old days they spent together, seems they still have something for each other until that strange night. As they are now far from the human density, they are unable to contact the rest of the world to ask help from the weird situation happening around them. So the journey begins with these old friends in search of safe place near.

Yeah the movie was too soft for apocalypse theme, more like a drama which suit all age groups. There were no strong graphics, everything was simple as some family drama with few thrilling scenes now and then comes to put us on the edge of the seat. I think I liked the director's approach on presenting it in an unusual way and avoiding building collapse, landslides and all the disaster that represents in the pre apocalyptic process.

The movie had a minimal cast with around 9 except opening few minutes which shot in the city. Suspenseful story but fails to reveal itself at any stage of its story penetration which might annoy the audience to dump it into underrated category. It will be a nice adventure-drama if you are not expecting something like '2012' or a similar movie. As it was adapted from a novel it looked we are reading it while watching. Kinda more suitable for family audience except one nude scene from beginning of the story.

There was nothing any special compared to modern apocalypse movies but it was pure artistic with avoided violence even in the deaths of the movie characters. That makes even children can be allowed to watch it if they are interested in this movie. Overall it was not worse like everyone says, some people disappointed because they expected high-end stunts and graphics which were lacking in this story. So keep your expectations low and remember you are watching sci-fi drama not action thriller.

7/10

I actually liked this Spanish production pretty good - good actors, a nice mystery story and a good production kept me well entertained. Yes, there is maybe a little too much personal drama between those friends, but anyway, for the lover of mystery, thriller and post-apocalyptic events, Fin/End provides enough quality. No skyrocketing here, but solid stuff to chew on - in a genre filled with too many pseudo-movies a good one. Give it a try if you like movies like The Blindness (2008), The Last Days (2013), The Happening (2008) and so on.

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")