‘The End’: Toronto Review

Dir: Joshua Oppenheimer. Denmark/Germany/Eire/Italy/UK/Sweden. 2024. 150 minutes

In his acclaimed documentaries about mass killings in Indonesia, The Act Of Killing and The Look Of Silence, Joshua Oppenheimer examined the darkest elements of human nature. On its face, his characteristic debut would appear equally bleak, following a household that has lived underground for many years after the destruction of the planet. However whereas there’s actually a lot that’s despairing about The Finish, what’s exceptional is how a lot the movie focuses on the sweetness in such a grim state of affairs — and that’s earlier than the characters begin breaking into track. A combination of home drama, apocalyptic fable and old school (and unironic) Hollywood musical, The Finish is an audacious and often enrapturing expertise, with excellent performances at its emotional coronary heart.

A meditation on how all of us rationalise the terrors proper outdoors our door

A who’s who of arthouse stars, together with Tilda Swinton, George MacKay and Michael Shannon, head up the solid, and The Finish’s bold strategy will make this a must-see for discriminating audiences. Greeted with largely respectful evaluations after its Telluride premiere, the image could wrestle to cross over into the mainstream, and likewise awards-season consideration may very well be a problem. However anybody occupied with a narrative concerning the finish of the world which is way completely different from different such movies would do properly to hunt out this image.

It has been roughly 25 years since Earth has grow to be uninhabitable, however a well-to-do household has thrived in a bunker loaded with priceless artwork as they attempt to preserve a standard each day existence. The relations are recognized solely as Mom (Swinton), Father (Shannon) and Son (MacKay), who was born after the environmental disaster that laid waste to the planet. Someday, although, they’re visited by a stranger, Lady (Moses Ingram), a lone survivor who made her approach to their residence. Initially, they need to ship Lady off, however Father takes pity on her, and shortly she and Son develop romantic emotions for each other.

The Finish’s manufacturing design, courtesy of Jette Lehmann, thrusts us convincingly into this claustrophobic realm during which there isn’t a life outdoors of the household’s domicile, an upscale manor residence that appears elegant – till one remembers what has occurred to the remainder of humanity. Not surprisingly, that is exactly what the household — in addition to just a few folks they introduced alongside, together with Physician (Lennie James) and Butler (Tim McInnerny) — have achieved during the last quarter-century, rigorously manufacturing an elaborate facade of normalcy.

However there’s additionally a component of revisionist historical past happening as Father, a former govt within the power discipline, duties Son with writing his biography — one during which he’s not complicit within the international warming that killed off the Earth’s inhabitants. Nevertheless, Oppenheimer, who co-wrote the screenplay, doesn’t accept low cost satire on the expense of the clueless one-percent, as an alternative thoughtfully investigating the poignancy of this household who need to maintain the horror of their state of affairs out of their consciousness.

With that in thoughts, the usage of authentic musical numbers is impressed, additional emphasising the unreality during which these characters dwell. With music by Joshua Schmidt and lyrics by Oppenheimer, the songs recall the golden age of Broadway and Hollywood musicals, the tunes stuffed with lilting strings and swooning melodies. Whether or not it’s Son and Lady falling in love or Father reflecting on his previous errors, The Finish is lit up by these hovering songs, the choreography usually quite simple however efficient. As a result of Oppenheimer is just not attempting to parody musicals — or mock the characters’ disconnect from actuality — one thing much more shifting transpires. Fairly cannily, The Finish turns into a meditation on how all of us rationalise the terrors proper outdoors our door, immersing ourselves in music, routine and different distractions. This household could also be deluded, however their inside lives are so wealthy that we come to care about their plight as the delicate final remnants of humanity.

The performances are uniformly stellar, with Ingram an particularly highly effective singer. Because the sheltered Son, MacKay performs his character’s naivety with disarming sweetness, whereas Swinton and Shannon painting a long-term couple who’ve needed to settle for the alternatives they’ve made — together with which relations and mates they might permit within the bunker with them. Oppenheimer’s Indonesia documentaries prompt a filmmaker who refused to look away from the cruelty people inflict on each other. With The Finish, he manages to seek out just a few scraps of hope, though the image’s devastating remaining sequence argues that optimism can solely take our doomed species to date.