Survival dramas have a way of refocusing the things that are most important in life: safety, family, and the comfort of not fearing tomorrow. The End We Start from tells a familiar post-apocalyptic story through the raw, sadly plausible perspective of the climate crisis, as extreme flooding forces Brits to flee cities in pursuit of higher ground.
These cataclysmic floods begin on the same day that a London resident (Julie Comer) gives birth to baby Zeb, and she and her partner (Joel Fry) flee to stay with the newborn's grandparents in the countryside. Similar to likeminded survival stories Contagion and Children of Men, the main threat turns out to be other humans, as limited resources result in violence and looting.
It's a mournful film that proceeds at a patient pace, rarely crescendoing as director Mahalia Belo takes characters from one short-lived refuge to the next, with Benedict Cumberbatch briefly appearing as a fellow traveller who has similarly lost everything. It focuses on personal toils, mostly keeping characters (and the audience) in the dark about what's happening in society at large, and instead dealing with matters close at hand, with repeated scenes of trudging through the soggy wilderness and many attempts to keep Zeb from crying.
It's a solemn watch that made me yearn for a life of minimalist simplicity, which was perhaps a bit hypocritical given that I was drinking a large Cherry Coke and eating a big box of M&M's at the screening. But The End We Start From is not without moments of hope and joy (including a perfectly curated Caribou needle drop), making The End We Start heavy without being despairing.
(Republic Pictures)These cataclysmic floods begin on the same day that a London resident (Julie Comer) gives birth to baby Zeb, and she and her partner (Joel Fry) flee to stay with the newborn's grandparents in the countryside. Similar to likeminded survival stories Contagion and Children of Men, the main threat turns out to be other humans, as limited resources result in violence and looting.
It's a mournful film that proceeds at a patient pace, rarely crescendoing as director Mahalia Belo takes characters from one short-lived refuge to the next, with Benedict Cumberbatch briefly appearing as a fellow traveller who has similarly lost everything. It focuses on personal toils, mostly keeping characters (and the audience) in the dark about what's happening in society at large, and instead dealing with matters close at hand, with repeated scenes of trudging through the soggy wilderness and many attempts to keep Zeb from crying.
It's a solemn watch that made me yearn for a life of minimalist simplicity, which was perhaps a bit hypocritical given that I was drinking a large Cherry Coke and eating a big box of M&M's at the screening. But The End We Start From is not without moments of hope and joy (including a perfectly curated Caribou needle drop), making The End We Start heavy without being despairing.
