‘I don’t understand what this rejection of the world means…‘
Cinema has always loved a film about extreme weather (Twister, The Day After Tomorrow, The Impossible etc) but as we now seem to be in the midst of a very real climate crisis, it is perhaps inevitable that the films in this sub-genre start to take on a darker, more realistic bent. The End We Start From, adapted from Megan Hunter’s novel, attempts to marry a disaster movie with a character study and is only partly successful…
When an environmental crisis leads to extreme flooding across the UK, Jodie Comer (we never learn her character’s name) and her husband R (Joel Fry) attempt to keep their newborn baby safe in the face of mounting hostility and danger.
Mahalia Belo’s debut feature starts off strong and boasts some effective special effects for a project with a modest budget, but the momentum doesn’t carry across the whole film despite a committed and gripping performance from Comer (who is routinely excellent in anything in which she appears). There are moments here when things threaten to unravel in a captivating way but it feels like Belo holds back at the crucial moment. Not everything needs to be sensationalised, of course, and subtext is everything, but too often the real horror of the film’s central conceit is played out off-screen.
Comer’s performance here justifies the existence of The End We Start From but she is let down by the film going on around her. Disappointing.
