Films taking a comedic look at the day the world realizes it is coming to an end have seen steady production and release over the past decade and it honestly makes perfect sense. Exploration of what people would do if they knew in advance everything was going to come crashing down makes for a meaty film that covers how humans use humor to cope and that can delve into the full emotional spectrum that we all experience in our daily lives. Husband and wife writer/director duo Zoe Lister-Jones and Darryl Wein submit another entry into this subgenre.
How It Ends finds us in Los Angeles just before the imminent end of the world alongside a neurotic, struggling young woman named Liza (Lister-Jones) who scores an invite to one last wild party before the world ends. However, making it there won’t be easy after her car is stolen and the clock is ticking on her plan to tie up loose ends with friends and family.
Watching How It Ends brought to mind a cult classic B-movie for many older millennials called Drop Dead Fred which also examines the life of an adult woman who interacts with the manifestation of her childhood issues in the form of a person that only she can see, although here Liza’s issues take the form of her younger self instead of an imaginary friend. Liza spends the day repairing frayed relationships with those she’s close to from her parents to ex-friends and lovers before the asteroid hits, saying things that were left unsaid and offering apologies that she had been holding onto. Closure can help to resolve trauma and ease any lingering pain and anxiety, particularly as we prepare for whatever comes after this life. But what Liza is ultimately searching for is affirmation from these figures from her past that she is worthy of the love that they failed to provide her. Her journey ultimately proves unfruitful and ends up leading to the lesson at the center of the film’s story. The lesson communicated by the film at its core is about the need to love one’s self first and foremost before embarking upon the search for the love anyone else. This type of internal self-reflection is something that many in the audience are sure to have dealt with over the tumultuous past year and a half that the globe has experienced, making the film’s message all the more resonant. The process of dying and coming to terms with with our unresolved issues and problems before departing the world has also been depressingly relevant for the past two years and the film’s depiction of the questions the process raises and how to manage it all, is one of the few parts of the film that lands.
How It Ends operates mainly as a comedy and the film’s comedic aspects are simple serviceable and occasionally chuckle worthy, but won’t make you double over with laughter at any point. The film’s most engaging aspect is the chemistry between Zoe Lister-Jones and Cailee Spaeny who plays the younger Liza. Spaeny in particular is engaging and charismatic as a precious actress and representative of the title character’s id. The two are amusing when out on adventures together as the younger Liza drives her older self crazy. Liza’s interactions with people from her past have their moments as well, highlighted by a visit with ex-boyfriend Larry (Lamorne Morris) that is hilariously awkward and cringey. These moments are too few however, even within a film that has as short of a runtime as this film. How It Ends mostly feels as if it’s dragging along to its conclusion, pulling in the audience for fleeting moments, rather than engaging them entirely. It is also true that humor is one of the most subjective forms of entertainment and art so while this style of whimsy snark may not have worked this critic, it may connect more with others. But all in all, How It Ends feels more like a chore than something pleasing.
Image: United Artists Releasing
