HOW IT ENDS – An apocalyptic thriller that misleads

Note – This review slightly reveals or hints at key plot elements of How It Ends. 

A film with such a promising title as How It Ends makes two important promises right from the start. Supported by the poster featuring a man in a gas mask, we might expect to be dealing with a post-apocalyptic sci-fi story. Taking the title literally, we also assume that the creators have come up with a well-motivated vision of the end of the world, making it the core of the story. Simple? Only in theory.

The first promise was fulfilled – the genre checks out, although interestingly, at times How It Ends feels more like a pure drama than a typical disaster sci-fi. But when it comes to giving the disaster any meaning, the creators failed completely.

How It Ends is a Netflix production. The film was directed by David M. Rosenthal and written by Brooks McLaren. However, these are not names that stand out – the director has only a few rather mediocre works to his name, and the screenwriter is a debutant. So the strength of How It Ends lies elsewhere. I’ll start from the end. The film features exceptionally pleasing visuals, enhanced with a yellow-green tint that blends well with the realism of the world it portrays. Composer Atli Örvarsson also did an excellent job, with his subdued musical theme giving the film a steady rhythm. That’s one.

The beginning of the film is also quite intriguing. Will, madly in love, is wondering how to tell the father of his pregnant girlfriend, Samantha, that he intends to marry her. However, right after a dinner that ends in failure, a mysterious cataclysm occurs. Will can no longer contact Samantha, who is on the West Coast, as all telecommunication is down. Flights are also suspended, and the country gradually plunges into chaos. The protagonist and his future father-in-law decide to get in a car and travel to her on their own.

As we know, disaster means an end for some, a beginning for others, so before the heroes reach their destination, they face numerous obstacles. The most significant of these, of course, are other people, taking advantage of the chaos and lawlessness for their own benefit. There are chase scenes in the film that genuinely managed to build tension. A compelling dynamic is also drawn between the two main characters – the older man is a former soldier, while the younger is an intellectual who has just stepped away from his desk. Forest Whitaker and Theo James make an interesting duo, though it’s worth noting that their acting doesn’t display any exceptional qualities. They’re simply competent (just like, as a side note, how politically correct the film itself is).

However, around the film’s midpoint, things begin to drag. As the action progresses, the pace slows noticeably, bogged down by overly predictable sequences that contribute little to the plot. Additional characters shoehorned into the script – clearly added for no real reason – also hinder immersion in this particular kind of road movie. These characters are both irritating and unjustified in their appearances and disappearances. One such character is a Native American girl named Ricki, whose role seems limited to adding another skin tone to the landscape.

Rosenthal’s two-hour film feels endlessly long, although thanks to the positives mentioned earlier – the cinematography and music – it maintains a pleasant atmosphere that invites viewers to stay in hopes of a satisfying resolution to the central mystery. And this brings us to the cardinal sin of Netflix’s new production. I could forgive the creators many things, but not how they botched the film’s ending. There is a subtle difference between leaving the viewer with an intriguing sense of ambiguity (see Cube, for example), which opens up room for interpretation, and blatantly cheating the audience by not having any credible idea on how to wrap up the story.

It’s absurd that a film with a title like How It Ends has no intention, plot-wise, of putting a period at the end of the sentence. I find it laughable when some people try to justify the filmmakers’ idiotic and strikingly amateur move with some hidden artistic vision and, consequently, a lack of obligation to lay all the cards on the table. Sure, there’s no rule that says a film must explain the mystery hanging over it by the finale. But when that mystery is the trigger for the entire plot, sweeping it under the rug undermines the point of the entire drama and the journey the characters went through. Especially since, early on, they were only receiving scraps of information about the cataclysm disrupting communication with the western part of the country – clearly suggesting that a long-awaited revelation was inevitable. Yet, for some unknown reason, the question asked in the title is never answered.

How It Ends is a textbook example of a film that starts well but ends poorly. It’s like an interesting conversation cut off mid-sentence. I can’t say I fully enjoyed the arguments used by the creators, but the atmosphere of the discussion was pleasant enough that I was genuinely curious to see how it would end. That chance wasn’t given to me – and that, sadly, is the only thing I’ll remember years later from watching Rosenthal’s film.

Unfortunately.