How it ends

It's time - the end of the world is coming closer by the hour in the form of a meteorite. Liza (Zoe Lister-Jones) has just one day left to sort out the things she cares about - and to go to one last raucous party before the world ends. Accompanied by her younger self (Cailee Spaeny), Liza sets off on foot on a hilarious journey across Los Angeles, meeting friends, family and all sorts of crazy characters. But is there really enough time to face the end at peace with herself?

"How it ends" is among the few film productions shot and fully completed in 2020 during the pandemic. Adhering to all sanitation and, most importantly, distancing rules, husband and wife team Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein shot the film in remote off-site locations throughout LA. They were able to secure a number of fellow actors and actresses for guest appearances, which were completed either on location, or in some cases via zoom or similar digital means. Episodically, the protagonist wanders from one meeting to the next, with confrontations with her ex, her parents, her once-best friend, or a pot dealer sometimes seeming highly improvised.

There are indeed some funny ideas and clever moments. But overall, "How it ends" feels very exhausting. The main character is incredibly self-involved, and her problems such as her extreme fears of commitment don't make her any more likeable. The encounters with the various supporting characters often seem improvised, which at some point also seems a bit tiring and above all irrelevant to the audience. And you catch yourself now and then wishing that the end of the world would please come a little faster.

I appreciated the idea of the film as much as the very special atmosphere that was captured here in Lockdown-L.A.. Still, the execution rarely won me over. The dialogues want to be funny and clever, but are rather long-winded and stilted. The characters are absolute cliché hipsters and don't embody the closeness to life that the film so wants to convey. It's a well-intentioned experiment in a difficult time for the film industry as well, but unfortunately it doesn't entertain well. Therefore, there is only with significant deductions still a: worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp