The movie musical is a long tradition in Hollywood, but off the top of my head, I can't think of too many movies in the genre that tackled the end of the world. That's about to change with the 2024 new movie The End, a star-studded classical musical from an acclaimed documentary director making his narrative debut.
Director Joshua Oppenheimer broke out with this pair of Oscar-nominated documentaries, The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence, which provided a look into atrocities that took place in Indonesia in unique but profound ways. It's been 10 years since The Look of Silence, but Oppenheimer is now putting his own spin on the musical genre with this original idea, which he also co-wrote with Rasmus Heisterberg and collaborated on the music for with Joshua Schmidt.
Here is everything you need to know about The End.
The End release date
The End is going to release on December 6 in the US in select movie theaters.
At this time there isn't any information on a UK release date for The End, though it is playing at the BFI London Film Festival. This follows the movie making its worldwide premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival.
The End cast
The End has lined up a talented cast of actors, even if musicals are not what you first associate with most of them. Among the main cast is Tilda Swinton (her second big 2024 new movie alongside The Room Next Door), George MacKay (1917, Munich: The Edge of War), Moses Ingram (Lady in the Lake, Queen's Gambit) and Michael Shannon (The Bikeriders, George & Tammy).
Other members of the cast include Bronagh Gallagher (Belgravia), Tim McInnerny (One Day) and Lennie James (Fear the Walking Dead).
The End plot
Here is the official synopsis for The End from distributor NEON:
"From Academy Award-nominated director Joshua Oppenheimer comes a poignant and deeply human musical about a family that survived the end of the world."
The End trailer
Take a look at the trailer for The End below.
The End reviews
Having screened at major fall film festivals, the first round of reviews for The End has already come in. The movie actually seems a bit divisive. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 51% as of October 7, which labels it as "Rotten." However, on another review aggregator site, Metacritic, it has a score of 70, which puts it into the site's top tier category (out of 100).
An example of the difference of opinions for the movie, Mashable's Kristy Puchko called the movie "unnerving, raw and original," while Slant Magazine's Mark Hanson wrote, "the musical aspect, while a neat gimmick, isn't memorable or cohesive enough to make the homage, well, sing."
