Delayed Reaction: How It Ends

Premise: On the day before the world ends, a woman travels around the city to make amends with the people in her life.

 

It's hard to not grade this movie of a curve. You see, it was made while everything in Los Angeles was shut down. Real life married couple Zoe Lister Jones and Daryl Wein basically made a movie around their neighborhood and called in some friends to shoot socially distant scenes with. How It Ends is by no means a "full" movie. It feels like something they just made to pass the time then thought, "Well, it's already made. We might as well bring it to a festival to show people." And, on that level, I quite enjoyed this movie.

 

How It Ends takes place the day before the world is definitely going to end. You can see the meteor heading toward the Earth in the sky in the background of scenes. So, it's about people experiencing their last day on Earth, and they're all pretty chill about it. The movie centers around Liza (Zoe Lister-Jones) and her younger self (Cailee Spaeny). Her younger self (Y.S.) is a literalized imaginary friend. While Liza is always used to having a dialogue with Y.S., for some reason, since it's End Days, everyone can see everyone else's younger selves. Really, it's not a big deal in the movie. It's just a small quirk, and the important part is that Liza and Y.S. are hanging out for the whole movie. Anyway, Liza makes a list of a few people she wants to make amends with (her parents, an old friend, an ex, etc.), so she goes around town doing so. Her car is stolen (you've gotta have a little anarchy in end times) so she has to walk everywhere. Along the way, she runs into different people on the street or hanging out on their lawns and interacts with them. All of these people are played by reasonably familiar Los Angeles actors (probably all friends of Jones and Wein's). The movie ends up being a pleasant way to spend 82 minutes. It's not high drama. The message ends up being a simple one about loving yourself. None of it is hilarious. It fits under the category of 'lightly amusing' most of the time. The standouts for me were Spaeny and Olivia Wilde. Speany is a nice counter to Jones' more sarcastic edge. I'd probably praise Jones too, but I've already been impressed with her in Sundance movies before. Olivia Wilde is only in a single scene, a conversation with Jones, and it's just plain enjoyable. I'd be shocked if Wilde and Jones are actually old pals, because they talk with a lot of ease and familiarity. I know Wilde can direct a good comedy (Booksmart), and now I wish she'd just plain be in more comedies.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend