Month: November 2024

4 Nov

The End: Joshua Oppenheimer’s post-apocalyptic musical gets a trailer and a new poster

By . FilmTV No Comments

Almost three years have gone by since Joshua Oppenheimer, the director behind the documentaries The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence, announced that he was teaming up with NEON to make his narrative feature debut with The End, “a golden-age musical about the last human family.” That film went into production last year, with a cast that includes Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water), George MacKay (1917), Moses Ingram (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Bronagh Gallagher (Pulp Fiction), Tim McInnerny (Notting Hill), Lennie James (The Walking Dead), and Danielle Ryan (The Silencing). Now it’s making the festival rounds, building up to a December theatrical release. The film is scheduled to start playing in New York and Los Angeles on December 6th, with the limited release expanding on December 13th. As those dates are swiftly approaching, a trailer for The End has dropped online and can be seen in the embed above. A new poster has also been unveiled, and that can be found at the bottom of this article.

JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray had the chance to see The End a couple of months ago, and he was not a fan. You can read his review at THIS LINK. I’m fairly certain this movie won’t be for me, either, but I’m open to giving it a chance at some point.

During an interview with Prospect, Oppenheimer revealed what inspired him to make the movie: “I was researching very wealthy families, and one of them was buying a doomsday bunker that was more of a palace than a bunker. I decided to make a film about a family in a bunker 20 years after the world has ended—and to make it a musical. This family has enriched itself through fossil fuels. It’s now 20 years after the world has ended and they have a son who was born in the bunker. It’s a study in impunity. They tell themselves that this vast tomb is now the pinnacle of civilization, because they are the last family, a Noah’s Ark for a flood that will never subside. The themes grow out of what I explored in The Act of Killing—guilt and denial, the imposition of a narrative by the powerful, the performance of impunity. And remember: Impunity is always performed. It’s not something you can take for granted. You have to assert it with shows of force.” He went on to say the movie is “an exploration of whether we as human beings can come to a place where our guilt is too much to recover from. We are our pasts. And we’re all perpetrators in one way or another.“

The End has the following synopsis: A post-apocalyptic story about a rich family, surviving two decades after the world ended, living in a salt mine converted into a luxurious home. The earth around them has apparently been destroyed, but their 13-year-old son, born in the bunker, has never seen the outside world. There is a maid, with whom the son has his only honest relationship. There is also a doctor, and a butler. Unspoken blame over leaving loved ones behind looms over this family, hollowing out whatever intimacy they once shared. Suddenly, a young girl appears at the entrance of the bunker, the balance of the family is threatened.

Or, here’s an expanded synopsis: A wealthy family survives in a palatial bunker, two decades after the world has ended. There is a mother, father, and their twenty-year-old son – he was born in the bunker and has never seen the outside world. There is a maid, with whom the son has his only honest relationship. There is also a doctor, a butler – and finally a young woman who, having barely survived, manages to find her way in. The film is a musical, and the title is THE END. Before the young woman arrives, the family celebrates their survival as confirmation of their success and righteousness, but unspoken blame over leaving loved ones behind has come between the parents, hollowing out whatever intimacy they once shared. They struggle to repress the guilt they feel for this – as well as a more diffuse regret for contributing to the world’s end. (The Father was an oil tycoon.)

The music is inspired by Broadway’s Golden Age – the unearned optimism of the classic American musical embodies the bunker’s desperate delusions. In THE END, it is an optimism born of fear. They are afraid to face their guilt, and it is this fear, more than the inhospitable conditions outside, that prevents them from leaving. Were they to leave, they’d be confronted by the truth of what they did to the world – and the fate to which they abandoned their families. There will be no Golden Age theatricality to the performances. Instead, the unvarnished realism invites the audience to identify with the characters in this intimate tragedy about guilt, denial, and unfulfilled longing. As in the director’s THE ACT OF KILLING, there is also absurdity and dark humor – and, as the son and young woman fall in love, a fragile hope.

Will you be watching The End? Take a look at the trailer and the new poster, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

The End

The post The End: Joshua Oppenheimer’s post-apocalyptic musical gets a trailer and a new poster appeared first on JoBlo.

4 Nov

Compulsion: Neil Marshall psychological thriller unveils a first look image, secures Saban Films distribution

By . FilmTV No Comments

Dog Soldiers and The Descent director Neil Marshall has worked with actress/co-writer Charlotte Kirk on his three most recent films, The Reckoning, The Lair, and Duchess, and they’re continuing their collaboration on the upcoming psychological thriller Compulsion. Deadline reports that Saban Films has secured the domestic distribution rights to the film – and while a release date has not yet been announced, a first look image has been unveiled. You can check that out at the bottom of this article.

With a script written by Marshall, Compulsion is said to be inspired by the old school erotic thrillers of the ’80s and ’90s, like Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, and Single White Female. This one centers on the dynamically twisted relationship between two women, as both become embroiled in a series of horrific murders on the island of Malta. Kirk stars in the film alongside Anna-Maria Sieklucka, who starred in the massive hit 365 Days for the Netflix streaming service. Here are some character details: Kirk’s character, Diana, is described as a flamboyant and ruthless thief; Sieklucka’s Evie, as a seemingly innocent young woman with a troubled past and a dark secret.

Also in the cast with Sieklucka and Kirk are Zach McGowan (Dracula Untold), Giulia Gorietti (Suburra), Cinzia Monreale (The Beyond), and Harvey Dean (Sea Dragon).

Deadline notes that the film was produced by Kristyna Sellnerova for Kristyna Sellnerova Ltd, with executive producer Emily Corcoran, in association with Cork Films. Media Finance Capital was behind the production, which has a post deal with M2 Mediapost and benefitted from the Malta film cash rebate incentive.

I have been a fan of Neil Marshall’s work ever since he made his feature debut with Dog Soldiers more than twenty years ago, and I enjoy that movie so much that I will always take a look at the latest Marshall movie. So I will definitely be watching Compulsion when it gets released by Saban Films.

Are you a fan of Neil Marshall, and does Compulsion sound interesting to you? Take a look at the first look image, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

Compulsion Neil Marshall Anna-Maria Sieklucka Charlotte Kirk

The post Compulsion: Neil Marshall psychological thriller unveils a first look image, secures Saban Films distribution appeared first on JoBlo.

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