🍿85: The End We Start From
This week, a guest review and Oscar nominations 🎭
“And the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down and the flood rose up, up, upper.”
~ The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, 1977
Skál!
To celebrate my birthday week, I’m taking a week off of critiquing (Mia Rodriguez has written this week’s review) to explore the glaciers, volcanoes and geysers of Iceland (with Mia).
I’ve also been lucky enough to watch quite a few films since the last issue of SP. The first is The Northman, starring Alexander Skarsgård (covered in SP#35 by Joseph Wade a couple of years ago). I couldn’t sleep last Friday night so I snuck down with my pillow in tow to watch this one at 5 AM. It’s a little trippy, with more supernatural elements than I expected, but as a gory and primitive action film, it’s solid — in fact, it’s my favourite of Robert Eggers’s films.
We also watched Dan Levy’s directorial debut Good Grief… I like Levy, but I found the film boring, predictable and — worst of all — not funny. It’s proving divisive though, with many mixed reviews, so that’s not to say you won’t like it.
Finally, winner of last year’s Palme d’Or — and nominated for no less than five Oscars — we finally got around to watching Anatomy of a Fall. It wasn’t what I expected, but I was on the edge of my seat throughout. This should be close to the top of your watch list if you haven’t seen it already.
That’s it from me this week, back to eating the deep pan cookie that’s winking at me in the corner of my eye.
Now for the headlines:
This year’s Oscar nominations have been announced, with Oppenheimer, Poor Things and Barbie leading the pack. Read more.
Meanwhile, Anatomy of a Fall and Animal Kingdom lead the Cesar Award nominations. Read more.
A new Jurassic World film is in the works from the franchise’s original screenwriter David Koepp. Read more.
And finally, this isn’t film news, but Andrew Scott will be playing Tom Ripley — one of my favourite anti-heroes, from one of my favourite films (and books) — in the new Netflix series Ripley. Watch the teaser.
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Upcoming Releases
Hit Man
UK: 7 June // USA: 7 June
From Oscar-nominated writer/director Richard Linklater comes Hit Man, inspired by the true story of professional killer Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) who breaks protocol to help a Maddy (Adria Arjona) trying to flee an abusive husband and finds himself falling for her.
Suncoast
UK: 9 February // USA: 9 February
Inspired by the semi-autobiographical story of Doris (Nico Parker) who, while caring for her brother along with her mother (Laura Linney), strikes up an unlikely friendship with an eccentric activist (Woody Harrelson) who is protesting one of the most landmark medical cases of all time.
This one is going straight to Disney+ in the UK and Hulu in the US.
Fact of the week
Archaeologist Neil Price said The Northman “might be the most accurate Viking movie ever made” — a testament to the meticulous research and attention to detail that Robert Eggers took into account when making the film.
Despite that, Eggers had to make several studio-mandated changes in post-production which he said was one of the most painful experiences of his life. While he expressed general satisfaction with the final cut, he said: “Frankly, I don’t think I will do it again. Even if it means, like, not making a film this big ever again. And, by the way, I’d like to make a film this big. I’d like to make one even bigger. But, without control, I don’t know. It’s too hard on my person.”
Review: The End We Start From
Star rating:
4 (out of 5)
Where to watch:
USA: Only in cinemas
UK: Only in cinemas
Runtime:
1hr 42m
Director:
Mahalia Belo
Blurb:
A woman (Jodie Comer) tries to find her way home with her newborn while an environmental crisis submerges London in floodwaters.
The review (NO spoilers):
At last, we have a film adaptation that dazzles as a standalone. Megan Hunter’s novel The End We Start From is a mere 130 pages, with sparse but poignant text throughout. Mahalia Belo’s adaptation manages to pull off an equally astounding impact in under two hours.
The film opens with a heavily pregnant Jodie Comer talking to her bump in the bath. And so it begins: the woman, the bump, the water. Soon, she is labouring and the water begins to rise. London is flooding.
”I am hours from giving birth, from the event I thought would never happen to me, and R has gone up a mountain.”
The plot drips, slowly, the world holding its breath — and then it surges all at once. As an audience, we’re filled with suspense before being dragged along for the ride. This is a film that demands our attention, there will be no daydreaming or distraction here. Somehow, it’s both a slow burner and a fast-paced ‘eco-thriller’, not an easy task to achieve.
Yes, this is a post-apocalyptic take on surviving disaster, but at its heart, it looks at life in the depths of motherhood, at trauma and denial. And it’s not just a picture of a dystopian future, this isn’t fiction for all. Families in our world are doing just this — being displaced and living in horrific conditions, while grieving the lives they once had, or might have had. And despite everything, there are still meals to cook, babies to rock and sanity to salvage.
Comer is excellent, an unflinching vision of a new mother in a crisis. Keeping a brave face while coping with the loss of normalcy, playing peek-a-boo on repeat. We meet other characters who want to turn a blind eye to what’s happening, as though it's already past tense, their old lives irrecoverable and pointless. But Comer’s character confronts it, persevering, desperate to return home and build something like normality.
‘I think I can see R’s absent months there, in scene after scene, white and blue as willow china. This is not the afterplan.’
Katherine Waterston is also brilliant, playing a woman named O who our protagonist befriends in a shelter. The pair buoy each other in the search for safety, singing with their babies while forming a fierce bond. The two discuss the decision to bring a child into such a world, and how it can be justified or explained. And it’s a question that will stay with you long after the credits run.
Cinematographer Suzie Lavelle uses water cleverly throughout, both to symbolise the effort it takes to stay afloat and how the reality of the situation is ever-present (there’s a moment when Comer blows an eyelash and her breath becomes a crashing wave).
‘I move my hand along the trails of the stained wall, veined water paths plotting all the days we missed.’
With epic performances from all involved, a magical score (available on Spotify) from Anna Meredith and incredible cinematography, this is a triumphant screen adaptation of a great book. I urge you to spend time with both.
Scroll down to see what’s in the next issue.
If you liked The End We Start From…
Room
2015 | UK: Netflix // US: HBO Max / Prime Video ($3.19)
While TEWSF doesn’t quite have the emotional hit that Room does (Room is devastating), they are similar in many ways. Both films zoom in on motherhood amidst crisis, and trauma leaking into the everyday.
The visuals are also stunning, playing with light and sound to show what the world looks like from a child’s perspective. In TEWSF, the 3-month-old baby is oblivious to the panic and strain, instead watching the trees and his feet. This is all he knows. Just as Jack (Jacob Tremblay) in Room has grown up in captivity, so to him — the room they spend their lives in, is home.
In the next issue:
American Fiction
UK: 2 February // USA: 22 December | Watch the Trailer
Happy Birthday Tom!!! And yay Mia! Great writing again! Have a great trip you two!