Review: How It Ends (2021)
You’ve probably heard of the Netflix film titled How It Ends. Still, you may have not heard of Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones’ How it Ends, an admirable film made during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which protagonist Liza (Zoe Lister-Jones) and her metaphysical self (Cailee Spaeny) spend the last day of Earth’s existence on a journey of self-healing to make amends and say goodbye to the people that have impacted her life. An endless series of extended cameos, essentially a sketch film inside a large story, sometimes works but doesn’t really do anything else afterward.
This rather feels like an amusing pandemic exercise with a stacked cast instead of anything else, really. And when I mean “stacked cast,” I truly mean “stacked cast”: Bradley Whitford, Olivia Wilde, Fred Armisen, Charlie Day, Helen Hunt, Nick Kroll, Finn Wolfhard, Logan Marshall-Green, Sharon Van Etten, Paul Scheer, Colin Hanks, Pauly Shore, I mean you get the gist. All of these I’ve mentioned are only there for three-to-five minute sequences in which Liza either reminisces of the time she spent with them or makes amends for having hurt them in any way. Some of it is entertaining, most notably the sequences with Olivia Wilde, Bradley Whitford, Fred Armisen, and Helen Hunt, while other sequences, such as Nick Kroll and Charlie Day’s, fall rather flat on their face. However, what really carries this picture to the very end is Zoe Lister-Jones and Cailee Spaeny’s indelible chemistry as Liza and Little Liza. Their on-screen charm is terrific, with Spaeny being more carefree than Jones’ gloomy and morose Liza, who just wants to get high and forget about the end of the world. This film is another great vehicle for Spaeny, who proves once again she’s one of the best up-and-coming actresses working today after saving Pacific Rim: Uprising from total disaster and is one of the stars of Bad Times at the El Royale. She re-teams with Jones here after being in The Craft: Legacy, and so their symbiosis feels amazingly palpable from the start since they are likely incorporating their own friendship in the film.
As I mentioned before, the rest of the cast are only there for minute cameos, and it’s tough for them to truly make an impression as Liza strolls down the streets of Los Angeles. I’ll admit I laughed tremendously during the sequence in which Paul Scheer’s character bickers with a neighbor on the end of the world being a globalist hoax, as it’s the single parallel Lister-Jones and Wein draw on the current COVID crisis. Conspiracy theories have run rampant during the pandemic. They have hurt more people than do good to them, and this one sequence showcases the total disillusionment people have when confronted with cataclysmic events. When COVID occurred, it was the apocalypse (almost!). Hoards of toilet paper were bought, mass hysteria in grocery stores, complete and total panic from all walks of life, until we rationalized ourselves and accepted our “new normal”: life will never be the same again. It’s that moment that Liza realizes that life will never be the same again and comes to acceptance with the fact that she (and the rest of the world) won’t exist at 2:00 AM when the meteor strikes, where How It Ends reaches its peak and becomes a better film than it initially set itself up to be.
As most sequences contain awkward and unfunny comedy bits (particularly Charlie Day high on an unknown substance doing his usual high-pitched schtick), How It Ends mainly shines as a reminder to hold on to the most precious things in our life. Scenes with Bradley Whitford and Helen Hunt’s parents are heartfelt, as they imbue a rather human quality to its comedic situations. A classic sequence with Olivia Wilde uses Safdie-esque techniques of overlapping dialogue to great comedic effect. Those scenes, coupled with Daryl Wein & Tyler Beus’ luscious 35mm cinematography, add much-needed compassion to a film that’s missing the point.
What do these scenes have in common? What’s the lesson, aside from holding on to the things that make us human, does Wein and Lister-Jones want us to get from this movie? Running at 83 minutes, the film has very little time to develop any of these ideas and/or concepts around the world’s end. It’s another middling quirky apocalyptic comedy that’s a tad better than Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, mainly due to its aesthetic compositions and performances, but not one that many will remember as the week goes by. After its premiere at Sundance, it was long forgotten by much better movies such as CODA and now has a resurgence. But it won’t last long. There are far better movies to watch and ones that are far worth more talking about and discussing than this one. Still, if you’re looking for something that’s at least mildly entertaining, How It Ends may be for you, though there are better comedies out there. A rather harmless film, if you ask me.
