The End We Start From

In the United Kingdom, we are fortunate enough to see a majority of our climate disasters limited to minor flooding. However, there is an expectation that this will worsen over the coming years due to climate change. The End We Start From envisions a terrifying ecological crisis when the country is plunged into a post-apocalyptic world, where people are pushed to their limits in order to survive. Two parents, “Mother” (Jodie Comer) and “R” (Joel Fry), along with their newborn baby, abandon their home in flooded London and flee northwards in a desperate search for salvation.

The tone for the movie is set within a superb opening sequence created by cinematographer Suzie Lavelle, when a tranquil day is turned into a nightmare as Mother goes into labour alone at home, at exactly the same time as the disastrous flooding begins to demolish the house. In that moment we are asked what is a more desperate situation? Giving birth or the walls of your house caving in around you? Can you even begin to imagine the horror of both things occurring simultaneously? Comer brings that traumatic scenario to life before our eyes.

Fast-forward and the story becomes more about the struggles of early motherhood, hyperbolised by the circumstances the family find themselves in. Comer unsurprisingly demonstrates once again what a powerhouse she is. There is very little this woman can’t do as she continues to her effortless transition from television to the big screen and she is mesmerising in this exhausting leading role. Her journey is an incredibly intimidating one that relies heavily on her as this is a mother’s story at its heart, but she rises effortlessly to the challenge.

Supporting her is quite the bumper cast, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Fry, Gina McKee, Nina Sosanya and Katherine Waterston, all of whom play characters carrying weight with them, all for different reasons. A million little stories orbit around Comer, and like in Meghan Hunter’s novel of the same name, which this movie took inspiration from, the focus is more on the people rather than the catastrophe itself. At the first, the country is miserable and everyone becomes a prisoner to their own environment, but with each scene, we begin to see true human nature and desires break through. Some characters wish to forget the world that was left behind in order to move forward, whereas Cumberbatch, playing a father who lost his family, can only wish to salvage what is left of his past. 

You would expect a film full of poignancy such as this would also be packed with existential meaning, however as the credits roll you are left wondering if there a deeper message at all. It is not abundantly clear and it is this lack of meaning that means the movie fails to leave a permanent mark and lasting impression. Visually it is striking to see the streets of London submerged twenty feet in water, but ultimately has anything else changed? Survivors endeavour to survive, and Comer in particular takes some rather illogical decisions given she is carrying a month-old baby, but it doesn’t seem anyone has learned a lesson by the end and life will just return to its naive self once the flood water has all been drained away. Nonetheless, the movie makes for a powerful ride all the same.

Guy Lambert

The End We Start From is released nationwide on 19^th January 2024.

Watch the trailer for The End We Start From here: