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★★
Directed by: #DavidMRosenthal
Written by: #BrooksMcLaren
Starring: #TheoJames, #ForestWhitaker, #GraceDove, #KatGraham
How It Ends is a #Netflix disaster action film directed by David M. Rosenthal and stars Theo James and Forest Whitaker.
Netflix released the thriller in July 2018.
The film begins with Will (Theo James) and Samantha (Kat Graham), a young couple very much in love, finding out the sex of their unborn child. Will calms his nerves and flies to Chicago to ask Samantha's father (Forest Whitaker) for her hand in marriage. After a tense and confrontational dinner with Samantha's father, Tom, all sources of power and communication shut down without warning. There are suspicions of strange seismic events taking place, and no one can contact Samantha. Determined to ensure the safety of his daughter, Tom turns to Will with "only one question: are you coming with me?".
Tom and Will hit the road, dodging any roadblock they come across using Tom's military experience. They soon encounter lawlessness as they go beyond the city's limits, combating violence that seeps from desperation and fear. Scuffles, shoot ups and showdowns follow the two men on their journey, testing their strength and survival instincts. After a nasty bust-up, Tom and Will rest at an Indian Reservation where they come across Ricki (Grace Dove), a fiercely independent and sharp mechanic. During their travels, Ricki goes on to address the United States Military appropriation of Native American names for their air vehicles, laying the foundation for audiences to build a conversation about the treatment of Native Americans and Native American culture.
Ricki's thought-provoking social commentary makes for the film's most interesting dialogue, despite being utterly irrelevant to the plot development. This so-called thriller is an utter bore, recycling action sequences without an ounce of originality. Saying this, some of the transitional shots during their car ride to Seattle were very aesthetically pleasing, the film deserves praise for its picturesque #cinematography.
The audience never learns of the cause of this environmental catastrophe or even the extent of these events. How It Ends leaves you feeling dissatisfied, wondering 'is that How It Ends?', questioning whether the film's conclusion and overall bleakness justified wasting two hours of your life. How It Ends is an apocalyptic road trip movie that consists of underwhelming performances, a slow slog across the country and fights with hillbillies in a truck.
Towards the end, our protagonist concludes that "Well, in the end it doesn't really matter." I guess originality and story development doesn't really matter either.
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