South by Southwest movie review: 'The End of Us'
Remember what it was like to live through the 2020 coronavirus pandemic?! The dramedy 'The End Of Us' (screening at 2021 South by Southwest) is here to remind audiences ... of life from a year ago.
In short: After a brutal breakup, exes Nick (Ben Coleman) and Leah (Ali Vingiano) must continue living together when California issues its stay-at-home order for COVID-19.
Unfortunately, this timely story is more rooted in Nick and Leah’s different experiences living through the 2020 pandemic than in their forced quarantine. The entire hook of 'End of Us' is the concept of the stay-at-home order forcing two halves of an acrimonious breakup to endure each other's existence due to historic circumstances. If only this high-concept movie had leaned more toward their emotional journey through the breakup process - rather than getting distracted with cramming as many covid-specific references as possible.
The majority of 'End of Us' is a string of totally relatable snippets of daily life in the pandemic: adjusting to wearing a mask, breadmaking and 'Tiger King.' Rather than focusing the story in Nick and Leah's relationship, this film is focused on life during the pandemic. This almost makes the entire breakup angle feel like a thin excuse to just film a dramatic comedy set during the height of the lockdown. Although the film is being screened one year after the global pandemic started, watching 'The End of Us' many years from now will just serve as a fun little trip down memory lane, as the movie blithely touches upon all the idiosyncrasies of lockdown life.
To the film's credit, 'The End of Us' does capture the weird isolation of pandemic life. Even in the urban sprawl of Los Angeles, the world of the movie feels small and claustrophobic. For as imbalanced as the overall script maybe, 'The End of Us' absolutely nails the texture and distance inherent to sheltering-in-place and limited interaction with the outside world. This goes beyond the amusing references in the script - there's an eerie stillness to the Los Angeles that Nick and Leah occupy that imbues 'The End of Us' with authenticity. The film is all the better for being filmed during the pandemic - something that no subsequent pandemic-themed film will be able to fully recreate.
Final verdict: While Covid-centric films were inevitable, 'The End of Us' comes off as more of a time capsule than a genuinely inspired film.
Score: 3/5
'The End Of Us' screens at 2021 South by Southwest. This dramedy is not yet rated and has a running time of 91 minutes.
