User Reviews

Wow just a collection of quirky people this woman finds while walking the streets of Los Angeles. That's it. Most of them were dull and uninteresting with equally dull and boring conversations...

Fine premise although undercooked and dragged down by the unnecessary cameo stars with almost identical YOLO 'all-american' agenda of their characters. One can get it from first maybe second iteration, but when story repeats itself again and again the senses are wear out.

Also the proverbial hero journey is little bit on the nose in this story. Which is not bad, but with great pandemic limitations this concept could be little bit more sophisticated. Now this film looks like kinda good pilot to easy-watch tv, maybe youtube show or miniseries, and sadly it doesn't provide such satisfaction.

Both leads are great though, and movie is definitely worth to check out.

The trailer made the film look much better than it is.

It tried to be deep, philosophical, existential, and largely failed.

It also felt so un-relatable, looking at this privileged white LA girl life. A good story is one where you root for the characters, where something resonates with you, where the themes are universal. Where you have the story on the surface, but you're also telling a deeper story through the story. Like how Jaws is about sharks but really is about 3 very different dudes learning to work together.

Here, there's non of that. Characters are flat. Feels fake. At least it was short.

The only good thing in this movie was Cailee Spaeny.

If you're looking for a movie to have on in the background while you're multitasking on something else I still wouldn't recommend this. If you come across a review with glowing praise then it's probably from a pretentious soul that cuts and eats a candy bar with a fork and knife.

I really wanted to like this movie. It could have been really good but I didn't think that the main character had enough substance to carry the plot in an interesting way. I would have rather watched any of the side character's stories. It wasn't unwatchable or bad, it was just nothing special. The writer and director could have really said something about some big themes like regret and facing our mortality. But instead we got awkward, clunky dialog and a protagonist who I didn't care about or feel invested in.

Before I watched the film. It may have meant I missed a hidden gem. How people can say this is boring, or formulaic or "just a series of conversations" (that's what life is for goodness sake!) is beyond me. It isn't sci-fi or a ripping comedy and it isnt meant to be. It is a parable, a heartfelt and meaningful story full of wit and wisdom and excellent performances from the leads. It isn't perfect but it is still so much better than a lot of the mainstream rubbish out there. Give me this over a DC or Marvel bore fest any day. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but if you have a heart, emotional intelligence and can live without three hours of mindless noise then please ignore the bad reviews, watch it and make your own mind up. Most of you will be more than pleased that you did.

Instead of enduring one day with that kind of people we are introduced to and meet in this little flick, I would shoot myself pronto - why waste time? It would be an act of grace and I would spare myself 24 terrible hours. How It Ends does not belong to the list of worst movies I ever watched (production, acting is solid) but it is for sure one of the most boring ones ever. Recommended for everyone who want to watch how so called creative people orbit around the one thing they only know well - their ego (they of course call it individuality). Last note: if the premise sounds interesting to you, try These Final Hours (2013), it's a way more interesting, entertaining and deeper movie.

I read some unflattering reviews on here before I watched this movie, and so my expectations were low going in. However, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised and I feel those who trashed it were a bit harsh. The movie has a great pace to it. It's a collection of short scenes that don't linger too long. If you don't care for one scene, don't worry, another one is coming right up. I particularly liked the scenes with Sharon Van Etten, Olivia Wilde, Lamorne Morris, and Helen Hunt. There were some funny jokes along the way, as well as some light emotional stuff. All in all in was an enjoyable movie. I thought the younger-self construct was very interesting, and the chemistry between Zoe Lister-Jones and Cailee Spaeny was excellent. Also, since I live in Los Angeles, I really enjoyed seeing the street signs and keeping track of where each scene was filmed. From a reality standpoint, though, there is no way they could have gotten to all those places on foot in one day. Ha ha! The other good thing about this movie is that it's a great document of how empty the streets were during the pandemic. In my imagination, on the last day of human life on earth the streets of Los Angeles would be filled with people going nuts. But the fact that the streets were so empty in the movie added sort of a calm eeriness, and a sense of acceptance of the impending doom. It's nice to think that could actually be ... how it ends.

Mildly annoying conversations and awkwardness. Then it's over.

This film is a beautiful story of a human who wants to reconcile with herself and life on the last day on earth.

Hilarious odyssey full of crazy characters played by some of the funniest actors A philosophical comedy.

What a horrible film. Besides the star studded cast, the story lacks any depth. It tries really hard to seem deep and profound, but it felt like a high school project shot during covid. Really, really bad movie.

Is this a 'realistic' film about the end of the world. Absolutely NOT.

What a fun film about the a disastrous topic - and a walk about around LA without many people or cars!

It's the end of the world coming up and we meet people and how they are going to handle it. The vehicle is a woman who has an avatar (of sorts) of her younger self who keeps her in line.

Is it fun? No. Is it interesting? Absolutely. It's funny at times, because we, as humans, find humor in every moment.

If you can suspend your normal thinking and "go with the flow', you'll enjoy this walk around LA.

If you can't - don't watch it (and complain about it later).

I agree that it's not really believable and kinda weird but How It Ends is delightful view of the end of the world without so much tragedy. Zoe Lister Jones and Cailee Spaeney are superb together! So many of the characters/ scenes are super weird and a little uncomfortable somehow really enjoyable though. Has some glow and charm that makes it more likable!

I always wondered why Hollywood promotes weed so heavily in most of its modern movies, even though consuming it is punishable by law ... and this movie made me finally get it! It's actually quite simple - "How It Ends" is so boring and artsy-fartsy philosophical crap, that there is no chance average person can enjoy it unless he(she/it...) is stoned. Unfortunately, I only use beer as my movie watching mood enhancer, and that wasn't strong enough.

If you are in for a good pre-apocalyptic movie, I'd rather recommend you "It's a Disaster" and "These Final Hours" instead of this one.

The synopsis sounds fun, but the actual story is very boring. Nothing happens, and I just don't see the point of the film. I have a hard time in believing that the world is ending, based on how empty the streets are, and how calm people are. The story doesn't convince me at all.

I gave it a chance but it put me to sleep. Didn't laugh out loud once in 25 mins so I called it.

Not much else to say about it. Be prepared for a mediocre story and writing.

Without going into massive details about the plot and narrative, it's important to remember that this film was made during the pandemic. The efforts to even put a film together at that time should be highly commended.

The film itself has it's issues but all in all its a fairly solid effort.

I only gave 5 stars because Glenn Howerton appeared and he is a 5 star man.

Some thoughts

1-Southern California really is a different planet (I've lived there).

2-Your younger self was your better self.

3-Some people on IMDB sure could lighten up. A lot. Including me...

This is a film that fights quirkiness with quirkiness, and fights a pandemic with a light-hearted film about an apocalypse. It does so lightly and with an odd odyssey to connect the dots almost between SNL sketches (plenty of cameos) as opposed to grueling Bergman epiphanies.

Watch it if for nothing other than seeing Cailee Spaeny (who I kept wondering where else I knew that actor from - turns out the much acclaimed "Mare of Eastwood" *and* the should-be-more-acclaimed "Devs"). Spaeny is one to watch imho.

This could have EASILY been a podcast or radio show. There's no point to any visuals. It's just a series of conversations as characters traverse a neighborhood. Some of the conversations contain a witty line every now and then, but on the while, it's not a comedy.

I don't know what the "vision" was for this but it seems like it was just to get as many familiar faces in front of a camera and have a 5 minute conversation.... The entire "end of the world" thing is just something characters elude to, but that's it.

Overall I found it a waste of time.

The film is about childhood trauma (specifically parental rejection/invalidation), its lasting effects (specifically feelings of unworthiness), and trying to come to terms with it. It's not a sci-fi film about the end of the world nor is it a comedy, although it is very funny. It's not a traditionally constructed, modern movie, and it's better for it, not worse for it. The acting is great, particularly Spaeny. If the pandemic was necessary for this film to have been made and to have been made in this particular way, that would be a shame, because I enjoyed this from (and this style of film) more than most of what gets made these days.

SXSW 2021 Greetings again from the darkness. We get glimpses of the meteor that's speeding on a collision course with Earth, but no character ever points it out. In fact, most emit a chill vibe that corresponds to that of the film. The only exception is Liza. Played by Zoe Lister-Jones, Liza simply wants to get trashed and let the world end overnight ... well after she finishes off her morning pancakes (at least a dozen) and glass of wine. Liza's only problem is Young Liza (Cailee Spaeny), her metaphysical younger self who pressures Liza to attend the Apocalypse Party being thrown by Mandy (Whitney Cummings).

In addition to attending the party, Young Liza persuades Liza to spend the day confronting her regrets. This includes meeting up separately with her divorced parents (Brad Whitford and Helen Hunt), as well as a former best friend (Olivia Wilde), and past boyfriends, including her one true love (Logan Marshall-Green). In fact, this trip down Regret Road provides a steady stream of stereotypical California flakes. This means none of the soul-searching ever goes very deep, but playing spot-the-funny-person is a win-win. None of the interactions seem to last more than 2-4 minutes, but it's a blast seeing how many familiar faces pop up during Liza and Young Liza's day of walking. I won't name the others here so that you can enjoy each moment - some more than others.

The film is co-written and co-directed by Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein, and it's one of the more entertaining 'pandemic' films so far. For me, the constant roll of quick vignettes never got old, but you should know that as good as the performances are from Lister-Jones and Spaeny, the soul-searching and self-discovery only skims the surface. Still, a chill End of the World party seems perfect, even if a 1980's relic agreed to be a punchline.

10 years ago there was the quirky, witty, bizarre "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World". Which pretty much had the same plot points. People going bonkers in a cute way over the imminent apocalypse.

How was this movie here even greenlighted?