The End (2024): Release date, where to watch, what to expect, and more

The End is a post-apocalyptic musical film set to release on December 6, 2024, in theatres. Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, it tells the story of a wealthy family living in a luxurious underground bunker under a salt mine.

Twenty years after an environmental disaster this family caused, a girl finds their secret bunker. This girl's entry upends the family's entire existence and calls into question the feelings that they have harbored (but since suppressed) about guilt, remorse, denial, and their role in bringing about the end of the world.

Unlike other traditional musicals, this movie's premise ensures that the songs aren't peppy. They are melancholic and somber—as is fitting for a movie about survival in an apocalyptic world.

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When will The End be released?

The musical is slated to release in theatres across the United States on December 6, 2024. MUBI has acquired the rights to stream this musical in the UK, Germany, and Austria. For now, there is no information available on where one can stream the movie in the US.

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Where to Watch The End

For UK residents, a MUBI subscription costs £7.99 per month for students and £10.99 per month for regular subscribers. There is an option of trying a seven-day free trial with this streaming service. A yearly subscription will cost you £83.88.

There is no information about when MUBI will stream the film. For US residents, currently, the only way to watch the musical is by going to theatres.

The film first premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2024.

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What to expect from The End

This isn't your typical musical but calls into question the roles wealthy families and industrialists play in the emergence of an environmental disasters. Many wealthy people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are reportedly building doomsday bunkers and tunnels in a bid to survive an impending apocalypse.

Moreover, the girl in this musical acts as a mirror and prompts the family to reflect upon their actions in perpetuating the coming of doomsday. Her arrival upends the parents' intricately woven narratives. It also touches on the theme of how we tend to rationalize our guilt-laden decisions.

In most of the movie, the Mother is seen fussing over the paintings, while the Father is busy writing a memoir.

Oppenheimer wrote all the lyrics of the songs in this film, with Josh Schmidt composing the music.

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All about The End

George Mackay stars as the Son and Moses Ingram plays the Girl (Image via YouTube/Neon)

The musical doesn't reveal its characters' names. They are simply referred to as Mother, Father, Son, Girl, Bulter, and Doctor. The movie's star-studded cast includes Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton as Mother, Michael Shannon as Father, George Mackay as Son, and Moses Ingram as Girl.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the idea to capture the lives of a wealthy family living in an underground bunker was first conceived by Oppenheimer when he was developing a documentary about a very wealthy family.

The family hoards expensive art, wines, and other objects. While the parents remember the outside world before the disaster, their 20-year-old son, who was born in the bunker, has no memory of life aboveground.

The son's naivete is what draws the audience to this musical. When the girl from the outside world enters, he calls into question everything his parents told him. The son even says in the trailer, "None of it's true." Things get even more complicated when Son falls in love with Girl.

Catch The End in theatres on December 6, 2024.