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How It Ends

2021

Olivia Wilde, Helen Hunt, Lamorne Morris, Cailee Spaeny ...

4.9

Comedy. Drama On the day an asteroid is scheduled to obliterate Earth, freewheeling Liza (Zoe Lister-Jones) scores an invite to one last wild gathering before it all goes down. Making it to the party won’t be easy, though, after her car is unceremoniously stolen, and the clock is ticking on her plan to tie up loose ends with friends and family. With a little help from her whimsical younger self (Cailee Spaeny), Liza embarks on a journey by foot ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Tomris Laffly Variety	"Some of these scenes drag out and never quite arrive at a level of depth and originality a filmmaker like Miranda July (...) possesses with her one-of-a-kind voice. Still, they contain a level of calming casualness"
		John DeFore The Hollywood Reporter	"A gently funny take on the last-day-on-earth microgenre (...) It's one of the most enjoyable responses yet to Covid constraints"
		Jessica Kiang The Playlist	"How 'How It Ends' ends: badly, and not soon enough. How it begins is not much better (...) The middle is likely the worst part"
		Steve Pond The Wrap	"It’s an endearing Sundance bonbon: quirky but not annoying, charming but not cloying, slight but in a good way"
		Nick Allen rogerebert.com	"'How It Ends' never really hits the dramatic heights that it hopes it can balance with its broad comedy, and that’s even in spite of the formidable emotional work from Lister-Jones"
		Kate Erbland IndieWire	"A sweet and strangely hopeful vision of the apocalypse (...) Lister-Jones has the precise bearing and tone to ground something this wacky and outsized"
		Lewis Knight Mirror	"A pretty but meandering series of comedic cameos that offers a mixed bag of gags and not really anything interesting to say (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"The slim story and wobbly execution ultimately undermine some deft observations about depression, forgiveness and the inner child who needs to be heard."
		Tasha Robinson Polygon	"The most fundamental problem with 'How It Ends' is that it feels like exactly what it is: a hobby project put together by a bunch of bored people looking to process their own anxiety"
		Adam Chitwood Collider	"That Lister-Jones and Wein are able to sneak in an emotionally affecting story about self-love in an 'apocalypse comedy' package makes How It Ends all the more satisfying."
		Ben Pearson SlashFilm	"The primary metaphor (...) plays out in a powerful and emotional way that elevates this to being more than just another post-mumblecore comedy."
		John Serba Decider	"The core idea is funny, but the execution is a touch humdrum, and never elevates amusing situations and interactions into big laughs (...) 'How it Ends' has just enough marginal charm to keep it afloat"

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