If you’re like me, there was probably a point last year when you thought the world was going to end. Whether it was the confirmation that aliens and murder hornets exist or baking so much bread that you overdose on carbs, existential crises were a dime a dozen. The crazier the news got, the more it got me thinking: given the opportunity to plan my last day on Earth, what would I want to do? How It Ends is a charming, pre-apocalyptic film made at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles (because that’s how creatives deal with “end of the world” anxiety: they make things). This strange but oddly cathartic comedy is the brainchild of the married writing/directing duo Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein, who allow us to find the dark humor in this truly unprecedented moment in time.
Set primarily in Silver Lake (but jaunts around the Eastside), Eliza (Zoe-Lister Jones) and her metaphysical younger self (Cailee Spaeny) prepare to live out their last day on Earth. First stop, the weed dispensary. All Eliza wants to do is get high, eat until she pukes, and then die, but her younger self won’t allow her to “go out” that way. She encourages Eliza to attend one last party but first, she must tie up loose ends with her ex-boyfriends (Lamorne Morris, Paul W. Downs), absentee parents (Helen Hunt, Bradley Whitford), and of course, her frienemy (Olivia Wilde). With the game plan set, Eliza and her younger self embark on an existential, soulful scavenger hunt for closure.
Given that filming restrictions were at an all-time high during production, How It Ends gives off an eerie minimalist presence. For the most part, there are no more than three people in a single shot, and the 6 feet distance rule is in full effect. In these conditions, it would have been easy to make something sterile. But How It Ends is the furthest thing from sterile, in large part due to one of the best ensemble casts of recent memory. Short but sweet scenes with a kooky Fred Armisen, a tripping Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis, a singing Glenn Howerton, and the incredible Sharon Van Etten all give the film bursts of energy. Every actor’s unique contribution to an already stellar script fills up the film’s comedic heart.
You know how you can tell when someone is about to smile, but they try to hide it? That’s the entire vibe of this film. Lister-Jones and Wein were able to assemble a stellar cast of actors, all of whom were psyched to be working after the film industry shut down. Even if their screentime was brief, like Nick Kroll or Ayo Edebiri, their genuine happiness to be back on a film set reverberates from the screen, making this lighthearted watch about a truly horrifying situation all the more bearable.
How It Ends is comedic relief that doubles as a cathartic time capsule for this zany moment in history. For all the panic we’ve gone through over the past year, let this film be a sigh of relief that there are brighter days ahead. It may be the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine.
