I was under the impression that Joshua Oppenheimer had already started production on his Golden Age-styled musical “The End.” Not that I’ve been keeping track of the project, but ever since it was greenlit over a year ago there’s been high anticipation for this film.
It turns out that Oppenheimer will start shooting “The End” next month, according to actor George MacKay who will star alongside Tilda Swinton in the Neon-distributed pic, which centers on the last human family alive.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A post-apocalyptic story about a rich family living in a salt mine converted into a luxurious home. The earth around them has apparently been destroyed, but their son has never seen the outside world. As a young girl appears at the entrance of the bunker, the balance of the family is threatened. A wealthy family survives in a palatial bunker, two decades after the world has ended. There is a mother, father, and their twenty-year-old son – he was born in the bunker and has never seen the outside world. There is a maid, with whom the son has his only honest relationship. There is also a doctor, a butler – and finally a young woman who, having barely survived, manages to find her way in. Before the young woman arrives, the family celebrates their survival as confirmation of their success and righteousness, but unspoken blame over leaving loved ones behind has come between the parents, hollowing out whatever intimacy they once shared. They struggle to repress the guilt they feel for this – as well as a more diffuse regret for contributing to the world’s end.
“It’s a very beautifully strange, complex, nuanced musical,” explains MacKay to Variety. “Josh’s previous films challenge and explore the themes of denial and responsibility in a way that I think is profound. But also, there’s so much as a craft that I wanted to learn and an opportunity to dance and to sing — an approach to acting in a way that I haven’t for a while.”
Oppenheimer is known for his two highly acclaimed docs “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence.” However, “The End” will be his first foray in fiction. Expect this one to premiere in 2024.
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.