Film Review: The End We Start From is a terrifyingly plausible climate change thriller

The End we Start From. Picture: Signature Entertainment

• The End We Start From
• ★★★★☆
• Cinema release

London-based hairdresser ‘Mother’ (Jodie Comer) gives birth at the beginning of The End We Start From (15A), just as the city succumbs to climate change disaster.

Escaping with her boyfriend R (Joel Fry) to the country, Mother and baby take shelter with R’s parents, played by Mark Strong and Nina Sosanya. But as the relentless rain shows no signs of letting up, and resources grow increasingly scarce, Mother soon finds herself at war with her fellow refugees.

Adapted by Alice Birch from Megan Hunter’s novel, and directed by Mahalia Belo (her debut), The End We Start From is a terrifyingly plausible climate change thriller that benefits hugely from its naturalistic style. Once the grim scenario is established, however, Belo dials it back and begins to explore the catastrophe from the human perspective.

Mother benefits from the kindness of strangers when she encounters a lone hiker (Benedict Cumberbatch) on her travels, for example, and she strikes up a tentative friendship with another new mum (Kate Waterson), whose grounded sense of morbid humour helps Mother to come to terms with their horrific plight. Superbly acted, and brilliantly imagined on a modest budget, The End We Start From is a very impressive debut feature .