The End We Start From (2023) is a quiet film, clever enough to let the story breathe, and engaging performances shine.
A heavily pregnant Jodie Comer, known only as “Woman”, is waiting to give birth when it starts to rain. This rain is unrelenting, and when a storm surge hits, London is flooded.
Weaved into this growing crisis, the woman goes into labour and gives birth to a son. These early scenes have an intimacy to them I think would’ve been lost if the film had been written and directed by a man. Writer Alice Birch, from a book by Megan Hunter, and director Mahalia Belo create something truthful, almost sad, that lingers throughout the film.
As the situation continues to worsen, father “R”, mother, and baby son “ZEB”, leave hospital and join the traffic jams trying to escape the rising flood waters. They’re heading for the countryside and the relative safety of the father’s mum and dad, “G” and “N”, where they hope to wait out the worst of the unfolding calamity.
For a short while the extended family have an almost idilic existence, but when supplies run low and they’re forced to go looking for food, tragedy strikes. The matriarch “G” is killed. Husband and son, “N” and “R”, are devastated, and without giving too much away, mother and child are forced to seek refuge in a rescue centre.
Here the woman bonds with “O” (Katherine Waterston), a mother with a child of a similar age. But when the camp is raided by men with guns, there to steal food, the two women take their babies and flee, heading for the relative safety an island commune.
There’s a tension throughout the film between building society anew and rebuilding what we had, no more so than on the island. Unable to accept the isolation demanded by the commune, the woman takes her child and returns to her London home, hoping to rebuild what she had.
It’s interesting to note that throughout the film, most of the men are either aggressive or weak, jacked up on testosterone or overwhelmed by what’s happening. The women are pragmatic, resilient, and strong, they’re survivors. The unsettling message for all of us, but particularly the men, is we’re not prepared for what’s coming. The sad truth is most of us just don’t have the emotional, physical, or practically strength we need to deal with what’s headed our way.
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