Tilda Swinton and George Mackay star in apocalyptic musical The End, and the first trailer has landed. Right here.
Actor George Mackay is set return to the world of big screen musicals with The End, which is, er, joyously set during the apocalypse.
The cast also includes Bronagh Gallagher, Tim McInnerny and Lennie James.
The songs were written by Marius De Vries and Josh Schmidt. De Vries won a BAFTA and an Ivor Novello award for his score to Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, while The End marks the feature debut of Schmidt. Joshua Oppenheimer, best known for the award-winning documentaries The Act Of Killing (2012) and The Look Of Silence (2014) directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Rasmus Heisterberg.
George MacKay is no stranger to movie musicals. In 2013 he starred in Dexter Fletcher’s film adaptation of Stephen Greenhorn’s ebullient Proclaimers musical Sunshine On Leith – a film we discussed in depth on the Film Stories podcast.
He has taken on an eclectic range of films since, from Sam Mendes’ majestic single shot triumph 1917 to a much darker role in Sam H Freeman’s Femme.
MUBI will distribute the film in the UK, but there is currently no release date at present – we’ll keep you updated as we hear more.
Watch the trailer below:
Finally, the synopsis reads as follows:
The End is a story about what seems to be the last remaining human family on earth, as they hide in an ornate bunker built deep inside a salt mine after environmental collapse has destroyed society. Oh, and it’s also a sombre musical. George MacKay plays the naive young man who was born in this bunker. In his [short] 20 years of life, he has only heard stories of the outside world. He spends his days working on a dubious book with his father (Michael Shannon), a former energy tycoon, while his mother (Tilda Swinton) frets over the upkeep of the many priceless paintings and artworks adorning their walls. It’s the semblance of a normal (albeit affluent) life. But when a woman (Moses Ingram) from the outside arrives at their doorstep seeking refuge, the family’s delicate dynamic begins to crumble.
The End will be released in US cinemas on the 6th December.
