Really could have been an "above average" apocalypse film (I was ready to give the film a 7 until the final 5 minutes). Spoiler Alert - the film just ends abruptly and awkwardly, and credits roll. No one in production (who is not on heavy meds) could have thought that this was going to work.
Compounding the ending issue is the film's final scene preceding the credits - oddly, the only truly dumb scene in the movie, wherein the protagonists somehow outrun a massive explosive cloud of deadly gas (moving at the rapid speed that such massive explosive clouds must travel) in a 4-wheel-drive vehicle along a winding mountain road. Uh huh...
Did everyone just quit and walk off this production? Did the film exceed time and budget limits? Was production stopped by investors ("you have a half day left to complete the film's ending, and then we pull the plug people - Chop chop!!")
One is left hanging and it is super awkward - It is not cool, nor witty, nor a neat play on words with the title. Something is not right as almost ANY other ending besides an abrupt cut-off would have saved this film.
Even if one WERE to end it open-ended, there must be a half dozen more effective ways to do it for the big Twilight Zone moment.
Nope! This movie just abruptly closes-up shop like a Paris post-office with patrons left in line... "It is 4:59PM - we are now closed - everyone leave - bonne soirée!"
Surely there is another final scene version somewhere in their digital files. If so, re-edit and re-release. If not, well the majority of reviewers got it right -
How It Ends
2018
Action / Adventure / Drama / Mystery / Sci-Fi / Thriller
How It Ends
2018
Action / Adventure / Drama / Mystery / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Plot summary
In the midst of an apocalypse, a man struggles to reach his pregnant wife, who is thousands of miles away.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
"Ends" like a Paris post-office closing at 4:59pm: "We are closed - everyone leave - bonne soirée!"
Trash is what it is.
Utter trash. How anyone gave this piece of garbage more than 1 star (when will IMDB finally add a zero rating?) is beyond me. Incredibly stupid movie that barely kept my attention. What's the main problem you ask? I'm sick of apocalyptic films where we learn absolutely nothing about what's causing the disaster. Society falls apart in about four minutes, the government as usual is impotent. Yes these two men drive from the east coast to the west coast (one dying along the way) and barely break a sweat? One silly cliche after another and then - no pay off at all. Waste of time.
Starts Off Great - Ends Terribly
At the beginning it was your average disaster/apocalypse film, something goes horribly wrong, government either can't handle it or won't, characters take problems into their own hands. All is well for a while, special effects are fine, acting is fine, but just like in the story, something goes terribly wrong. Much like that other Netflix film that was atrocious, the "horror" film about home invasion, it appears that the creators of the film either couldn't decide on an ending, or just threw their hands up and said "screw it, I don't know how to end it, lets just pretend to be ambiguous". And its not to say films with an ambiguous end aren't always bad, but this one didn't even bother to create an ending.
As a Californian, we hold the stories dear, stories of earthquakes or other disasters ending civilized society. And for a while I was enjoying it, but somewhere around 2/3rds or half way through it, I just completely lost interest and was also disappointed in its execution. Without giving too much away, many decision made about how to execute certain parts of the film left me bamboozled, not the way I would have. All in all its good for a little while but ends up leaving you unfulfilled, so a warning, maybe just watch the first half, and don't worry, if you want to know what happens at the end, let me tell you, nothing.