jabrbi I watched this film with English subtitles, so I may have missed some of the subtleties in the original Spanish. However, I don't feel that the film suffered in any way.A group of friends gather for a weekend to renew 'friendships' from 20 years ago, and the reunion isn't going well - if someone stripped naked and threw their clothes on the bonfire I'd be thinking it was time everyone went to bed. Just before the party disintegrates there's a loud noise, strange lights in the sky and everything stops working, everything.With no power, so no lights and no phones, everyone goes to bed. In the morning there is one person missing. He just disappeared. The group make for the nearest town and on the way they start to disappear, one by one. Eventually we're down to the last few, and the film ends.There's no explanation for the power cuts, what the lights were, why people are disappearing, why the people are disappearing in the order they are, why only people are disappearing and not birds and animals and why most people disappear when nobody is looking at them. There's no explanation at all. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.With the lack of explanation, all you're left with is the journey, and I did find some of the journey interesting. I wasn't that interested in the interactions of the characters and, as usual, I'm glad some of them disappeared. I think I detected a pattern as to the order people disappeared in, but some people vanished in the night, so I'm not entirely sure. As the dwindling group move from their holiday home across a gorge and towards the nearest town there are some good moments: a vulture makes an unexpected appearance and death by goats is a novelty I wasn't expecting.Sadly, with no explanation, and no real ending, the film is a complete let down. However, until the very end I found the film worth watching, with moments of slowly-building tension, the unexplained disappearances to fathom out, and some great scenery to watch. However, when you get to the end and nothing is explained, watching the film just becomes a very flat experience.This is the way the film ends, not with a bang but a whimper.

esquinton I would like to say I loved this movie, but I can't. It really had a LOT of potential, and I kept waiting for that potential to rear its head. The only character that was developed was played by Clara Lago as Eva. The others were shrouded in a 20 year old "mystery" and I'm guessing developing their characters further would have required revealing the "mystery".Watching this movie leaves you wanting more, there was no lead, no heroes and no real antagonist. It was more like a scenic detour in the lives of a group of friends as they are faced with an insurmountable situation.Why the movie exists is pretty much left up to your imagination, as once the end credits roll you will most likely find yourself sitting in bewilderment and asking yourself a million what the heck just happened questions.

Coventry In case the apocalypse ever occurs, I suppose it'll happen in a flash, and no living soul on earth will be able to make arrangements for where he/shell will be and in which company he/she will spend the final hours. If we would be capable of predicting the exact time and circumstances of the inescapable Armageddon, then I presume we would all prefer to be at home, surrounded by our loved ones. The complete opposite forms the slightly genius premise of this Spanish sci-fi/drama "The End". Nearly 20 years after they last saw each other, six former childhood friends (and their reluctant partners) plan a reunion weekend in a mountain cabin far from the civilized world. Although they initially pretend to be happy be see each other, the lies, jealousy, treason and unfinished affairs from the past quickly come to the surface again. But then, at the campfire during the first night already, there's a sudden bright light in the sky and all electronic equipment ceases to function. Next morning, the group starts exploring the area and slowly come to realize that the animals have gone wild and that all human life seemingly has vaporised. Moreover, they experience that, if anyone get separated from the group, they mysteriously vanish as well. I honestly wished I could grant "The End" with an even higher rating than I did now, because it's an overall very captivating and atmospherically unfolding apocalyptic tale with several original plot elements, terrific performances and some of the most staggering filming locations I've ever seen. The characters are identifiable, their thoughts and reasoning are realistic, and their gradually increasing paranoia and despair is sensible. In fact, "The End" is the type of film that remains downright brilliant for as long as any kind of explanation isn't required yet. And although I know some films deliberate avoid explanations and leave everything open for personal interpretation, it's eventually the total lack thereof that prevented me from giving an even higher rating. Especially when the climax is approaching, the script raises too much questions and contradictions for its own good. Don't go into "The End" expecting any virulent apocalyptic action, neither, as the world goes under without any drop of bloodshed. There's beautiful cinematography and music, a few excellent scenes with mountain goats and a pack of wild dogs, and a devoted cast including the ravishing young beauty Clara Lago. Definitely recommend, but in case you want to see the absolute finest (in my humble opinion, of course) apocalypse movie from Spain, seek out the criminally underrated and obscure "Before the Fall" ("Tres Días")

ssto i almost liked it everything was laid out nicely, there was the promise of mystery, a hint of drama; the characters began as nicely scratched, but it almost ended there - too early to achieve completeness in any direction of the story why didn't anyone in the group think aloud of any theory of what was happening? first there was complete denial, then - complete acceptance and unquestioned submission to their faith also - emotion; there scarcely any emotion in these people, making this otherwise good looking movie - empty oh, well, i won't say it is bad, though - just, incomplete 5 out of 10