The End
Neon | Release Date: December 6, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
16
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
iChristina NewlandApr 2, 2025
Even if the film can feel airless at times, with long, solid shots of the survivors’ banal everyday lives, it does have much to say on the foibles of mankind – and the way society may very feasibly backslide into, well, The End. That, to me, is worth giving a chance. Read full review
60
EmpireIana MurrayMar 25, 2025
Joshua Oppenheimer’s uncompromising, apocalyptic odyssey thoughtfully unpacks the stories people tell themselves to survive — but don’t expect to be tapping your feet to its collection of lacklustre songs. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesAmy NicholsonDec 7, 2024
Oppenheimer is after something that drives right at the heart of what a musical is. To harmonize means to agree. It’s a public display of solidarity — a pact to parrot the same delusions. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearDec 4, 2024
Ultimately, The End is a cult movie that, until it eventually finds its cult, will be more admired than loved. It isn’t the last word on the pending apocalypse. It simply has the fortitude to go out singing. Read full review
60
The GuardianRadheyan SimonpillaiSep 13, 2024
At two and a half hours, Oppenheimer’s strange and ambitious deconstruction of human behaviour – with its bleak but adorning visuals and its novel spin on ideas we’ve seen in The Hunger Games and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth – can also be draining. Maybe that’s intentional. Read full review
60
Paste MagazineNatalia KeoganSep 11, 2024
The End’s major downfall, aside from being overlong and ideologically tepid, is that its musical numbers are dull and discordant. Read full review
60
Screen RantGraeme GuttmannSep 9, 2024
The End is a challenging film and the rewards may be minimal, but that it exists at all is a miracle itself. Read full review
50
Time OutElizabeth WeitzmanJan 30, 2025
Mostly admirable for its ambition, which often feels nearly endless – as, alas, does the film itself. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerDec 12, 2024
Oppenheimer never quite embraces the absurdity and madness of his own proposition, and instead engages in a surprisingly flat tragicomedy of manners. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDec 11, 2024
This isn’t so much a traditional musical drama a la “Wicked” as it is a turgid, heavy-handed and preachy melodrama interspersed with musical numbers that are serviceable but hardly memorable. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubJacob OllerDec 4, 2024
The melancholy absurdity—dragged out over two-and-a-half hours—doesn’t revel in its ironic condemnation. It’s a long sigh, an off-key parody song performed before humanity’s curtain call. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriSep 17, 2024
The End is a bold swing, and I’m glad it exists. But for all the stuff it throws at us, the film is frustratingly, wearingly one-note. Read full review
50
LooperReuben BaronSep 9, 2024
The problem is it can't find nearly enough to say to justify its 148 minute runtime, exhausting interest and failing to build its intriguing big ideas into a compelling story. Read full review
50
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodSep 4, 2024
All that being said, the songs are impressive enough that it’s not hard to envision “The End” becoming something of a cult musical. Five years from now, maybe less, some excited college freshman is going to convince the head of their college drama department to let them put on a stage version of this musical. And chances are, it will be a smash. This is material that, with some editing of its book (er, script), a spotlight on the songs, and natural physical intimacy, could flourish on the stage. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeAug 31, 2024
There may never be another film like The End, and that alone makes it special, though surely all involved would prefer for it to be seen. As it is, the film feels like an obtuse missive, hidden in plain sight, just waiting for intrepid seekers to unearth it. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinApr 11, 2025
These poor players have all hand-picked their roles, and are resolved to strut and fret as convincingly as they can, right up until the curtain plummets. Read full review
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