THE END OF IT (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson
The End of It confronts immortality
Claire Fort has a serious problem. On the occasion of her 250th birthday, she is fed up with immortality, even though she holds one of the select designated spots in that distinguished category of those who will not die. But now, clearly despondent, Claire (Rebecca Hall) reluctantly greets her boring friends, so predictably repetitive that she knows they will inevitably throw her into the swimming pool to celebrate, yet again, another year. With this daring premise, writer/director Maria Martínez Bayona tackles a controversial contemporary issue: the desire for and scientific strategies to extend life.
Announcing a humorous approach in opening shots, a motorized floor cleaning robot repeatedly bumps into a wall, trapped in its AI program to never give up despite obstacles, a wonderful but unsettling metaphor delivered via a robot. It takes a couple minutes to understand Claire’s situation. She sits lethargically eating breakfast as a machine attached to her recirculates and cleans her blood, the futuristic device surprisingly similar to current medical apparatus. Adding an astonishing repair option, when Claire fractures a bone after flopping off a treadmill, it’s quickly replaced with another bone. Claire has had so many such procedures that she admires a complete skeleton made from her many previous operations. And Claire’s off. To the dismay of husband Diego (Gael García Bernal), she’s intent on exploring her death options with the help of AI assistant Sarah (Beanie Feldstein). Adding an element of contention, daughter Martha (Noomi Rapace) arrives with what is dubbed an AI test five-month-old baby that can be unplugged when demands become annoying. Claire asks Martha, “You know you can’t unplug the real ones, eh?”
To Martínez Bayona’s credit, quite calmly presented, a few queasy moments late in the film reinforce the serious nature of the crisis. As Claire pursues her unwavering resolve, familiar complications arise. Bureaucrats will become involved negotiating the changes to Claire’s contract. A celebrated artist for her jewelry designs and provocative performances, Claire must also deal with business agents intent on monetizing her exit. As diverting punctuation, Paloma Peñarrubia’s music and an astute selection of songs add explicit and implicit commentary, the most animated and effective contributed by The Rhythm of the Night. Above all, of course, is the choice of how and when to die, a decision Claire seriously explores as she offers her reasons. “I feel like a horizontal line that keeps going and stretches so thin,” Claire explains. “I don’t feel like myself any more.” Ironically, Claire may invite nods of assent from all of us mortals as well.
Technically, cinematographer Andrés Arochi Tinajero’s economical, conventional compositions and lighting reinforce the normality of the fantasy world. Filmed in Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, the sunshine and light enhance the narrative, that is, even with the dominance of AI, the presentation never distracts as a grand science fiction/fantasy creation might. Similarly, the entire ensemble meshes well, every performance in full support of the futuristic proposition, one derived from numerous (often disconcerting) contemporary news items. As Martínez Bayona accurately describes her film in an interview with AWFJ’s Jennifer Green, “It’s a mix of sci-fi, family drama and dark comedy.” Significantly, as Green adds, as Claire’s date of death approaches, she, and by extension we, must consider “what dying really means.” Though several ideas merited more complex interrogation, The End of It will undoubtedly prompt many viewers to pursue this existential topic on their own in substantive conversations of merit. The End of It screened as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s Première Films.
