Starring Jodie Comer, Katherine Waterston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong

Directed by Mahalia Belo

BBC Film, in cinemas.

Alone with her new born baby, a mother struggles to survive catastrophic floods.

How much you enjoy this latest low budget apocalyptic survival movie, originating from Benedict Cumberbatch’s production company SunnyMarch, may well depend on how you choose to read its central premise.

The film’s credentials are excellent. Jodie Comer – who I confess to finding a bit mannered in some of her other roles – gives a career defining performance as the lone mother at the heart of the story. It’s a riveting, truthful and perfectly calibrated portrayal that lights up the screen, which she owns in almost every frame. Supporting are the ever-dependable and loveable Joel Fry; Mark Strong in measured and believable mode; the wonderful Nina Sosanya with not nearly enough to do; Cumberbatch himself, also keeping his foot delicately off the gas; Katherine Waterston as Comer’s optimistic counterpart; and a creepy Gina McKee for good measure, not to mention a lot of very cute babies upstaging their adult co-stars. Despite the fragmentary, episodic structure, there is a deft directorial hand at work creating a finely tuned ensemble quality to the acting throughout.

I’ve admired Mahalia Belo’s work since I saw her excellent BBC adaptation of Andrea Levy’s The Long Song in 2018, so it’s no surprise that this first theatrical feature is so confidently handled. Ms Belo clearly has a rare gift with actors, and understands the delicacy of film performance better than many of her contemporaries. Suzie Lavelle’s cinematography is beautiful throughout, and there’s a terrific score from Anna Meredith.

But…

I did struggle with the story itself. If you are of a mind to see these apocalyptic floods as a broad metaphor for climate catastrophe and social breakdown, you’ll be fine. You can concentrate on the beautifully drawn characters. My problem is that I’m a bit more anal than that, and I suspect a significant tranche of the audience will feel similarly. I needed the apocalyptic hypothetical to be more convincing at a nuts-and-bolts level. I’d have bought into the premise had we been talking about, say, a fifteen-metre rise in sea levels or some such. As it was, we were asked to believe that incessant rain and a bit of river flooding had brought the country to the brink of collapse. Watching from my Manchester cinema seat I was inclined to shrug, and think: ‘And…?’

This isn’t a minor, pedantic quibble. The kind of flooding depicted in much of The End We Start From has become horribly commonplace in the UK. It disrupts lives undoubtedly, but the societal collapse suggested by the film just doesn’t ring true, and that alienated me from truly engaging in the film’s richer elements. There are a few structural blips along the way as well, and I was left wishing a few more passes had been done on the script to really sharpen it up.

Verdict: Reservations aside, The End We Start From is an engaging, enriching 100 minutes held together by a stunning central performance from Jodie Comer, and worth seeing for her alone. 6/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com