EXCLUSIVE: MUBI, the global distributor, streaming service and production company, has acquired all rights in UK, Germany and Austria to Joshua Oppenheimer’s (The Act of Killing) new feature The End, which had its world premiere at Telluride this weekend.
The ambitious film is imagined as a Golden Age-style musical and cautionary tale about the last human family.
Starring are Oscar winner Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton), Oscar nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), BAFTA-nominee George Mackay (1917), and Emmy-nominee Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit).
Screenplay is by Oppenheimer and Rasmus Heisterberg (A Royal Affair), with songs by Joshua Schmidt (music) and Oppenheimer (lyrics). Marius de Vries is the executive music producer.
The official synopsis reads: “Twenty-five years after environmental collapse left the Earth uninhabitable, Mother, Father and Son are confined to their palatial bunker, where they struggle to maintain hope and a sense of normalcy by clinging to the rituals of daily life—until the arrival of a stranger, Girl, upends their happy routine. Son, a naïve twenty-something who has never seen the outside world, is fascinated by the newcomer, and suddenly the delicate bonds of blind optimism that have held this wealthy clan together begin to fray. As tensions rise, their seemingly idyllic existence starts to crumble, with long-repressed feelings of remorse and resentment threatening to destroy the family’s delicate balance. But their reckoning with difficult truths also points to a different way forward, one based on acceptance, love, and a capacity for change.”
The rights were acquired from The Match Factory, who are handling international sales. Mubi also owns The Match Factory but the latter’s sales operation is said to be separate and at arm’s length.
Pic was produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen for Final Cut for Real, Joshua Oppenheimer and Tilda Swinton, with Viola Fügen, THE END MFP, Conor Barry, Wild Atlantic Pictures, Flaminio Zadra, Dorje Film, Tracy O’Riordan, Moonspun Films, Ann Lundberg, and Anagram co-producing.
It was also produced in association with Shoni Productions, Iambic Dream Films, Making Movies Oy, Bray’s Run Productions, and Finite Films & TV.