Joel Fry-days: The End We Start From (2023, R)

*Premise spoilers, including one vague spoiler about Joel Fry’s presence in the film*

One morning near the start of Joel Fry-days, I watched the trailers for all his movies to get a feel for them. The End We Start From was definitely one of the ones that piqued my interest the most, even as the trailer left me speculating that there wouldn’t actually be much of Joel Fry in it. A beautiful, brutal, very human film.

An expectant mother gives birth on the day her world turns upside down. London is being hit with torrential flooding, and as soon as she’s discharged from the hospital, the woman, her husband, and their new baby have to get out of the city. They search for safety and shelter across a swiftly changing landscape where people are growing angry and afraid, clinging to what they have.

(Side note: the main character is credited on IMDb simply as the Woman, while all the other characters are credited with a single initial.)

It’s technically a disaster movie, maybe even an apocalypse movie, but it doesn’t exactly feel like that. Instead, it feels like a moving character drama in which one woman struggles to hold onto herself as she fights to keep herself and her baby alive. It’s a climate change film that focuses mainly on the human toll—not just lives lost in the disaster itself, but lives lost, altered, and upended in the aftermath. With people fleeing London in droves, the towns and villages on higher ground are closing their entry roads. There are too many people with too few resources, and there are so many with nowhere to go.

In this sense, one thing I really like about this movie is how it opens on these characters who don’t realize how much their world is about to change. There’s a lot of talk about people who left London too late, those who either couldn’t get out or had nowhere left to turn when they did leave. In the hospital, the Woman is confused to learn that they can’t go home, and her husband R simply tells her, “The whole street’s gone.” It’s a slow realization that this isn’t merely rain, then that it’s not a matter of simply driving north to R’s parents’ house, then that this isn’t just a question of finding somewhere to wait out the floodwaters for the short term. 

The film is directed by Mahalio Belo, who did Requiem (and who cast Joel Fry in the Persuasion adaptation that was taken from us too soon!!) She doesn’t shy away from the bleakness of the story while still capturing beauty and connection. This is a movie that is just so full of human moments, whether it’s the Woman sharing a laugh with another new mother she meets in a shelter, sharing a meal and a dance with a fellow traveler, or breaking down in tears while she’s playing peekaboo with baby Zeb. “Where am I, Zeb?” she asks, trying to maintain her singsongy mommy voice even as she cries. “I don’t know.” Amid all the devastation, we’re shown points of light, both in the Woman’s present and in the sunlit flashes of her memories.

Even though they’re very different films, I found myself reminded a little of Wander Darkly. Both are very grounded depictions of a woman’s extraordinary journey (physical and/or emotional,) both present the central relationship with such a soft intimacy, and both are very exquisitely shot. I can imagine that this one will stick with me for quite a while, much like Wander Darkly has.

Jodie Comer is just excellent as the Woman. Her performance is so real and human, by turns naive, heartbreaking, and hopeful, surprisingly funny in moments and quietly courageous in others. The movie features plenty of other fine British actors, including Nina Sosanya and Mark Strong as R’s parents, Katherine Waterston as the Woman’s new friend in the shelter, and Benedict Cumberbatch as a man whose path briefly crosses with hers.

Joel Fry plays R. In the trailer, the only shots of him seemed to be flashbacks, so while it was clear that he was playing Comer’s lover/spouse, I had my suspicions that he was either 1) dead, and the movie was about her having to move forward on her own or 2) separated from her, and the movie was about her attempt to find her way back to him. One of those is sort of right (for the sake of spoilers, I won’t say which one,) but he’s actually in more of the movie than I expected. While Fry’s role eventually switches over to mainly flashback appearances, the Woman and R are together for about the first 40 minutes of the film. I still would’ve liked more, obviously, but I 100% get why this becomes a story of the Woman trying to keep herself and Zeb safe on her own. And since I’d prepared myself for not much of Fry at all, I consider the amount of screentime we do get from him to be kind of a bonus!

This is such a lovely performance. Sticking with the theme of “characters who don’t realize they’re in the opening of a disaster/apocalypse movie,” R basks in the wonder of being a new father and tells the Woman how amazing she is. When the nurse advises her to try to pee and she’s able to, R beams down at the baby and cries, “She did it!” in a sweet, admiring tone. He’s reassuring as they flee the city and mildly bickers with his dad over whether or not they should have seen this coming. At night, he cuddles with the Woman in his childhood bedroom, and during the day, he makes cute faces while he plays with Zeb.

But as the characters start to realize the enormity of what they’re dealing with, R is hit hard. Although I won’t spoil the details, they’re forced to recalibrate their plan right on the heels of an incredibly traumatic experience for him. Fry does a beautiful job with these scenes: the Woman asking if he wants to talk about it and R admitting he can’t, R sitting in the tub hugging his knees to his chest, R choking back tears as he insists that he can be the one to undertake something risky that directly echoes with the source of his trauma. It’s deeply affecting to watch him go from a kind, gentle rock to a terrified, beaten-down man who thinks he’s failing his family—still kind and gentle, but so battered. Just fantastic work here.

Accent Watch

Southern British English.

Recommend?

In General – Yes. It can be a bit slow at times, in that indie-drama way, but I thought this film was wonderfully done.

Joel Fry – Yes! Even if I was left wanting a lot more of R, Fry turns in such a strong performance here.

Warnings

Strong thematic elements, violence, language, drinking/smoking, and brief sexual content.

 

Other Doctor Lives: W1A: Series 3, Episode 2 (2017)

*Spoilers from episode 1*

I liked this episode. Does it help that I know I only need to wait one or two episodes between Joel Fry appearances? Maybe, but it’s a good episode regardless, building on the plots from the season premiere.

The execs had hoped that giving Ryan a trial appearance on Match of the Day would be enough to show that he wasn’t hired because he’s a “crap presenter,” not because of his crossdressing. But it backfired—while the football fans hated Ryan’s dull, choppy commentary, he (and the outfit he wore) have blown up on Twitter. “#SexyFootball” is trending, and the papers are asking if the BBC is “brave” enough to hire a crossdressing TV presenter. He’s due to come in to discuss his future at the BBC on the same day that a civil servant is visiting the building. Fiona will be in charge of the charter renewal negotiations, so they want to put their best foot forward as they navigate this delicate situation. Elsewhere, Jack has gone full steam ahead on coopting Will’s idea for On Your Bike, with Will’s somewhat unwitting help.

Ryan Chelford is our character of the week. He’s played by Ben Batt—I knew he looked familiar, and after checking his IMDb, I realized I know him from the U.K. version of Shameless, where he played Joe. He’s entertaining, in an awkward way, as the painful un-insightful former footballer. Whether he’s in front of the camera or just talking to one of the execs, it’s immediately clear that his wardrobe is much more interesting than his personality or conversation.

The execs already have enough on their plates, trying to placate Ryan while Fiona is watching. But matters are even more difficult for Lucy. Ahead of their charter renewal, the BBC is reducing the number of executive positions, and the Head of Inclusivity/Head of Diversity posts are going to be rolled into one. Lucy’s been the one trying to sort things out between Ryan and BBC Football, and it’s her idea they’re going to be offering him in the meeting. But after he arrives, they’re met by Faiza, the Head of Diversity. Despite not having met any of the people involved, she’s eager to take over the whole show, and as she jockeys for clout over Lucy, it threatens to blow everything up.

(Note: having both a Head of Diversity and a Head of Inclusivity indeed feels like overkill from clueless cishet white men who are desperate to avoid getting called racist/sexist/etc. But now that they’re downsizing the roles, the end result is pitting two women of color against each other.)

Last episode, the “hello present” from Fun Media to the BBC wound up being BBC Me, an online platform for user-generated content to “give the BBC back to the people” (Siobhan’s team were not the brain children behind this idea.) And that’s what may become the fate of On Your Bike. Will’s original idea, further developed by Izzy, is a take on a classic talk-show but set on bikes, with the host and the guest chatting while riding around different places in the UK. But now the BBC is hungry for content to feed BBC Me, and Jack has reinvisioned the concept as users taking short “video selfies” of themselves on bikes. Izzy is really angry on Will’s behalf, but he doesn’t seem to fully realize the implications of what’s going on here. And while it still doesn’t help On Your Bike, Jack does get a taste of his own medicine when he finds out David has already run off to one of the execs with his work. Doesn’t feel so good, does it, Jack?

David Tennant had some good bits in his narration today. Here are my favorites:

• Great phrasing/delivery throughout here – “As part of the BBC’s new More of Less initiative, junior executives Ben and Jerry have discovered that they’re going to be given the opportunity to apply for their own jobs. The total of which has been revised downwards going forward from the current figure of two to a new total of one.”
• Ian has been a bike guy since the start of Twenty Twelve, coming to work on a foldable bike, though it wasn’t until series 2 of W1A that he got the hang of consistently folding it without smashing his fingers. Anna’s latest unspoken attempt to get closer to Ian involves a new bike of her own – “Not only has Director of Better, Anna Rampton, apparently decided to join Ian on two wheels, but, like him, she’s gone for wheels that are theoretically at least foldable, if you were listening to the person in the shop who explained how to do it.”
• I like this description of Fiona’s arrival at the BBC, which is just a revolving door of introductions and handshakes with various executives – “Given the potential significance of the charter renewal process, for the future of the BBC and everyone currently inside it, it’s important that the visiting delegation feel as comprehensively met and greeted as possible.”

 

Y tu Luna también: Pan y circo: Season 1, Episode 3 – “The Failure of Prohibition: Drug Legalization” (2020)

After seeing Diego Luna’s tremendous work as Félix in Narcos: Mexico and watching some of the promotion he did for that series, it’s no surprise that this was a topic Pan y circo. The drug war in Mexico is a subject that he’s very invested in, and it showed in his hosting duties in this episode.

At today’s table, we had, not one, but two folks in politics: a former secretary of state and a former president of Colombia(!) We also had a drug researcher and two people who’ve attained a rare “legal remedy” to grow/consume marijuana for medicinal purposes—one a political scientist/activist and one an actor (it was Gael García Bernal!)

Before the guests could get down to discussing the nitty-gritty of legalization, they had to examine the exact nature of the drug problem in Mexico. As with Colombia, they’re more of a producing country than a consuming country, with narcos primarily growing/making drugs, then transporting them out of the country. But even though Mexico doesn’t have a major problem with drug consumption, the narco/gang activity and their clashes with the government have put them on the frontlines of the drug war, with over 250,000 violent deaths in the country since 2006.

Despite the reality of the state of affairs, the law still strictly restricts drug consumption. Those legal remedies I mentioned? Only eleven people in the entire country have been approved for one. Meanwhile, 60% of inmates in Mexican federal prisons are there on drug-related convictions. That’s where the topic of legalization came in. The president of Colombia noted, “The world declared a war on drugs almost 50 years ago. And that war hasn’t been won, which means it has been lost.” The political scientist remarked on the fact that there were three different kinds of alcohol on the table, a state-altering substance that no one bats an eyelash at.

Like I said, I couldn’t help but think of Narcos: Mexico as I watched Luna preside over the discussion. After having a more hands-off approach last week, he was eager to dig in here. His love and care for his country shone through, and he acknowledged how the drug war has hurt Mexico right along with the drug traffickers. He pointed out, “They tell us: ‘You have to keep drugs away from your kids,’ and I say: ‘But I’d also like to keep the military away from my kids.’”

I really enjoy him hanging out in the kitchen with the chef in the pre-dinner clips during the episode. After following the chef’s instructions on how to chop the onions, he exclaimed, “Damn! I’ve been doing it wrong my whole life.” His enthusiasm to learn and easy willingness to make fun of himself is endearing.