NEON has unveiled the trailer for The End, a musical feature directed by Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer, known for his impactful documentaries The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence. In his latest venture, Oppenheimer shifts to a fictional narrative to tell a story about survival and consequence in a world reshaped by catastrophe. Take a look above.
The film follows a family of former oil industrialists who, after a global disaster, have lived in a lavish underground bunker for 20 years. The family — including parents portrayed by Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) and Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals), and their son who has never seen the outside world — grapples with the psychological toll of isolation. The story intensifies with the arrival of a young woman from the outside, challenging the family’s assumptions and forcing them to confront their role in the events that drove humanity underground.
Joining Swinton and Shannon in the cast are George MacKay (1917), Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit), Bronagh Gallagher, Tim McInnerny, and Lennie James. The screenplay, co-written by Oppenheimer and Rasmus Heisterberg (A Royal Affair), incorporates original songs by Joshua Schmidt, with lyrics by Oppenheimer. Inspired by the Broadway musical’s “optimism born of fear,” the film’s songs add a contrasting layer to the story’s grim themes.
Shot on location in Italy and Germany, The End is produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen and Oppenheimer. The film will be released in U.S. cinemas on December 6th.
