The End We Start From premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2023.[3][4] It was released in the United States on 8 December 2023, followed by release in the United Kingdom on 19 January 2024. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was nominated in several categories at the 2023 British Independent Film Awards.
Protracted storms and heavy rain cause London to be flooded just as Woman goes into labour, giving birth to her newborn baby son Zeb. With incessant rain the flooding spreads to other low-lying areas of Britain, triggering a country-wide crisis with food supplies and accommodations for people displaced by the ecological disaster. Woman and her husband R are forced to flee with their baby to R's parents. After R's mother G is trampled to death at a food distribution facility, R's father N dies by suicide, leaving R badly traumatised.
Woman and R decide to go to a local shelter, but R gets separated from Woman and their son. When the shelter comes under attack by the looters, Woman and Zeb flee northwards to go to a commune on a remote island off the coast of England, but Woman finds the desire of the commune's residents to be shielded from the rest of the world too stifling and difficult to accept. They return to their ruined house in London, where soon afterwards they are reunited with R.
Benedict Cumberbatch's company SunnyMarch with Hera Pictures acquired the rights in May 2017 to Megan Hunter's debut novel The End We Start From before the book had been published. Cumberbatch was quoted as saying it was "a stunning tale of motherhood [and] a striking and frighteningly real story of a family fighting for survival that will make everyone stop and think about what kind of planet we are leaving behind for our children". Cumberbatch was announced as a producer alongside Hera Pictures founder Liza Marshall, Adam Ackland, and Sophie Hunter.[5]
In May 2022, it was announced that Mahalia Belo would direct an Alice Birch screenplay adaptation of the novel with Jodie Comer attached to appear as the central mother character. Production was listed as being completed by SunnyMarch through Leah Clarke and Ackland and Hera Pictures' Marshall alongside Amy Jackson and Hunter. With BBC Film and Anton adding finance, executive producers were Comer, Cumberbatch, Eva Yates, Cecile Gaget and Sébastien Raybaud.[6] A budget of £9 million has been reported for the project.[2] Also confirmed as working on the project were Suzie Lavelle as cinematographer, PC Williams as costume designer, production designer Laura Ellis-Cricks and hair and make-up designer Louise Coles.[7] Director Belo described the film as a "unique and original take on a survival film. One that feels in tune with the climate crisis we are experiencing now."[8]
In August 2022, it was revealed that Katherine Waterston had been added to the cast.[9] In September 2022, it was confirmed that Cumberbatch and Mark Strong, Joel Fry, Gina McKee, and Nina Sosanya had been added to the cast and that principal photography had begun in London. Strong had been added as an executive producer along with Kate Maxwell, Fanny Soulier and Pieter Engels from Anton, and Claudia Yusef for BBC Film. C2 Motion Picture Group had been brought in for funding with Dave Caplan and Jason Cloth in as executive producers, with National Lottery funding coming via the BFI with Lizzie Francke acting as an executive producer.[10]
As well as in London,[11][12] principal photography was reported to have taken place at disused boarding school Carmel College in southern Oxfordshire.[13]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 73 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Led by Jodie Comer's gripping performance in the central role, The End We Start From offers a thoughtful, haunting look at the end of the world."[19]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[20]
The End We Start From received nine nominations for the 2023 British Independent Film Awards, including Best Lead Performance for Jodie Comer, and Best Supporting Performance for Katherine Waterston, as well as Best Cinematography for Suzie Lavelle and Best Costume Design for PC Williams.[21]
