It’s the end of the world and Zoe Lister-Jones is feeling anything but fine in “How It Ends,” an apocalyptic Sundance comedy that sees the multi-hyphenate reuniting with the star of her last directorial effort, 2020’s “The Craft: Legacy.” Cailee Spaeny plays a younger version of the “Life in Pieces” alumna in this bittersweet story about reconciling our past and present selves.
“How It Ends” begins the day before a meteor is expected to destroy Earth and kill everyone. Rather than make the most of the precious little time she has remaining, Liza (Lister-Jones), an app creator, plans to get “really fucking high” and eat until she pukes, an agenda that doesn’t sit well with a metaphysical projection of her younger self (Spaeny).
Younger Liza, referred to as YL, has grander aims, encouraging her grown-up self to make amends with loved ones — and herself. She’s unconvinced by Liza’s nonchalant attitude toward impending doom. “My whole life has just been a series of regret after regret after regret,” Liza eventually admits. Determined to right past wrongs, YL gently nudges Liza to embark on what’s later coined an “existential scavenger hunt” across LA, a journey that sees her apologizing to an old friend (Olivia Wilde), confronting an ex who mistreated her (Lamorne Morris), and opening up an honest dialogue with her parents (Helen Hunt and Bradley Whitford). Along the way, the two Lizas encounter a wide assortment of folks each handling Armageddon in their own way.
Sweet and heartfelt, “How It Ends” packs an emotional punch, but it’s softened by a lack of narrative momentum. A number of lackluster vignettes slow the film down, making its runtime of just over 80 minutes feel longer. Still, Lister-Jones and Spaeny make a charming pair, and their chemistry is the glue that binds “How It Ends” together.
In addition to starring in “How It Ends,” Lister-Jones wrote, directed, and produced the pic alongside Daryl Wein.
“[Daryl] and I started conceiving of this story pretty early on in quarantine. We were facing so many unprecedented fears, and living in this apocalyptic landscape,” Lister-Jones told us. “We were both doing a lot of inner child work in therapy, and this film served as a way for us to process a lot of what we were feeling, while also serving as a time capsule of this singular moment in history.”
“How It Ends” is now playing in select theaters and available on digital. Find screening info here.
