Another End: Melancholy New World

In the near future, nobody will need seances. Instead, you can say goodbye to your loved ones (or “absent ones” as the mildly cyberpunk-ish company likes to say), by temporarily downloading their memories into a donor-carrier. There is only a limited window to insert such memories and the sessions never last too long, but grieving family members can get some closure, as long as they don’t beat around the bush too long. Awkwardly, Sal tries to drag out the process well past the typical expiration point in Pierro Massina’s Another End, which releases today in theaters and on-demand.

Initially, Sal was not sure he could face Zoe again, even if she had new facial features and a different body. However, his sister Ebe makes it happen anyway, because she works for the Another End corporation. To avoid permanently damaging to her consciousness from shock, Sal works with the company to create false memories of her surviving the crash. Of course, she looks much different in the host body, but her consciousness will project the self-image she expects, whenever she looks in the mirror. Regardless, eventually explaining her death and saying goodbye will be tricky, so Sal keeps putting it off.

It becomes clear Sal and Zoe had a lot of issues that he wants to work through before reaching th farewell stage. Consequently, he puts greater pressure on Ebe, who has already stretched his time with Zoe to suspicious lengths. It helps that Ava, the host body, happens to be unusually compatible. In fact, Sal develops an obsessive interest in her too. He even starts to follow Ava in real life. Typically, hosts have no awareness of the time they allow the Absent Ones to control their bodies, but sometimes they retain fragments of weird dream-like memories, which seems to be the case for Ava.

The Macguffin is slightly different, but Another End revisits similar themes and emotional territory that were explored in films like Rememory, Marjorie Prime, and Restore Point. Everyone always wants more time, but it is never as easy as it is cracked up to be. Still, there is a thoughtfulness to Another End that makes it feel more akin to Marjorie Prime.

Regardless, Massina’s deliberate pacing is unnecessarily challenging. Frankly, this film probably should have been tighter by at least twenty minutes. Yet, it is easy to see why Massina and editor Paola Freddi had such a hard time cutting the small ensemble’s quietly potent work. Berenice Bejo is a particular standout as Sal’s Spanish-speaking sister (while the rest of the Italian production’s dialogue is in English).

Bejo is truly terrific, and Renate Reinsve shows remarkable subtlety shifting between Zoe and Ava, in a sort of dual role. However, Gael Garcia Bernal broods so hard, diminishing returns start to set in. Nevertheless, the primary trio brilliantly sells the big revelation, which might have some logic and continuity issues if you examine it too closely, but it works in the moment.

Arguably, Another End represents science fiction at its most morose—but that is a genuine distinction it can claim. Indeed, a good deal of visual style accompanies the melancholy mood. Recommended as refreshingly mature speculative fiction, Another End opens today (9/19) in LA at the Glendale Laemmle.