Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Directed by Lorene ScafariaAs an asteroid nears Earth, a man finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart. Accompanying him is a neighbor who inadvertently puts a wrench in his plan.
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Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Ratings & Reviews
- mickerdooJuly 20, 2025Has some funny and heartfelt moments. Age gap felt a little too big. Makes you wonder what you'd do in the end.
- Gene CapmanJune 27, 2025Beautiful story
- 匚卂尺ㄥFebruary 12, 2025SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD is an odd, quirky and touching film. It is NOT a raucous comedy (despite the presence of Steve Carrell and folks like Rod Cordry), but it is pretty funny throughout. It is NOT a romance in a traditional sense, yet it is an unusual love story. The movie starts as the world learns that the last efforts to stop a huge asteroid from slamming into it have failed. Three weeks is all the planet has remaining. Immediately upon hearing the doomsday proclamation, Steve Carrell's wife leaves him. We learn their marriage hasn't been great for a long time...but the sudden abandonment leaves Carrell a bit stunned. We sense he has probably been unhappy for a long time, because he continues to go through the motions of his life even as chaos slowly descends around him. It's as though the world has finally caught up to HIS condition...fatalistic and seeing no real reason to care about anything. Then he meets his next door neighbor (Keira Knightley) a British girl who has just broken up with her boyfriend, and with the end of the world coming, wishes she could get back to Britain to see her parents one last time (which is tough, because airlines are grounded). The two head out into the world, with Carrell offering to get Knightley to someone he knows that owns a plane...and her offering to help him find his "first love"...the girl that got away. Along the way they have many amusing encounters...most notably at a Chili's-like restaurant that has decided to "get creative" with its menu. They encounter zaniness, they encounter suicide, and they encounter families that are simply together to enjoy their last few days of beauty and togetherness. And not surprisingly, a bond grows between these two unlikely companions. This is a thoughtful and sad movie. Yes, there were plenty of funny moments, but writer/director Lorene Scafaria is interested in much more. Trying to make a movie about the end of the world is daunting. HOW would people act? What kinds of crazy things would happen? Scafaria has actually come up with a wide variety of possibilities and she gives us little peeks at each of those, mostly through Carrell's bemused and sad eyes. (The best is his maid, who keeps coming to work and gets upset when Carrell tells her she doesn't need to clean his apartment anymore.) But in the end, her wry, funny and sometimes affecting musings on how human along America's east coast might react in the face of the apocalypse are only background to the plight of her two leads. Their problems, in the great scheme of things, are pretty small...but we learn to care for each of them deeply. There is the potential for quite a "creepiness" factor in partnering Carrell and Knightley. But Carrell gives one of his best "serious" performances here, and although Knightley is occasionally a bit antic and scattered, she generally matches him. Their relationship, as it progresses, feels logical and right...and we root for them, even as we might worry that Carrell is becoming a bit too much like a Woody Allen character (as in, interested in women far too young). They make it work as best as a relationship like this could work. And in the end, I found the movie to be surprisingly effective and touching. Clearly, this movie will not be for everyone (as its poor box office performance attests), because it is very unconventional in many ways. But I liked it very much because it WAS surprising. Scafaria was bursting with ideas for this film, yet it never feels cluttered. She is able to make most of her observations or assumptions quickly and adroitly. The film is also full of cameos from some great actors (Patton Oswalt, Connie Britton, Derek Luke, William Petersen and especially Melanie Lynskey, who is terrific in her little role)...each of these experienced performers (and more) are skillful enough to take their brief moments and make something of them...to add to the experience rather than just creating "oh, look, he's in the movie" moments. SEEKING A FRIEND... is a low-key delight, original, well-acted, well-written, funny and affecting. Highly recommended!
