The End of the Fucking World (Netflix) Review
Throughout our lives, we come across a lot of generic teen dramas and rom-coms. Boy meets girl, a series of incidents take place, they fall in love and have a clichéd ending together. Well if you’re tired of the same old cheesy plot resurrecting from generations, the Netflix show; The End of the Fucking World will help you move out of that tract.
A self-declared teen psychopath and his foul mouthed potential victim flea from their hometown ; the series is without a doubt out of the box and seemingly more suited to the edgy comic-book medium it's adapted from. Based on a graphic novel by Charles Forsman, The End of the Fucking World is the story of this emotionally restrained couple’s misadventures, as they run away and defy the law. Borrowing from teenage coming-of-age classics like 10 Things I Hate About You, Heathers, and Skins and injected with the heart throbbing ridden darkness of Bonnie and Clyde or even Pulp Fiction, the eight episodes-series gives you a temperamental vibe as it progresses.
The protagonists, James (Alex Lawther) and Alyssa (Jessica Darden) are kooky, impulsive and sociopathic respectively. Even the other acts put in are relatable because they are the messed up depictions of the contemporary times and people. We have the chance to see to two teenagers go through self-discovery with the likes of which are not necessarily advised in suburban households. But before this sounds just like the shape of a misfits’ romance, “The End of the Fucking World” gets under the viewer’s skin with sharp, intriguing intensity. The couple is shown as hilariously mismatched for the better good of the other. The show also has Game of Thrones star Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy in GoT) playing the quirky cop, Eunice Noon, who will also stop at nothing to catch the skedaddled juveniles.
If that synopsis or the title didn't make it clear enough, The End of the Fucking World is often a very dark show, but more in the sense of pitch black humour rather than anything particularly nasty. James and Alyssa could easily come across as extremely annoying and to some, the performances might be off-putting, but Lawther and Barden are so engaging that their dysfunctional love story carries a surprising amount of emotional weight. The show tends to move towards a disturbing path, and that’s very much the point, going so far as to traumatize you and later transform into laughter. A pretty good trick if you ask me.
The background scores and tunes are just the cherry on top. The show's soundtrack is amazingly synced with the scenes. Not only is the show aware enough to acknowledge American influences, but the set even features songs from British indie artists whose sounds have roots in blues, soul, and rock music.
The best thing about “The End of the Fucking World” is that it’s hard to describe. It’s funny, and it’s sweet; it’s violent and it’s romantic. It’s also mercifully short. Each episode lasts for around 20 minutes, making the series binge-able. By the end I was unsure if I wanted them caught up by the authorities or free to go out in a zone of glory. The only thing I was sure of was I wished there were more episodes.
Check out the trailer>>
