If you could find only one other person at the end of time, Nick Nolte would be a near-optimal individual to encounter, especially if he ran Earth’s last movie theater. Alas, while “Last Words” has initial intriguing fun with that premise, it eventually sends its two protagonists on a post-apocalyptic odyssey that’s defined by stasis, not to mention an abundance of half-baked themes. Despite a collection of A-list luminaries, writer-director Jonathan Nossiter’s drama is , and thus seems likely to enchant only the most charitable of viewers.
Based on a novel by Santiago Amigorena (who co-wrote the script), “Last Words” revolves around Kal (Kalipha Touray), who in 2085 believes himself to be the final survivor of a global climate-change catastrophe that spawned ecological decay, war, famine and disease. After losing his pregnant sister to a mob of young French children, Kal — motivated by film canisters found in Paris — decides...
Based on a novel by Santiago Amigorena (who co-wrote the script), “Last Words” revolves around Kal (Kalipha Touray), who in 2085 believes himself to be the final survivor of a global climate-change catastrophe that spawned ecological decay, war, famine and disease. After losing his pregnant sister to a mob of young French children, Kal — motivated by film canisters found in Paris — decides...
- 12/22/2021
- by Nick Schager
- Variety Film + TV
It’s a strange thing to watch a movie that truly (and almost literally) believes it will never be seen; a movie that was written, financed, and shot with the bone-deep conviction that it would eventually be released to great silence; a movie that isn’t just at peace with its uncommerciality, but also consciously draws its power from the advance knowledge that it’s destined to disappear amid the boundless ocean of streaming content, not dumped into the water so much as scattered along its surface like ashes. A post-apocalyptic cri de coeur that suggests the death of cinema and the end of human civilization are two sides of the same coin, Jonathan Nossiter’s “Last Words” (adapted from the Santiago Amigorena novel “Mes Derniers Mots”) offers an end-of-the-world lament for the natural beauty that we’ve surrendered to consumerism, and for the shared experiences we’ve forfeited in the name of personal convenience.
- 12/17/2021
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Jonathan Nossiter, one of the few American directors who was able to attend the Deauville Film Festival this year, didn’t make the trip for the Normandy seaside red carpet. He intended to shake people up with “Last Words,” a post-apocalyptic film set in 2086 which seems eerily prophetic.
Competing in Deauville, “Last Words” was part of the Cannes 2020 Official Selection and would have likely sparked some heated debate on the Croisette if the festival hadn’t been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Conceived as an allegory on the impact of the climate crisis, “Last Words” unfolds in a planet that has been ravaged. Europe is a vast desert and its population has been decimated by a virus. Survivors are living isolated, and while nature has perished and culture has disappeared from the world. It will take a young African refugee, played by newcomer Kalipha Touray, to bring joy and...
Competing in Deauville, “Last Words” was part of the Cannes 2020 Official Selection and would have likely sparked some heated debate on the Croisette if the festival hadn’t been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Conceived as an allegory on the impact of the climate crisis, “Last Words” unfolds in a planet that has been ravaged. Europe is a vast desert and its population has been decimated by a virus. Survivors are living isolated, and while nature has perished and culture has disappeared from the world. It will take a young African refugee, played by newcomer Kalipha Touray, to bring joy and...
- 9/10/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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