Now Apocalypse (2019) User Reviews

Wish I had this show when I was 20-something

[valinvancouver · 7/10 · 1 April 2019]

Anyone my age (55) and older that dislikes this show needs to think back to their own 20s and remember how clueless they were. This show is like a beginner's guide to having (and what to aviod in) a sex life and/or relationship.

I'm impressed by what I've seen so far (I'm writing this while watching episode 4). Yes, the show appears to be simplistic and has a plot that is mostly beside the point, but I think it's important to embrace this simplicity if you are going to enjoy the show.

The show is predominantly about human sexual interactions, many of which are transactional in nature. Regardless of Gregg Araki's filmography, I would say this is more a millenial- rather than a gay-oriented show; "Queer as Folk" this is not. What's even better, this show is both old-school and Progressive with a capital "P" at the same time. Old school because the situations these characters find themselves in have been played out repeatedly for ages. Progressive in that gender stereotypes are out the window, for instance the most masculine character in the show is also the most emotionally vulnerable.

Hopefully this show will continue to explore a broad gamut of the human emotional spectrum.

Pretty show, but no connection with the characters

[faffibo · 6/10 · 21 April 2019]

This show is good to have going on in the background, it's easy to follow and pleasing to watch due to the aesthetics-focus of the director. After completing the first season, I was left with feelings of discontent. I realized that I had not formed meaningful connections with any of the characters. Maybe it's because the director was more concerned with creating a cast of pretty, stylish and liberated millenials... but there wasn't any solid development. Even for the main character.

In the last few episodes, Ulysses finds a boyfriend, and the two go on a spree of constantly vollying declarations of love and passion for each other. It quickly became cringey and I began to dread scenes with the two together. This would be fine if I was watching a hallmark movie, but Ulysses along with his friend Carly are both sardonic, which made it seem unrealistic behavior. Also his new boyfriend gives him a key to his apartment, and Ulysses breaks down in tears. I guess that should signify he had a past of having rejection and bad relationships, but the viewers were never informed of this or shown this so how are we supposed to feel for Ulysses? And then, in the blink of an eye, the two break up, and Ulysses is heartbroken.

I however wasn't, because I never was able to form any sort of bond or connection to him. He was through the whole show a surface, shallow character. Not saying he was a bad person, but all I ever got from Ulysses was an aimless youngster who smokes a lot of marijuana, enjoys fashion, and gossips with Carley about his love life. It never evolved into anything deeper than that.

Carley is another character who is portrayed to be daring, yet her whole shtick is very contrived and cliche. She does sex cam shows? OOOoooooo! How taboo! She finds out she's a dominatrix? Scandalous! She's a struggling actress? Gosh, she must be very jaded and too cool for school! Other than her equally stylish garb, thats about as deep as her character is.

By the end, she kind of randomly breaks up with Jethro, and I suppose we are supposed to feel sad for the both of them? Not so much. Like Ulysses, I couldn't feel deeply for a character that is..... man I can't think of the words, but all these characters lack that something that draws you in to feel committed and concerned for them. In one of the episodes, as the main characters head to palm springs for a party, Ford asks Severine if she would like to go to Coachella. She rebuffs his proposal, saying "why would I want to do anything like that?" to which we see the rest of the riders in the car wriggle in discomfort. What kind of raging monster doesn't want to go to Coachella? And this to me perhaps best symbolizes my issues with the cast. Its like the director was trying hard to take us behind the curtain of being a millenial, but his perception of what is an interesting 20-something is of someone who would fit right in at Coachella, and I think that says it all.

I'm just curious....

[pinonchris · 7/10 · 14 March 2019]

It's kind of too early to tell but cant help but be curious if this is supposed to the the spiritual successor to 97's Nowhere? Similar vibe but with today's 20 somethings opposed to 20 somethings in the late 90s. Anyway it's somewhat interesting.

For an acquired audience

[Floated2 · 7/10 · 3 April 2019]

Having no intentions and expectations about this show, decided to give it a try. Started watching the first episode on April 1 and ending today April 3. After the first few minutes of the opening episode, we can already see what type of show this was based upon.

Filled with much profanity, nudity, drugs and heavy non stop language, Now Apocalypse really doesn't not hold back on anything. The first episode was quite honestly weak as its introduction, and was considering giving up on the show, but continued watching hoping it would get better. And it did.

The first 2 episodes are quite slow but the show does progresses, it does become more interesting as we start to get more comfortable with its character. Some few boring episodes but in general, around episode 5, it becomes better. Also an intriguing season finale. Avan Jogia is a good actor given his role and lead, as he does play the part believable. The other supporting actors do their part as well, complementing.

The show is quite weird and can easily be a turn off for many people, as it is not completely mainstream wise. But after watching its episodes, it does become more compelling and engaging.

The entire alien aspect of the lead character ads an unusual and different touch which keeps it more interesting. Another positive is the show is only 10 episodes and 30 minuets each episode, so it can easily be watched very quickly.

It's Gregg Araki's "Nowhere" as a TV series

[tspolp · 10/10 · 9 March 2020]

Gregg Araki has consistently changed the game since the 90's with cult hits like The Doom Generation, and Nowhere. As a longtime fan, I was overjoyed to hear Araki was greenlit a project that culminates his teen apocalypse trilogy into a TV series so many years later. If you're not a fan of cult or queer cinema, this isn't going to be your flavor- guaranteed. What many people don't understand is that fans of his work have been waiting for this since 1999 when his rejected MTV pilot for This Is How The World Ends never saw the light of day until YouTube came along. In the meantime, Araki showed us he's capable of making a beautiful and serious piece of work with Mysterious Skin, and can make us all laugh with a cheap stoner flick starring Anna Faris in Smiley Face. The film Kaboom would ultimately attempt to be Nowhere's successor in 2010, but unfortunately came off as too contrived for my taste. He once again proved he's more than just "trash," with the rather successful indie sleeper White Bird In a Blizzard.

Now Apocalypse is most definitely a spiritual successor to all of the aforementioned 90s works. It was awesome to see the return of the green space alien, as well as what I presume is James Duval's character from "Nowhere" no longer in 1997, but now in 2019, who has become a homeless schizophrenic quite literally being screwed by aliens. The green alien is a visual representation of society's evil upper echelon, right down to an episode featuring an Eyes Wide Shut-style orgy that makes this message clear as day.

I had a feeling this wouldn't be renewed for a 2nd season on Starz, because ultimately Araki's work is (as mentioned) pure cult. It's often never appreciated until much later after the fact by future generations, so maintaining a solid fanbase would be difficult for this type of material. Film students will most certainly get it, the general public - not so much. But it's not for genpop; it's for people who love exploring different types of filmmaking no matter how outrageous they may be.

In this case, Now Apocalypse is a mixture of the surrealism of David Lynch, Bret Easton Ellis' novel Less Than Zero, and the colorful viscera of Gaspar Noe. If you enjoyed HBO's Euphoria, this might float your boat too. It also features the very best of shoegaze alternative music, right down to plenty of tracks originally featured on the Nowhere soundtrack and a dreamy original score by former Cocteau Twins members well-know for their ambience.

This one was made for the diehard fans, and my hats off to Starz for giving this project a chance knowing full-well what kind of ride (and reception) we'd been in for. This is the show we've been waiting for and I was not in the slightest disappointed!

Reptilians??

[ozgkrl · 12 March 2019]

Now that is funny. Are those no longer in hiding? I had one visiting my living room. Was an interesting chat we had. Anyhow. I am sure none of them, Reptilians, are responsible for that kind of.. how should I say.. none existent culture nor civilization, but fits to the vast majority of humans. I can't even wait to see how this so called "modern civilization" will end up.

PS. In other hand.. Even Reptilians, not really known for their humour, will laugh their buttocks of about that stupidity.

Not deep, isn't meant to be. But relatable.

[krapriv · 6/10 · 22 July 2022]

Enjoyed it for what it was. Disappointed that there was no closure. If you want a mindless show that touches on relatable relationships and hot young actors pursuing their dreams, then this is a good candidate. Just don't go in with high expectations because even I couldn't have imagined what I saw. LOL.

"Do you even vape bro?"

[audaciousness · 4/10 · 11 March 2019]

If you're watching 'Now Apocalypse' with the hope of finding a truly well-written and intelligent series, then don't. This show isn't intended to win awards, awe audiences and win over masses... but that doesn't make it bad. The series is crafted like a very WTF fever dream of over-the-top millenial comedy and drama, pushing stereotypes to the limit and being oh-so-sexual at every chance it can get.

All in all, it's an edgy, sexual, odd show finished with a thick coating of bright paint and aesthetic directing, coloring and cinematography. It completely SHATTERS the norms of comedy television, and that's what makes it so unique. It's also brilliantly cast with Avan Jogia, Beau Mirchoff, Tyler Posey, and more television mainstays.

Overall, this isn't by any means a show that was written with the mindset of "this is an intelligent work of art". It was created to be fun, different, bizarre, and just over-the-top enough to make audiences say... WTF!!

Wonderful, entertaining, unique

[dustin-ward · 9/10 · 26 August 2019]

Everything made by Gregg Araki is worth watching, at least once. Always great and likely something you have never seen before.

colorful, playful, blandly sexy...something not take too seriously

[wjmlorenzo · 7/10 · 16 June 2020]

I didn't have high expectation for this but it turned out to be pop tart of adult series. Enjoying means, I just want to see how the story unfolds in the most relentlessly pretentious sexiness. The male casting are clearly fan service, as well as the fornication, masturbation and heavy frontals. If there's any consolation is how they utilized every aspect of Beau Mirchoff's body, which is ethereal.

So...

[EpimetheusA1 · 4/10 · 20 March 2019]

This is either a really well written soft core porno or a very terribly written drama. Either way, Beau Mirchoff can't seem to find his shirt and I'm giving this show a 4 until he does.

Weird and fun

[danc-14995 · 8/10 · 10 March 2019]

To be honest I have no idea where the storyline of the show is going, but to me the first episode was fun, sexy and lighthearted

Seriously?

[avenuesf · 4/10 · 16 March 2019]

This is yet another Gregg Araki production that features vacuous, sexually ambiguous teenagers (primarily male ones) and bright, neon colored lighting and costumes. It tries hard to shock in a deadpan way, but it's not shocking... in fact, it's no different than any of the films he's been making for years. When is Araki going to do something different? I thought he was turning into a serious director when he made "Mysterious Skin," but then he went back into his fixation with pretty teenage boys. At almost 60 years of age, I'm willing to bet he has made some serious observations about life as an adult that would make great films. I hope he eventually makes them and stops creating these films and t.v. shows that aren't much different than listening to pop music.

Excellent show worth watching very entertaining

[joeydoughnuts-1 · 10/10 · 12 March 2019]

The first episode of this brand new series was both entertaining mysterious very erotic funny and interesting to watch. The actors/characters in the show are very interesting and dynamic to watch. I look forward to watching it in the weeks to come and can't wait to see where the show is going on in what direction. The actors are very hard on the chemistry between the two main actors looks intense

Just cancel it

[CinemaSlant · 1/10 · 18 March 2019]

Wow...this is one of the worst shows I've ever seen. It's like combining the look, feel, storyline and acting ability of something on Nickelodeon...with a lot of nudity and sex and there ya have it. I actually feel bad for the actors thinking they were signing onto a project with such a well-known director...and trusting him with nudity, etc. Its not even tastefully done. And the show isn't even funny. If I were any of these actors or their agents I would be furious.

Fun, Loose, and Goofily Sexy

[michaeljcummings · 8/10 · 24 March 2019]

"Now Apocalypse" is fun and sexy and young - and a good,30-minute diversion. It's kind of a better version of the disappointing and cumbersome "Here and Now" in that it involves some "is he or is he not psychic?" poppycock. But I find the characters all goofily likable, although clearly cast based on looks. Some of them seem like they are learning to act as they go. And Gregg Araki does not make easy roles: the tone needs to be just right, kind of self-conscious and arrogant and earnest. In other words...very young. The plot is insignificant: the show is all about Gregg Araki's style and the use of color, light, and young flesh. And how everyone looks (almost) naked. Very 1980s.

Groundbreaking.......for 1996

[yaroslavc · 1/10 · 31 March 2019]

Not even the sex can keep this series from being boring. It is Gregg Araki rehashing everything he has already done. ZERO originality. Yes he has a distinctive and visually interesting style, but he has done everything in this series before multiple times and while it was something to be seen and talked about in the 90s, it is just sort of tired and recycled now. If someone has never seen anything he has done before this may be marginally more of an interesting series but really it just seems like the work of someone who instead of maturing and getting deeper and better at their craft is just reaching back to stuff from the beginning of their career desperately trying to hold on to the breath of youth and vigor.

I take it back

[stewart-13573 · 8/10 · 6 May 2020]

When I started watching this is I cringed hard and assumed it was trash but I take it back, it's actually weirdly excellent. TOTALLY worth watching as soon as you let go of your assumptions abt what it is. Yes the millennial affectations are irritating but that's the whole point.

Huh?

[supercoupe1234 · 1/10 · 19 March 2019]

Really tried to make it through first ep. Then i realized i was actually wasting my life away.

8/10 based on the first episode

[loken-83037 · 8/10 · 10 March 2019]

It's fun, and it's making fun of the millennial generation. If you're disgusted by it then that shows more about who you are than about the show.

A waste of time

[nikashvili · 1/10 · 26 March 2019]

All I wanted was to see Beau Mirchoff's full frontal and they could not even deliver that. The writing is so bad that it fails to answer a even a single question. NOTHING makes sense in this show.

Weird and amazing

[jawadmohaiuddin · 8/10 · 17 March 2019]

Weird, unique and amazing. Beautiful color pallet. Gregg Araki has a unique style, love the weirdness, boldness and the colors. Some people don't like this kind of thing and I can understand that.

Astoundingly terrible.

[Applejack75 · 2/10 · 16 March 2019]

No character development. Nothing compelling the viewer to keep watching. In fact just the opposite. It's actively repellant. Half an hour of people jerking off, jerking other people off, or getting jerked off to and going absolutely nowhere. It gets the second star for being in HDR, even though the imagery is garbage and doesn't warrant it.

this is Gregg Araki

[deeplysubmissive · 10/10 · 23 March 2019]

First of all, this is Gregg Araki, he has a very distinctive vision, and yes he is very very gay...so what? don't like it? don't watch it, i like it, his cinematography brilliant

Has the Trifecta - Worse Writing, Acting, & Plot than Skinemax Flicks

[Siskul_Eburtz · 1/10 · 11 March 2019]

Wow. What is Starz thinking? This show is unbearable. What audience are premium channels trying to cater to? So much garbage and shows that are supposed to appeal to brain dead millennials or SJWs. Worse than HBO's "Girls" Can't believe that I made it to the end of the episode to see the big reveal. What Discount Outlet did they pick that costume up at? Same place they bought the script?