THE LAST DAYS

The «panic»: this is how they call the syndrome for which people can no longer leave enclosed spaces, remaining segregated at work or at home; nature has taken over and reclaimed its spaces. In this apocalyptic situation, Marc sets out, passing through the city’s sewers to look for his missing girlfriend, and Enrique, the man who, if the world had gone on normally, would have fired him from work, gives him a hand. The Pastor brothers, after «Carriers – Contagion Mortal», think big and dedicate themselves to a reinterpretation of what was «The Exterminating Angel» by Buñuel in a modern and apocalyptic version, no longer limiting the impossibility of movement to a specific class but extending the situation experienced in the film to the entire world, even going so far as to evoke environmentalism and the struggle of man against nature. With a good budget, they make yet another apocalyptic film (here of Spanish production, unlike many recent productions) in which people can no longer leave closed places because nature seems to have control over the rest of the world, forcing them to move through the sewers or to remain locked in their homes, offices, or wherever they are. The film in question is not a bad product; it offers just under two hours of pleasant entertainment, but the scope of the work could have been of a much higher quality. The story itself is mechanical and requires the insertion of many elements, without which the narrative would have been too static: writings found on the walls, chance encounters that resolve doubts, backpacks hiding stolen items opened at the right moment and in the right place, etc. are all things necessary for something to proceed. The two protagonists are also not very impactful, falling back on the usual stereotypes and being driven by love and the desire to help others even unconditionally, a characteristic suffered by almost all the characters that appear, who, excluding a couple of small exceptions, are never selfish, «assholes» or bastards but always ready to lend a hand and excessively devoted to a courtesy that is hardly credible during a crisis of such magnitude. Another negative note should be made for the dreamlike passages, worthy of an Irene Grandi music video, with the protagonist’s girlfriend running aimlessly through a forest, and, above all, the most embarrassing of the ideas is the ending that not even the UN would approve of for its audacity: unintentionally comic and vaguely similar, moreover, to a Kellog’s Coco Pops advertisement in a progressive version. That said, the product is technically well-made and offers some good action scenes (and we are not talking about the comically choreographed attack on the supermarket) and tension, showing us, however, that the directors have well studied at least Boyle’s film from which everything seems to draw inspiration. The cast does its job without overdoing it, but the good thing is that, being this a European production, at least we don’t find a Brad Pitt who should be a loser office employee or a Milla Jovovich who should be a cashier in a toy store. Among the names to mention, we cite Marta Etura, already seen recently in «Bed time» and in «Cella 211» and the protagonist, Quim Gutierréz of the equally recent «La verità nascosta». In conclusion, if you like apocalyptic films without pretension but that make you pass two hours of entertainment, «The Last Days» can also be seen, but if you miss it don’t worry, it’s definitely not worth going to look for it.