Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Movie Review

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Movie Review, Written by: Karen Benardello Director: Lorene Scafaria Starring: Steve Carell, Keira Knightley and Connie Britton (TV’s ‘American Horror Story,’ ‘Friday Night Lights’) With the conspiracy theory that the world is going to end at the end of this year, to coincide with the ending of the Mayan calendar, many people have thought about what they would do if they knew they only had weeks or months left to live. The new romantic dramedy ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’ looks past the violence that has often surrounded the idea of the Apocalypse in many horror films to show how people will genuinely act in the event science couldn’t save Earth and its life forms. The main characters in the film choose not to engage in the reckless behavior their friends are to instead find comfort with each other, and accept how they’re lives have turned out. ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’ follows soft-spoken insurance salesman Dodge Peterson (played by Steve Carell), whose marriage quickly disintegrates when the news that the world will end in an estimated 21 days leads his wife to leave him. Realizing that he was never truly happy in his marriage, and wanting to make the most of the rest of his life before a 70-mile-wide asteroid hits Earth, Dodge decides to track down his high school sweetheart, Olivia. Dodge thinks Olivia is the love of his life, which leads his hopeless romantic neighbor, Penny Lockhart (portrayed by Keira Knightley), to encourage him to search for her. Dodge and Penny leave their respective lives as they head out on the road to reconnect with the people in their past. While traveling together, seeking their own personal journeys in an effort to contend with their looming deaths, the two realize how much they truly like each other. Both Dodge and Penny come to accept that their friendship may be all they need. ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’s screenwriter, Lorene Scafaria, who also made her feature film directorial debut with the romantic dramedy, perfectly captured the essence of people needing to find comfort in each other during dire circumstances with Dodge and Penny. Unlike many films dealing with the pending Apocalypse, which are often told in the horror genre with the visual horrors of the end of days, ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’ rightfully took a different perspective by focusing on people’s natural reactions. Dodge and Penny’s immediate response to the news is to make up for the wrongs in their lives, and search for people from who they’ve become distant from in order to save the relationships. To continue reading this review, please click here.