Review | Berlin 2024: Another End movie review – departed loved ones reanimated in a derivative sci-fi story illuminated by Gael Garcia Bernal and Renate Reinsve
- A sci-fi-tinged story of grief and memory set in the near future, Another End stars Gael Garcia Bernal as a widower whose wife is reanimated in another’s body
- Piero Messina’s tale has a familiar ring and could be told better, but features an appealing cast, with Bérénice Bejo in a supporting role
3.5/5 stars
Premiering in competition at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, Piero Messina’s tale of grief and memory set in the near future begins with a clever bit of word play.
The words “Not here” are spelled out from the film’s title, Another End. And this is exactly what the film is about: loved ones who are gone but not forgotten. In the sci-fi- tinged world it depicts, technology has been developed to allow us to say our goodbyes even after our nearest and dearest have died.
Memories can be uploaded into a willing host, a person who volunteers to become a surrogate over a series of sessions, allowing the client to access the person who’s been taken away from them.
Sal (Gael García Bernal, looking at his most mournful) is the grieving widower, having lost his wife, Zoe, in a car accident for which he feels responsible. With the help of his sister (Bérénice Bejo), who conveniently works for the company behind this innovation, he brings his spouse back to life.
Playing the host is Ava (The Worst Person in the World’s Renate Reinsve), with whom Sal becomes increasingly entranced. First, though, there has to be a “reawakening” as Zoe’s memories are implanted into the host, including a bizarre charade that involves recreating the moment that she was rushed to hospital, fake ambulance and all.
