End Day

In at least one respect End Day from BBC productions is similar to Hollywood’s Groundhog Day (1993). In the latter film the protagonist wakes up every morning to relive the same day. In the documentary version, scientist Dr Howell also wakes up to the same day every day. While America bet on romance, Europe has remained loyal to pessimism and tragedy. Each day diverse catastrophic events occur (a great tsunami, an asteroid, a deadly epidemic, a black hole). The viral paranoia relating to the end-of-the-world theme has flooded the internet with maximum intensity in the past few years. Various versions of the end of the world are considered. Catastrophes have become big business for the media. All we have to do is choose one of the film variations at hand and watch the end of the world (one of which may be our own) from the comfort of our couch. It is the same with Dr Howell as he watches the extinction of the population every day. Without learning any finer details or gaining exact information, he only observes the current events. Just as we all did when watching the fall of the Twin Towers. We had no means to prevent it. We just watched the end. As one of the protagonists says, “It is not important if and how it happens but when it happens.” All we can do is watch helplessly. (Academia Film Olomouc)