Mahalia Belo’s mystery thriller film titled, The End We Start From, released in 2023, follows the story of a woman, who, along with her newborn child, battles her way through the floodwaters that seem to have drowned London city, causing a serious ecological crisis.
The movie stars Jodie Comer, Benedict Cumberbatch, Katherine Waterson, Mark Strong, Joel Fry, Gina McKee, and Nina Sosanya in the leading roles. The screenplay was written by Alice Birch, who is known most famously for Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., and Anatomy of a Suicide, the movie is in reality inspired by author Megan Hunter’s novel of the same name.
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch revealed in his later interviews the reason why his production house, SunnyMarch along with Hera Pictures, picked up the story. He felt the story had the potential to tell a striking tale of motherhood and how far a mother’s love can go for her child’s survival.
He was also blown away by the fact the story seamlessly managed to make the audience think deeply about the kind of future we are leaving behind for the upcoming generations. The story is as real and frightening as it can get.
Actress Jodie Comer has done a phenomenal job of portraying the emotions of a mother tortured by the conditions of society but still pushing through all for the sake of her newborn child. The movie along with its stunning cinematography manages to put the audience in a state of introspection, which is what the makers were going for.
Megan Hunter, the writer of the book of the same name, revealed, after watching the film, that she was touched by how well the movie was able to bring life to the characters and the underlying themes.
The End We Start From was eventually nominated for a total of nine British Independent Film Awards, including Best Lead Performance for Comer and Best Cinematography among many others.
The movie is a definite treat for the eyes, especially for fans of survival film lovers, but before you go off to binge the film, let us tell you all about the different locations where the film was shot.
The End We Start From Filming Locations
London, England, United Kingdom
The movie, as we told you, follows the story of a heavily pregnant woman who at the start of the film gives birth to her baby. But as we learn about the situation where the woman is stuck in, we soon realise that things might not be as hopeful for the child as we would like them to be.
Early in the movie we are told that the entirety of London is almost drowning in floodwaters and that our leading lady has to battle the disaster striken city to get her child to safety. So, we know that the movie is based in London City.
The crew used places around Europe to incorporate into the film but most of the film was shot in London itself. Keeping true to the story, the crew shot in places in London though not a lot has been revealed about the specific locations where the crew stopped by.
A primary location where the movie was filmed was the Carmel College situated in Southern Oxfordshire, England. The college facility used to be a boarding school that was fully constructed in 1948 but ended up shutting down in 1997.
The magnificent place has been featured in another film called The Iron Lady, a film that was based around the life of Margaret Thatcher. The the crew used this location in the film was officially revealed by the production house but there are a few other places that fans and viewers have managed to spot within the film.
The Old Jura ferry pier, which is located in Craignish Point, Argyll Point in Scotland, is just one such place that many though was captured in the film. While the Caramel College was officialy revealed to be shooting location, fans managed to find actress Jodie Comer on the terrace of a building with a baby held closely in her arms.
This location was confirmed to be the Hard Rock Cafe London Picadilly, where the crew shot some of the scenes that appeared in the movie. While there may not have been a lot of locations revealed, that does not take away from the movie at all.
It continues to be a treat with Jodie Comer’s striking performance in the leading role.
