Review: Radu Jude’s ‘Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World’
by Alex Billington
November 22, 2023
There’s a new film from Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude playing on the film festival circuit this year. It’s called Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World, which is an apt title for another film from Jude showing how mindless & idiotic humans have become, all the while everyone is going around ignoring what’s really happening because they have a job to do and a life to live. After earning high praise from critics during its premiere at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival, I was lucky to catch up with Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (aka PÖFF) a few months later. Based on all the hyperbolic buzz out of Locarno, I was expecting something close to masterpiece alas it’s far from that. Radu Jude certainly is a master filmmaker creating provocative, subversive, clever films about how depraved society is – but this one is a mess. There’s a handful of good ideas in here, but the opening & closing segments are so disconnected from the rest, holding it back from being a truly important work of art.
I’m a big fan of Radu Jude’s film just before this, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (which won the Golden Bear at Berlinale 2021), which is a much more coherent and clear-eyed indictment of our hyper-sexualized society. Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World is another entirely fresh, one-of-a-kind Romanian cinema creation combining various critical ideas in a series of segments and a smattering of narratives. It’s not at all like Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, and it’s a bit hard to describe in words, which is usually the mark of truly great cinema anyway. Ilinca Manolache is excellent as Angela in the main story – she is an overworked PA for a video production company. She spends most of her time driving around Bucharest to conduct interviews and/or creating misogynistic TikToks videos using a filter that turns her into a man. Her company is hired to create a worker safety video for a multinational corporation. The film’s cinematography flip flops from B&W to color, with super grainy B&W for the real world Angela is working in. Unfortunately this choice is more annoying than creative – there is just no need for this B&W look; it doesn’t add anything.
One of the main problems with Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World is that Radu Jude is trying way too much, wanting to fit in too many ideas into one film. There’s some really fascinating ideas in this: examining how manipulative and draining capitalism is, with executives demanding everything be perfectly sanitized. There’s commentary about the “gig culture” and how overworked people are because they need to make any money to survive. There’s bit about lingering racism in Romania, and a desire for Romanians to blame everything on their communist past while never addressing modern day problems. The TikTok videos that Angela makes under the moniker “Bobita” are funny and clever and witty, yes, even if they’re vulgar and offensive (which is the point and the joke). However, I’m not sure what they add to the conversation and how they’re criticizing society in an effecting way. It’s mostly mockery, leaning on providing comedic relief for the film in the form of some escapism where Angela gets to rant by letting out these “F you, I’m a man!!” tirades. It’s a good way for her to vent her anger and fun to watch, but is there more to it than that..?
Most frustrating is the film’s strange opening ~30 mins or so, which are more disorienting than intriguing – not a good way to kick off a film. Once it settles in with Angela following her the job, Jude finally hits his stride and fully delivers for most of the remainder. Of course, I do think he is a cutting edge, smart, amusing filmmaker who is making films that don’t beat around the bush with their criticism of modern society. And this film does have some nice cuts about how terrible things are, especially in Romania. The whole point of the title seems to be that this film is a look at the “end of the world” societal collapse we’re living in now, with stupid people galore and corrupt cities, and a nod to the reality that no one actually cares much and everyone is going to keep going about their business anyway. We’ve all got things to do! Places to be! Work to finish! Sleep to get! I wish there was more bite to the bark here. It might be more impactful & compelling overall with a bit of trimming and narrative fine-tuning. With Bobita leading the way, anything is possible.
Alex’s Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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