This ‘End’ is twisted fun
In Netflix’s World, we feel fine.
As you watch The End of the F***ing World, a new Netflix series from the U.K.’s Channel 4, you might wonder how such a completely batty series got made. From its title to its central conceit — a self-declared teen psychopath and his foul-mouthed potential victim run away together — the series is decidedly out of the box, seemingly more suited to the edgy comic book medium it’s adapted from.
But hey, it’s here, it’s weird, and it ends up being really wonderful.
World (streaming Friday, gives the teen rom-com a hard twist with James and Alyssa and their illconceived plan to escape their ill-fitting lives.
James (Alex Lawther, Black Mirror) believes he’s a psychopath without feeling and has plunged his hand into boiling oil and killed small animals to prove it. He wants to graduate to killing something “bigger,” meaning human, but hasn’t dared.
Alyssa (Jessica Barden, Penny Dreadful) has her own issues: She’s brash and profane on the surface but insecure in her home life and drawn to James’ outsider status. She thinks she could fall in love with him; he thinks he could kill her.
The series, created by Charlie Covell ( Humans), really kicks off when the teens get into a series of increasingly zany but serious misadventures, from laser tag to crashing a car to squatting to robbing a gas station. James and Alyssa carry out their crimes and misdemeanors against a bright color palette and striking visuals, and one particular set piece involving blood will stay with you long after watching.
World’s stylistic editing and internal narration gives it a cool, zippy vibe, and the fast pace propels it forward. Its smart structure, with genuine surprises and cliffhangers, makes it an addictive binge-watch, and the episodes’ 18- to 22-minute running time makes it a particularly easy one.
Lawther and Barden make World work: The talented young actors manage to make their characters sympathet- ic despite their heavy baggage. They have great chemistry, even in scenes where they’re disinterested in each other. The cast is rounded out by Gemma Whelan ( Game of Thrones) and Wunmi Mosaku ( Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as two delightfully quirky detectives on Alyssa’s and James’ trail.
World sometimes gets lost stewing in its own nihilism. It’s dark and violent, and there are moments when it feels so just for the sake of being provocative. But more often its weirdness leads to surprise and innovation. And sometimes the darkness lifts for an odd bit of charm and delight, as when James tries to give Alyssa flowers or Alyssa dances to an old record.
When you strip World down to its core, it’s actually a more familiar story than its odd fashion choices and violent cutaways suggest. It’s a coming-of-age story and a romance. It’s about a quirky woman softening a sad man, and a fatalistic couple on the run from the law. It’s Bonnie and Clyde if they were younger and more profane.
But don’t tell James and Alyssa they’re just like everyone else trying to figure out who they are. That really would be the end of the world.
STREAMING REVIEW