The existence of life on Earth was a cosmic accident, and someday in future a similar phenomenon will become the reason for its undoing—unless manmade catastrophes don’t spell doom before that already. How will humanity respond to such a crisis? This draws several philosophical questions, which Director Marcos Efron’s Last Night on Earth tries to answer. The question of survival, the acceptance of fate in the face of the inevitability of death, and coping with one’s own mortality are a few of the themes the movie addresses, as is expected from a doomsday drama such as this. However, in my personal opinion, the thriller element added to the plotline might serve a distinct purpose, as we will discuss later, but it doesn’t sit well with the narrative as a whole.
Spoilers Ahead
What Caused the Doomsday Scenario?
Last Night on Earth opens with Carl Sagan’s quote about love being the integral element that provides humanity a sense of coherence in the vastness of existence—which is the primary theme of “Last Night on Earth.” Seven months before the present timeline of the movie, people across the globe were shocked after learning of an eighteen-kilometer-wide meteor, Mazzik, which is about to collide with Earth. Unlike the usual doomsday hoaxes that circulate on a yearly basis, this news was legitimate, as governments across the world confirmed the news of the impending disaster, and the worst part is there is nothing to be done to avert or escape the crisis. Perhaps for the powerful people who control much of global politics and economics, an escape contingency was made, unbeknownst to everyone else, although that issue isn’t raised in the movie. But for commoners, there is no option except to turn on the doomsday clock and await their final fate. Following the confirmation, a complete societal collapse and resource plundering ensued—and some, like the lead duo of the movie, Holly and Ryan, settled in the wilderness to spend their last few days with their loved ones.
Difference in Coping Mechanism
At present, the doomsday countdown is nearing the final days, and in accordance to that, people are having a hard time coping with reality. The opening scene focuses on a family of three—Chris, Vicki, and Jonah—who are camping in the woods. Young Jonah marvels at a shooting star in the sky, remaining blissfully unaware that, for grownups like his parents, it’s just a reminder about increasing cosmic activities before Mazzik finally collides with Earth. Vicki can’t hide the grim look on her face, and Chris tries to distract their son the best way he can. Giving up hope, the family commits suicide that night by slitting their wrists, as discovered later by Ryan—who stumbled across Chris’ dog, Roxy, while taking a stroll outside with his wife, Holly. Ryan quickly distracts Holly so she doesn’t get to see the grisly spectacle and lies to her about the nature of their deaths. From flashback scenes that established the premise throughout the movie, it is revealed that Holly had tried to take her life in a similar manner, as the desperation has gotten to her as well. Thanks to Ryan’s timely interference, Holly was rescued and promised him she’d accept their final fate together without giving in to despair. However, Holly secretly still contemplates ending it all, as she hasn’t gotten over the desperation and hopelessness. Holly keeps up an appearance of being cheerful and relaxed in front of Ryan, who copes with his own feelings of despondency by trying to live the best way they can, with whatever time they have.
Ryan and Holly come across Carla, a devoutly religious elderly woman, and her grandkids, Miriam and Joshua. Carla has built a commune of sorts in the neighboring area, where people from different walks of life live together—united by their shared willingness to face the end together with the grace of their god. After learning about the tragic fate of Chris and his family, Carla very calmly breaks the news to her grandkids, which indicates that they have become well accustomed to this changed world order. As social creatures, our willingness to band together in times of crisis is quite instinctual. Which is why Carla, and occasionally her grandkids, try to ask Holly and Ryan to join their commune. However, the couple politely refuses their proposal, which could be on account of their wariness about strangers or their general unwillingness to let themselves be acquainted with new people, given the overall situation. Later, Ryan discovers Holly’s attempts to overdose herself with pills and confronts her about it, but finds himself unable to assuage her growing feeling of hopelessness and uncertainty.
Why Did Gene and Gabby Stalk Holly and Ryan?
However, the husband-wife duo finds themselves at the center of unwanted attention when a strange couple, Gene and Gabby, start actively stalking them for reasons unknown. Although their initial interactions seem friendly, soon Gene and Gabby start encroaching in their private space. Gene, who introduces himself as a software engineer, appears a bit eccentric, while Gabby tries to seduce Ryan on one occasion. All hell breaks loose on the very day the meteor is going to collide with Earth; Gabby manages to steal Ryan’s gun and, along with Gene, tries to take Holly away from him. Ryan and Holly try to flee, but eventually the psychotic couple catch up to them and abduct Holly.
While frantically searching for Holly, Ryan comes across Carla’s commune, and initially, Carla tries to dissuade him from looking for Holly and just make peace with his life. However, upon realizing that Ryan is unwilling to spend the final hours of his life without Holly, Carla reveals that that psycho duo were formerly members of their group—but were excommunicated after their past as criminals came to the surface. Carla gives Ryan a gun, using which Ryan engages in a clash with Gene and Gabby and ends up shooting Gabby to death. Gene is injured as Holly manages to shoot him with a crossbow, and the couple returns to their camper to spend their final moments together. It should be mentioned that Gene was behind this abduction planning, and implored Gabby to assist him, as he wanted to take pleasure in killing Holly and feel a sense of empowerment while doing so. Faced with the realization of how insignificant humans truly are in the face of cosmic vastness, Gene wanted to feel like a god by taking a life. After Ryan ends up shooting Gabby to death to save Holly, Gene tries to taunt him by asking him whether he felt such power as well and will want to feel the same by killing him. However, refusing to entertain his sick mindset, Ryan knocks Gene out. The couple buried Roxy; the poor dog had sacrificed her life while trying to save them from Gene and Gabby.
Did the Earth Really End?
Unfortunately, the nutcase once again catches up to them, and this time fatally stabs Ryan. While trying to escape from Gene, Holly arrives at the commune—and sees a grisly sight. Carla and her entire commune have eaten their so-called last supper by poisoning themselves mere minutes before the meteor impact. Perhaps they thought that the day of judgment wasn’t triggered by some grandiose spectacle of scriptures; instead, it was something rooted in science and reason—threatened their faith and led them to take their own lives as a form of opposing the cosmic judgment.
Obtaining a gun from a deceased group member of the commune, Holly was able to hold Gene at gunpoint, but despite having all the reason to kill him, she decided to spare his life. As it is famously said, in their final moments people truly show who they are, and Holly made it clear to Gene that she didn’t subscribe to his twisted ideology and didn’t give in to her baser instincts even while having a chance to do so. Holly rushes back to a dying Ryan, a disillusioned Gene eats the poisoned food of the commune members to end his misery—and finally the meteor crashes on Earth to illuminate the night sky with a thousand suns. The world ends, and for what it’s worth, Holly had the chance to see the end with the person she loves, which is quite poetic to say the least. Perhaps the harrowing experience Holly and Ryan went through before the end of the world was needed for them to rekindle their love for each other, it perhaps acted as a reminder to a depressed, suicidal Holly that love is worth fighting for till the end.
