Well this one was a wild ride.
Everything Will Be Fine In The End (2023, written, directed and scored by Joe Bartone II) centers a wayward group of… friends??? in L.A. as they struggle with a meaningless existence and with the consequences of their own shenanigans. It’s an excellent character film driven by dialogue, something you could easily imagine seeing as a play.
We have George, played by Elsa Kennedy, an absolute shit-stirrer in the truest sense, riling up her friends and acting outrageous. There’s Kai, her lover and puppydog, loyal and dumb, but ironically the most emotionally intelligent of the whole group. Then there’s Renka, an unknown who gets caught up in George’s hankering, and finally Buzz, first seen having sex with George in a construction site in the opening scene, immediately after which he stabs her and takes with him the dog that she herself stole, which kicks off the whole story…
The film absolutely slays in the costume and design department, with each character clearly and individually defined by a unique style that typifies George’s “bitch” energy, Kai’s lost puppydog follower vibes, Renka’s wannabe skatergirl schtick and Buzz’s “I’m 100% a psychokiller” identity. We can’t forget as well the germ-freak Julia, played by the film’s Costume Designer Holly Rockwell, who (SPOILER ALERT) sticks around as a plastic-covered tennis-outfit-wearing angel of a ghost who haunts the remaining scenes after her violent death at the hands of the trio.
It’s hard to tell whether all of the characters are on drugs all of the time (because we do see that some of them at least are on drugs at least some of the time), or if they’re all just extremely stunted emotionally and socially – they talk like children, pester and bully and nag each other consistently about the most random and inconsequential problems. This contributes to the zany feeling of the film, its whackyness, and some of these lines could easily become trademark quotes for audiences in the 12-13 year-old/alty demographic. Sometimes, though, the characters and what they say simply do not make any sense, but I suppose that’s the whole point, right? They’re wayward, have no idea what they’re doing with their lives, so all they can do is fixate on trivialities and hype themselves up. Most of this commentary is for George’s character, as she is easily the leader and centre character of the film, yet all of them seem like teenagers in adult bodies, lost with the freedom their adulthood status brings.
Everything is sexually explicit and unconventional in its depiction of sex – I would feel exceedingly uncomfortable watching this in a movie theater so I’m glad I got to watch it in the comfort of my own home, alone. But it is visually gorgeous – rich in colour and with continuous movement which helps you feel in the busy moment with the agitated characters. Despite the title, I’m left feeling thoroughly uncertain that everything will be fine in the end, at least for the four main human characters. Leo the stolen dog however, epitomises what the narrator/prophet/truth-speaking character says we as humans used to be; loyal, kind, just in need of a good meal and a safe, warm bed. Leo the innocent is the throughline the rest of the characters slide around, and he at least may be fine in the end.
Review by Kena