This Is the End (2013)
Directed by Seth Rogen
No · Ultra Based
How we score movies →Consciousness Markers
The cast is predominantly male with only Emma Watson and Mindy Kaling in peripheral roles. Female representation is minimal and tokenistic.
Emma Watson's walk-off due to an uncomfortable scene request reveals the film's disregard for female comfort and agency. Female characters are marginal to the narrative.
Craig Robinson and David Krumholtz are in the cast, but there is no evidence of racial consciousness themes or commentary in the film's narrative.
The film contains generic satire of Hollywood celebrity culture and excess, but this is comedy convention rather than genuine anti-capitalist critique.
The film includes self-aware comedy about celebrity and Hollywood dynamics, but it avoids any preachy or preachy approach to social commentary.
No LGBTQ+ characters, themes, or representation present in the film.
The apocalypse is depicted as supernatural and biblical in nature, not environmental or climate-related.
No body positivity messaging or representation evident in the film.
No representation of or engagement with neurodivergence in the film.
This is not a historical film and contains no revisionist history elements.
Synopsis
While attending a party at James Franco's house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities are faced with the apocalypse.
Why it received this score
This Is the End represents the comedic sensibilities of a pre-woke era, a time when the most transgressive thing a film could do was make crude jokes about bodily functions and the end of the world. The ensemble of male comedians playing exaggerated versions of themselves operates within a comedic universe where consequence and social awareness remain quaint concepts. Emma Watson's presence in the film serves primarily as a punchline, a fact underscored by her reported walk-off when the script demanded she participate in a scene that violated her boundaries, an incident that Seth Rogen later acknowledged was justified.
The film's casting reflects the Hollywood priorities of 2013, a moment when a comedy about the apocalypse could field a roster of predominantly male talent with only token female and minority representation. Watson and Mindy Kaling exist in the margins of a narrative that belongs entirely to Rogen, Franco, Hill, and their circle. This is not necessarily malicious, merely reflective of an industry standard that has since been scrutinized more carefully. The film contains no discernible interest in representation, diversity of perspective, or the social consciousness that would come to dominate critical discourse in subsequent years.
The film is simply disinterested in the progressive sensibilities that would increasingly shape entertainment in the 2020s. There is no subtext about climate catastrophe, no meditation on structural inequality, no consideration of how the apocalypse might affect those beyond the Hollywood bubble. It exists as a cultural artifact of its moment, a time before such considerations became routine in mainstream comedy.
Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm
Critic Reviews
“It's the wildest screen comedy in a long time, and also the smartest, the most fearlessly inspired, and the snort-out-loud funniest.”
“In its own sloppy, raunchy, sophomoric, occasionally self-pleased and consistently energetic way, This Is the End is just about perfect at executing its mission, which is to poke fun at its stars, exhaust every R-rated possibility to get a laugh, and even sneak in a few insights into Hollywood, the celebrity culture and the nature of faith.”
“From the clockwork comic timing to the movie's salty mix of the ridiculous and the reflective, This Is the End is stupidly hysterical and smartly heretical. Cross my heart and hope to die, it's funny as hell.”
“There are a few laughs at the start of This Is the End, and a couple more at the end of This is the End. As for the endless middle, it’s middling. ”