Directed by Leonel Dietsche, Ende Neu (or The New End), is a German-language film that is an artsy post-apocalyptic feature. The movie picked apart humanity showing both the worst of human nature and also the purest, while giving commentary on the psychological toll of oppression and violence, most graphically, towards women. Its frank depiction often gave a feeling of voyeurism, and it was an impressive feature debut for its director and writer, Leonel Dietsche.

Ende Neu is a movie that ebbs and flows, loud at times and intense but then powerful and emotional in its quiet moments. It teases spirituality here and there and is tastefully exploitative, balancing its violence with an art-house feel. At all times it is beautiful with cinematography that showed the bleakness of a post-apocalypse against the peacefulness of a rural landscape. Deservedly, it took home the Achievement in Cinematography at the 2019 Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival. It is probably one of the more graphic movies I have seen, however, it was the sound that truly created the horrific-ness of all the happenings as most of the violence and deaths took place off-screen.

In Ende Neu, the future seems to be overrun with men, save for the rare sighting of a woman. In a rural territory, a group of men is led by a ruthless Leader (Marko Mandic), who, along with his Doctor (Sylvester Groth) enjoys the freedom and revelry in dystopian living — sex, drugs, and surviving. Among them, a Dwarf (Mick Morris Mehner), provides entertainment and assistance to the gang, but he often lives on the outskirts of their activities. One of his favorite past-times is watching a peaceful girl, named Daughter (Milena Tscharntke), who lives with her paranoid Mother (Sabine Timoteo) well hidden in the forest in order to not attract any men. When Mother falls deathly ill, Daughter goes to The Doctor to ask for his help, but instead, she becomes a captive in his home where she is subjected to the very atrocities that her mother feared. In anguish, Dwarf seeks out The Healer (Georg Friedrich) who can replace The Doctor and disrupt their outlaw society enough to save the pure and perfect Daughter.

Somehow without being a “gore” movie, Ende Neu made me feel like just a piece of human meat more so than actual gore films due to how women are treated in the movie, specifically Daughter. In the absence of society, violence against women goes unchecked even more so and it is brutally portrayed in Ende Neu. You don’t want to watch because of the content, but it is as artistically shot as a terrifying assault can be. Towards the end, a very poignant scene led by Samuel Schneider and Sabine Timoteo really gave a sense of humanity to the film, after the savagery and debauchery found in the rest of the film. It also has a really impressive score, which has a lot of eighties synth-pop that simultaneously gives scenes that otherworldly feeling and a cool vibe.

“Ende neu” means “the new end” in English, and what is interesting to me about this title is that I felt this movie was a new approach to post-apocalyptic type movies, which may typically conjure images of Mad Max. Ende Neu had more of a vibe similar to The Road (2009)…but then it skirts Irreversible (2002) territory — if that can give you any clue about how heart-wrenching the content will be. Though it is an emotionally jarring film at times, at other times the story-line was confused with the plot points of spiritual healers, psychological effects of trauma and abuse, and the struggle for power seemingly fighting for prominence. Overall, Ende Neu is a great-looking, hard-hitting, great first film from Leonel Dietsche.

MOVIE RATING — 7 out of 10 ☠️