For some, Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein’s “How It Ends” may trigger a bit of PTSD back to the early months of the coronavirus pandemic when stay-at-home orders were in effect. The film was shot in June of 2020. That meant characters were almost universally six feet apart. Almost every scene is outside. There are no cars in the streets. And, notably, no one hugs or touches one another. It might be hard to experience now, but in many ways, it’s a necessary snapshot of that time.
READ MORE: “How it Ends” [Sundance Review]
“I think from the jump, we definitely did know that outside of the opening scene, the entirety of the film would be outdoors,” Lister-Jones says. “And that on those streets, we would see no cars or people. And so, that was something that while the streets were the emptiest we’d ever seen them and that was part of the inspiration for the way that we shot the film was we wanted it to serve as a time capsule for this moment in L.A.’s history but then there were still some cars and some people. So, we were trying to avoid them or hold for them as they passed.”
Co-directed and written by Lister-Jones and Wein, the film itself centers on Liz (Lister-Jones) who is seemingly in a never-ending conversation with her younger self (Cailee Spaeny). On the last day on earth, her younger self convinces her to walk across Los Angeles to see her mother (Helen Hunt), father (Bradley Whitford), and other friends, to try and come to find peace with herself before it all ends. They also run into other people finding their way on this last day played by Olivia Wilde, Nick Roll, Charlie Day, and Colin Hanks, among others.
The pair jumped on a zoom call before the festival began to discuss the inspiration for the film, the creative limitations of filming during that period, and much more.
Follow along with all of our coverage of this year’s Sundance Film Festival here.
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The Playlist: Obvious question first, where did the idea from this film even come from?
Zoe Lister-Jones: Well, we were early in quarantine, obviously dealing with so many unprecedented emotions, many of which were I think really confronting a vulnerability that was deeper than any we had faced before. And that led to us both doing a lot of sort of inner child work with our therapists virtually. I think we were also both concerned with the future of filmmaking and wondering what that was going to look like and if we were ever going to make a film again. I think this idea sort of came out of both of those fears colliding, and us looking at how to craft a narrative that could sort of [explore] a lot of the emotional trajectories that we were on in this very specific time and also work within the confines of having to shoot within a pandemic.
So you’re looking to create a project during the pandemic. What aspect of the story came first? The idea of the end of the world happening or Liza trying to find peace with herself?
Daryl Wein: I think we didn’t set out to be like, “Oh, we want to make a pandemic movie.” I think we just had so much time on our hands and we were so depressed for so long and so worried about the world and its state of things. I think we were looking for a way to channel all of our fears and feelings and whatever shreds of creativity we still had left into something. And so, it started more experimental like, “What would it look like if we did try and create something right now?” And then we started to think, “Well, obviously these are the parameters that we have to operate under. We can’t really go inside to many places. How would we, from a production standpoint, even pull this off?” We probably have to do it ourselves.
Zoe Lister-Jones: They were happening sort of at the same time.
Daryl Wein: Yeah, exactly. The idea for the movie and the idea of how to make the movie were in conversation with each other. I think we also, as we were all doing, talking to other friends and family during that time, seeing where other people were at, and there were a bunch of other actor friends that either Zoe had worked with or I had worked with that we knew were also going through similar things and itching to try and step foot back into the creative waters. And so, we thought that would be really nice to be able to see them, but also to be able to work with some of these great people who I think just wanted to get back to making something creatively again.
When did you guys start filming?
Daryl Wein: We started filming in early summer and then shot over the course of like three weeks on and off and kind of just pieced it together. And then, because we have so much time on our hands, we edited it fairly quickly.
When you guys were shooting it did it sort of feel like guerrilla filmmaking? Or did it feel like, “Nope, we’re making a traditional indie film, doing everything that you would normally do.”
Daryl Wein: We wanted it to feel like a traditional indie film, and we approached it in that way. But we were definitely a smaller footprint than normal because we didn’t have the ability to even have a big crew. And I think in many ways we were interested in a very intimate experience because of what the film is about, your inner child, and all of the feelings you’re grappling with when the future is uncertain and you’re trying to figure out who you are and how to take care of yourself during difficult circumstances, lent itself to a more intimate size production. So yeah, we had a smaller team, which was really nice because we were able to be really nimble and light on our feet when it came to going to different locations and working together in that capacity.
It seems as though there were some ground rules for the film. Liza rarely checks her phone. And there’s talk of the car, but we never see the car and there are no cars driving on the streets. Were there other rules that you guys came up with for how you wanted to tell the story?
Zoe Lister-Jones: Well, I think from the jump, we definitely did know that outside of the opening scene, the entirety of the film would be outdoors. And that on those streets, we would see no cars or people. And so, that was something that while the streets were the emptiest we’d ever seen them and that was part of the inspiration for the way that we shot the film was we wanted it to serve as a time capsule for this moment in L.A.’s history but then there were still some cars and some people. So we were trying to avoid them or hold for them as they passed. I don’t know if there were other rules.
Daryl Wein: Just that you can’t touch anybody.
The other thing I was noticing is that no one’s panicking. It’s the end of the world and people are sad, but people are purposely not panicking. It reminded me of this 1998 Canadian movie, “Last Night” with Sandra Oh, which was also about the day on Earth. How did you decide characters wouldn’t be freaking out at the end of the world?
Daryl Wein: We didn’t have any real references. It was really born out of kind of how we were feeling, which was fairly just shut down and isolated feeling and not seeing anybody. And also because of the pandemic, we were forced to just retreat inward. So I think that feeling of being resigned to whatever happens is I think where that quality, that zen life quality kind of came that permeates the film where everybody’s kind of just like, “Alright, here it is. The last day has finally come.” I think we also have seen enough films that in so many ways it brilliantly show the chaos and the violence and the apocalyptic insanity of the end of the world that I think we both felt like it was something we wanted to see more of the other direction, which was just peace and calm.
Zoe Lister-Jones: I think I would just add that what was interesting and continues to be interesting about quarantine and the pandemic in the last 10 and a half months is sort of the banality of this apocalyptic landscape. I mean, obviously, there’s the uprising and the Black Lives Matter movement. And obviously what just happened at the Capitol. There are moments that are very much not banal, but for the most part, I think it was interesting to be facing this apocalyptic sort of moment and just be in sweat pants watching Netflix a lot of the time. We wanted to also echo that in the movie.
I sort of love that part where the party is going to happen and everyone’s excited about the party and then the party gets canceled, but then the party’s back on because it does feel very much like that in real life where you’re like, “Do I really want to go to a party right now? I’m not sure.” I appreciated that. I also did appreciate, by the way, that you made it clear an asteroid is coming. As opposed to other films or programs that have kept it more mysterious.
Zoe Lister-Jones: I think we wanted a ticking clock. This idea that I think part of this sort of resignation that Daryl was talking about that we wanted to embody in the film was that people had been preparing for this asteroid for many months. So it wasn’t like we just learned it was the end of the world so that we could avoid that chaos. We had already what we had been going through in real life of you’re sort of just sitting with this idea of, “O.K., we’ve been preparing for a long time now for the end.” And so, what does that final day actually look like when you have time to process it in advance?
Who were you most excited about getting to be part of the film?
Zoe Lister-Jones: A toughy.
Daryl Wein: We can’t pick because there’s so many. I mean, everyone’s an incredible person and actor.
Zoe Lister-Jones: Every time any of our cast members said yes, we would have the biggest celebration. Everyone is such a get and is such an incredible scene partner for me in addition to the film.
Daryl Wein: It was fun for Zoe to reconnect with Fred Armisen after making “Band-Aid” with him.
Zoe Lister-Jones: That was really fun, yeah.
Daryl Wein: He’s always a really fun improviser and Olivia Wilde, that was the first time that she had left her house and the first thing that she had done, so she said it was super surreal and felt like cloud nine when she walked up to us and wasn’t sure if it even really ever happened. That scene was really fun.
Zoe Lister-Jones: Lamorne [Morris].
Daryl Wein: Yeah, Lamorne was hilarious. I mean, there are so many amazing people in this,
And this is might be a stupid question, but were you actually filming at some of these people’s houses or in their front yards?
Daryl Wein: It was wherever they were comfortable. So, for some people it was, some people it wasn’t. It was a mixture. It was totally up to the person.
Zoe Lister-Jones: Yeah, we left it up to them of wherever you feel safest in these times.
Was there anything because of when you were in production that you had in the script that you actually couldn’t shoot because it just wasn’t possible for one reason or another?
Daryl Wein: Good question. I think we knew all the parameters, so we just constructed the film and the vignettes accordingly. Yeah, I don’t think there was really much else other than just it would’ve been nice to have just a few hugs here and there in the film. Just to say goodbye with a hug would have felt maybe a little bit more natural, but other than that, I don’t think so.
I’ve lived here for 20 years. It feels very much like a quintessential LA movie that you might not realize unless you’ve lived in LA for an extended period of time. Was that part of what you were trying to accomplish?
Zoe Lister-Jones: I mean, it’s so cliche to say that a movie is a love letter to a city, but I mean, I think it is. As I mentioned, I think the streets of LA were really such an inspiration for us to see them quite empty of cars or people, and to just kind of get to see the city in a new light and through a new lens, I think was really exciting from a filmmaking perspective.
How do you guys feel about being in Sundance?
Daryl Wein: I think we’re just so excited. Even though it’s virtual and super weird to not be in real life, I think being in any version of Sundance is always amazing and they’re doing an incredible job making it work. They sent us an Oculus Quest 2 so we could experience things in VR. They’ve set up a lot of really cool Hangouts and Zooms, and they’re doing satellite screenings around the country, which is awesome. So, there’s some outdoor drive-in footprint. Sadly, LA got canceled because of COVID restrictions, but it’ll be interesting to stream it online. The world is moving more into streaming anyway, hopefully not exclusively. And we look forward to going back to Park City in the future.