Everyone’s Going To Die review

We’ve been asked once or twice why there was no review of the film Entourage on this site. Bluntly, the answer was this: I had the chance to see it, or Jones’ Everyone’s Going To Die instead. I plumped for the smaller British film, and am mightily glad I did.

Made back in 2013 but only now getting a UK release, Everyone’s Going To Die pretty much had me on side from its opening credits. That ‘A Film By’ screen you sometimes get? It was filled with the name of everyone who worked on the film. A really lovely touch, and a welcome precursor for what turns out to be a far, far sweeter film than the title might lead you to believe.

It’s a kind of Before Sunrise with harsher edges, at times showing the confines of its miniscule budget, but mostly telling extremely well the story of two very different lost souls, who encounter each other.

Firstly then, there’s Nora Tschirner’s Melanie, who’s a German woman living in England, looking after children but basically at a loose end. She’s not quite sure where she fits in, and not particularly happy either. But then neither’s hitman Ray, played by Rob Knighton. He’s back in his home town for the first time in a long time, and not best pleased to be there. The reason for his visit? To see the family of his recently lost brother, but also, there’s a job he needs to do as well. Some blanks you can fill in, but there’s also surprises and bad customer service also to be discovered.

When Everyone’s Going To Die works best, it’s just the two of them talking, meeting initially in a drab cafe, before gradually opening up to one another. Jones’ script doesn’t play this heavily for laughs either, although there are chuckles in there, and instead the emphasis is on fleshing out two human beings really rather well.

It all hinges, of course, on whether you buy the two unlikely-ish lead characters, but I really did. There are moments where the film strays, mainly to do with Ray’s hitman moments. But then it comes up with a strange play in the middle of the film that works a lot, lot better than I was expecting.

It’s sparse at times, and moments that don’t quite stick. But there’s nonetheless an awful lot to like about Everyone’s Going To Die, which turns out to be a surprisingly endearing sort-of romance. Jones – the collective name for its directors – are a talent worth watching.

I don’t hear nice things about Entourage, by the way.

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