The World's End
Movie, 2013, Named by the director, Set in Third in the trilogy
The World's End is #41 of 48 in release order and #3 of 48 in chronological order in the Spiritual Trilogies.
The story
Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.
The World's End recap
Gary King, a man in his forties who never grew up, talks his old school friends Andy, Steven, Oliver and Peter into coming back to their hometown of Newton Haven to finish a pub crawl they failed at in 1990: twelve pubs ending at The World's End. The others now have careers and families; Andy, Gary's former best friend, has not drunk in years after a car crash Gary left him in. The town feels oddly changed. In a pub toilet Gary fights a teenager whose head comes off, revealing blue blood and a robot body. The friends learn most of the town has been replaced by these Blanks, copies made by an alien Network. They decide to keep drinking to avoid giving themselves away. Oliver and Peter are replaced, and Gary admits his life fell apart and that he tried to kill himself. The final film of Wright's Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, with a mint Cornetto, after Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
The World's End ending explained
Gary insults the alien Network until it leaves Earth, which sends the world back to the Stone Age. Gary reaches the twelfth pub, The World's End, and finds a hidden lair where the Network's voice explains its plan to civilise humanity. Gary and Andy argue that people would rather be free and flawed. The Network gives up and leaves, destroying technology on its way out. In a ruined Britain, Andy tells survivors the story; Gary, with the young robot versions of his friends, walks into a pub that refuses to serve them, and fights.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch The World's End
The World's End is streaming on Peacock in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 6.9/10, Rotten Tomatoes 89%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Inside Job, before The Wolf of Wall Street.
- Chronological order: after Hot Fuzz, before Repulsion.
Cast
- Simon Pegg as Gary King
- Nick Frost as Andrew Knightley
- Paddy Considine as Steven Prince
- Martin Freeman as Oliver Chamberlain
- Eddie Marsan as Peter Page
- Rosamund Pike as Sam Chamberlain
- David Bradley as Basil
- Pierce Brosnan as Guy Shepherd
- Michael Smiley as Reverend Green
- Darren Boyd as Shane Hawkins
- Steve Oram as Motorcycle Policeman
- Reece Shearsmith as Collaborator
Directed by Edgar Wright.