Frank Fogle (John Hawkes) has just lost his wife after a long battle with cancer. Before she passed on, she left Frank with one last task – to take a trip to her native Ireland with their son to scatter her ashes over a river that holds some significance to her. The problem is that Frank and their son Sean (Logan Lerman) are no longer on speaking terms, which has only been worsened by Sean’s recent incarceration for theft. Upon his release, his father resurfaces and pleads with him to take this trip, and promises to leave his life afterwards in exchange. It takes some convincing, but Sean eventually comes around and agrees to honour his mother’s final wishes. Over the course of their trip, the father and son realize how different they actually are – Frank is a humble, modest milquetoast of a man who struggles with any kind of confrontation, and always just wants to please everyone, while Sean is an angry, rebellious young man who will do anything to get his way, making sure that everyone who gets in his way feels the full brunt of his pent-up anger from a dissatisfied life. However, they find common ground especially, with the realization that they make have their personal differences, but they are, deep down, two sides of the same coin, a pair of lonely men searching for some meaning, mourning a tragic loss in their own individual way while trying to remain strong, all for the sake of the other. The arrival of Jewel (Sarah Bolger), a feisty young Irishwoman who captures Sean’s heart, only complicates the relationship between the father and son, forcing them to work within the confines of a difficult situation without losing their composure, and making good on their promise to accomplish a certain task.

End of Sentence is a very simple film, in both the story it tells and the methods employed to tell it. A small, intimate character-driven drama that takes aim at nothing more than the human condition in its most saturated form, Elfar Adalsteins’s directorial debut is something very special. It isn’t a particularly major work in any regard and shares many qualities with the countless dramas that focus on families overcoming challenges. However, through its immense heartfulness, beautiful approach to an affecting story, and a pair of magnificent performances that manage to overcome a rather maudlin story about grieving, all of which go into transforming End of Sentence is a wonderfully compelling manifesto on humanity, siphoning a series of complex ideas into a beautifully simple story that sees Adalsteins working through some difficult emotions to get to the core of the very issues that make us intrinsically who we are, products of our surroundings, with every decision we make being the product of years of experience, informed by the opportunities we are afforded, and the challenges we tend to have to face regularly in order to become the layered human beings we are. It’s all very metaphysical, and quite expectedly so, but End of Sentence is nonetheless a powerful film that takes a relatively simple approach and extends its potential far beyond what any of us may have anticipated from a film of this stature. It isn’t a major work in form or intention, but it certainly has immense charms, which all go towards making this one of the year’s most touching films, and a hidden gem that is waiting to be discovered, because the sheer emotional impact of this film is very impressive, and more than warrants its place as one of the more moving films of the past few months.

More than anything else, End of Sentence is grounded by its lead performers, who give it nuance and allow this character-driven story to flourish. It may not be a work that necessarily lends itself to anything more than intimate interactions between these actors, but it does incredibly well in casting two performers who are able to bring depth to roles that could have so easily been nothing but archetypes. John Hawkes is an incredible actor, someone whose career has seen him play both malicious villains and more tender-hearted individuals who are often secondary to the story, with the exception of a few small independent roles that manage to capitalize on the actor’s incredible versatility and inherent likeability. End of Sentence is definitely such a film, with his performance as Frank being one of his finest. A shy, reserved man who has failed to ever be comfortable in his own skin, he’s in the throes of middle-age, and about to emerge from it more broken than he was when he went in, as a result of the crippling loneliness he feels having lost his wife to disease, and his son to a life of crime, and he’s desperate to salvage what remains of both relationships, insofar as he ventures out of his comfort zone. Hawkes sells these small nuances of the character, making Frank an individual who is vulnerable but not pathetic. This is contrasted by Logan Lerman, who had made a considerable leap forward from child actor to more adult roles in films such as this, where he plays a hard-headed young man whose stubbornness gradually erodes as he begins to realize there is more to life than his ego. Both Hawkes and Lerman are fantastic, bringing such incredible poignancy to the roles, and forming a clear bond, as evident through the wonderful chemistry that allows them to sell every emotional crevice of the film and the characters they are meant to be playing.

End of Sentence is a film that ultimately takes a very simple approach to its story but also focuses quite heavily on the theme of loss, which is definitely a relevant concept that allows this film to be viewed as an overarching text that looks at the various intricacies of the grieving process. However, it isn’t simply just about a father and son mourning the loss of their wife and mother, but a broader odyssey that occupies a much smaller space than usual. Loss takes many forms, and as we’ve mentioned, a lot of the film focuses on the mourning of an actual death, but the crux of the story is trying to prevent a more damaging loss, one where someone willingly exits your life for whatever reason. As a result, End of Sentence is mostly a film about a father and son attempting to repair their fragmented relationship for the sake of their deceased relative, whose dying wish was for them to reconcile. There are so many films that take this form, whereby conflicting individuals hit the road against their wishes, and through a variety of (meta)physical journeys, come to realize they are not that dissimilar after all. It’s trite and predictable, but also thoroughly heartwarming and incredibly moving, especially through the emotional depths that the film seems to be willing to go. It takes a very nuanced approach and does avoid overt sentimentality, rather choosing authenticity (the climax, where the characters immerse themselves in the lake is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful scenes of the year), and taking us on a spiritual journey that is far more touching than it is expected, which differentiates this film from the countless others like it.

It would be foolish to think of End of Sentence as being entirely original in any way, but its heartfulness and dedication to a very simple story pushes it beyond the confines of the conventions a film like this would be normally bound by and instead presents us with something elegant and heartwarming, but still not afraid to take on the difficult issues in its own way. It’s incredible how far the film is willing to go without resorting to maudlin coddling of the story and the result is something that feels stark and real, without being all that harrowing. Death is a tricky business, and the film does very well to skirt the boundaries between going too far in its emotion and being too callous. Instead, it opts for a nuanced approach that lays the humanity of the story bare and allows the audience to engage with it in their own way. It’s helped tremendously by the wonderful performances given by Hawkes and Lerman, who are both terrific in these roles that see them play mostly against type and develop a strong chemistry that binds the film together and gives it the heart it needs to be propelled forward. End of Sentence is a lovely little film, one that has unfortunately been weighed down by its small scope and lack of a particular hook to draw the audience in – but if its simple, powerful human drama you are after, this is definitely one of the year’s most moving films, and generally just an endearing drama that never wavers from its deeply instinctual understanding of broad but highly-resonant issues.