Yes, it is as vulgar as it sounds. The Netflix original television series “The End of the F***ing World” seems like something that your mom wouldn’t want you to watch … and it lives up to its name.
The graphic-novel-based series, which came out on Netflix in January, opens with a focus on 17-year-old James—played by Alex Lawther—who feels the urge to kill a real human being after deciding that he is a psychopath. He picks a girl from his grade, Alyssa—played by Jessica Barden—to be his first target after she tells him he’s bad at skateboarding.
Alyssa has a talent for making people mad at her, and maybe it’s part of her personality to ignore the obvious signs that James is a little odd, but she decides to make him her boyfriend, all while he actively plans her murder.
When Alyssa realizes that she’s not happy with her life as it is, she convinces James to run away with her by stealing his dad’s car. They become tangled in a web of crime along their journey and are forced to deal with problems by themselves, leading to discoveries of what each truly cares about.
The adult themes of the show add to the self-explorative tone of the entire program. Two 17-year-olds try their best to live adult lives, speak with adult words and do adult things, all while ignoring their young ages. This exhibits the dilemma of being forced to grow up too fast in a society that expects maturity even from children.
Despite its dark plot, “The End of the F***ing World” incorporates an element of subtle humor in each episode. Whether it is the unexpected bluntness of Alyssa’s vocabulary, or the image of James hurriedly hiding a knife in some pillows before Alyssa asks him to have sex with her, the morbid humor of the show invokes in viewers almost a sadistic desire to keep watching.
Not only do the two central characters have redeeming qualities, but by the end of the show they become so intimate with the audience that they have befriended the viewers. themselves For example, the lead characters have inner dialogues that when audible to the audience, reveal their true struggles and cause viewers to sympathize with them.
Additionally, other characters, including two female cops with contrasting personalities and agendas, are just as compelling characters as the leads because their actions and thoughts are vibrantly realistic in a way that intrigues viewers to continue to watch.
Disturbing topics like domestic abuse, suicide, rape and murder are all present in this series, but the message behind the darkness grows clearer as the personalities of the main characters are defined. The show seems to say that purity and love still exist in the world, despite the horror that some people have to face in their lives. An overarching theme of hope beyond tragedy extends throughout this series, and if you can stomach the language and subject matter, it is definitely worth the watch.