At the End of the Sentence (2005) User Reviews

Well-made and enjoyable short.

[keysersoze13 · 7/10 · 20 December 2006]

'At the End of the Sentence', the debut from director Marisa Zanotti is a darkly funny tale focusing on two brothers, one a local newspaper editor and the other a high school student who hear of their father's early release from prison and prepare for his return. This piece has an odd feel, emerging as an under-developed hybrid of western, drama and black comedy that ends up feeling like nothing happens. However, its interest comes from an engaging central performance from Stephen McCole, a funny script from David Greig, one of Scotland's leading contemporary playwrights, and some nice cinematography. This short could do with more depth but is still interesting enough to please.

Like watching a chunk of movie cut right out of the middle

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 9 August 2009]

The film begins with two brothers who have girl's names (Sue and Kylie). They are living together and their father is in prison. Why the man is incarcerated and why they have girl names is never explained. Then, out of the blue, a friend of the father lets it slip that the man is getting out of prison tonight and the young men scramble to prepare for the homecoming.

AT THE END OF A SENTENCE is an odd short because it seems less like a short and more like a part of a full-length film that has been cut out and shown with little context or completeness. What you see seems very well done but when it was finished, I was left feeling "is that all there is?". Perhaps it wasn't intended as a traditional short but more as a calling card--an experiment to show the "money men" that the team making the film have the skill to make a bigger budget project. There were some nice vignettes (such as the older brother correcting the young one's graffiti grammar) and the acting seems very good but muted.

What I saw I liked...but I want more.

Well-Made But Missing Something

[Michael_Elliott · 31 July 2010]

At the End of the Sentence (2005)

** (out of 4)

Well-made short about a couple brothers living together who hear that their father is about to be released early from prison so they must rush to get everything together. This is a pretty weird short because, like other reviewers have said, this seems like brief clips from a feature film just thrown together for no real reason. I'm not sure if this short was made to try and get funding for a larger picture but in the end this film really doesn't pay off. We never learn why the father is in prison or why the brothers might be living together. Nothing is really explained and things pretty much go from meeting the boys to them meeting their father. There's really no chance for drama or comedy because it's just never clear what's going on. I thought the performances were rather good and the direction was nice but the story just needed something more.

beautiful

[Kirpianuscus · 31 December 2018]

A film about family, brotherhood, expectations, a strange gift. The sort of film about nothing but well crafted - from story to performances and the status of ambiguity of genres , from cinematography to the dark humor than it works in great manner. Two brothers and a father. And the perfect atmosphere for that kind of short film who, simply sketch in essence, seems say more than you expect. A sort of black coffee in midnight.