Last Night (1998)

Without the testosterone-laden flag-waving and over-budgeted explosions of such Hollywood fare as Armageddon (1998), Last Night details the last six hours of the earth's existence with humor, irony, and pathos. With the unspecified apocalypse long since announced, the film's characters have gone beyond initial blinding panic and settled into an uneasy resignation about their imminent demise, which occurs at the stroke of midnight. Instead of looting and pillaging, most citizens celebrate their final day as if it were New Year's Eve. Director Don McKellar weaves together the stories of a handful of characters with both a sardonic eye for the absurd and a creepy gloom that recalls such 1950s sci-fi flicks as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). The film's starkly existential situation achieves moments of great poignancy, particularly during the film's (and the earth's) final minutes. Sandra Oh and McKellar himself both give sterling performances. Funny, sad, and utterly absorbing, Last Night is the ultimate millennial angst film. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide