Friendship Faces Oblivion in ‘Weekend at the End of the World’

Grimmfest audiences are in for a wild ride this week as Weekend at the End of the World storms into Manchester’s Odeon Great Northern, bringing a dose of cosmic comedy, chaos and horror to the festival’s 2025 line-up. The film marks the second feature from writer-director Gille Klabin, whose cult hit The Wave impressed genre fans with its hallucinatory visuals and existential wit. This time, Klabin returns with something even more ambitious – a bold blend of apocalyptic absurdity and heartfelt human drama.

The film follows Karl and Miles, two lifelong friends with a knack for ruining both relationships and job opportunities. When Karl’s girlfriend turns down his marriage proposal, Miles spirits him away to his late grandmother’s cabin for a weekend of recovery and renovation. The plan is simple: flip the cabin, make some money, and turn their fortunes around before the property market collapses. But their dreams of easy riches crumble when they discover that Meemaw isn’t quite as dead as she used to be – and that her isolated cabin is sitting on a rift between dimensions.

When a portal opens to “The Allness,” a realm between realities, the two friends must confront literal demons while wrestling with their own. Guided by a decaying but wise Meemaw, they face surreal trials that force them to question everything – their friendship, their failures, and what it really means to grow up at the end of the world.

The film stars Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!, Night at the Museum), Cameron Fife (Not quite College, Definition Please) Troian Bellisario (Pretty Little Liars, On Call), and newcomer Clay Elliott, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Lennon, known for his razor-sharp comic timing, stretches into darker territory here, balancing gallows humour with moments of genuine terror. Bellisario delivers a performance that fuses wit with emotional weight, while Elliott’s dual role as actor and co-writer signals an impressive debut for the young performer. The supporting cast includes Adam Ray, and Sujata Day.

Shot entirely in Los Angeles on a budget of under $300,000, Weekend at the End of the World stands as a testament to what can be achieved with creativity and collaboration. Every member of the crew was granted equity in the film, transforming the production into a true collective effort. Klabin not only directed but personally created all of the film’s visual effects, crafting interdimensional portals and hallucinatory environments using a mix of 3D scanning and handmade artistry.

Reuniting much of the team from The Wave, including cinematographer Aaron Grasso and editor Lana Wolverton, Klabin delivers a genre-defying experience that moves between laugh-out-loud absurdity and cosmic dread. The film’s tone is a playful hybrid of Evil Dead II and Swiss Army Man, but with a distinctly emotional core. As the director explains, the goal was “to entertain and surprise,” keeping audiences off balance while anchoring the madness in a story about friendship and self-actualisation.

True to the spirit of independent filmmaking, the Weekend at the End of the World team are self-distributing the film, bypassing traditional routes to retain full creative control and connect directly with audiences worldwide.

Weekend at the End of the World screens tonight at 8.50pm at the Odeon Great Northern, Manchester, as part of the festival’s four-day celebration of fear, fantasy, and the future of genre filmmaking. For more information and tickets, visit: grimmfest.com/

Weekend at the End of the World trailer