End of the World: Hilarious Dark Media Satire You Can’t Miss!

In Radu Jude’s latest cinematic critique, the poignant “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World,” the Romanian filmmaker batters the audience with a barrage of present-day grievances: endless traffic, widespread misogyny, economic disparity, corporate manipulation, and the increasing presence of far-right trolls on social media. Arguably the most grating annoyance is the persistently cheerful ringtone that assails our disgruntled protagonist, as she plies the streets of Bucharest for work. Each time her demanding superiors require her, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” rings out in a piercingly jolly and intrusive manner. It would be enough to drive a person to commit a crime.

While no one meets their end in “Do Not Expect,” the movie does narrate the soul-crushing tale of the woman in that car, Angela (Ilinca Manolache), a production assistant who rises before dawn to face another long, taxing day. She dons a sparkly dress, the only element of her appearance that shines as she undertakes her task. Her job involves interviewing workers who have grievously injured themselves due to their own carelessness, capturing their cautionary stories so her bosses can pick the most deserving to feature in a workplace safety PSA. This grim “competition” could be seen as a reprehensible act by the multinational company that employs them, dangling a cash prize for the “winner”, but for Angela, it’s just another job. Given how pitiful her wage is, she considers herself just as exploited as these unfortunate applicants.

Jude’s films, mirroring their bold and occasionally confrontational English titles (“I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians,” “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn”), blend comedy, drama, and narrative peculiarity. Their relentless experimentation is fueled by a desire to provoke audiences to experience — even accept — society’s madness and hypocrisy. Much of “Do Not Expect” is filmed in stark black-and-white, to better depict Angela’s daily grind, against which she rebelliously fights in various ways. Perhaps she retaliates against an impolite driver or, more satisfyingly, adopts her filtered alter ego Bobita on social media. Bobita, a bald, unibrowed, goateed chauvinist, ridicules “sluts” and pledges loyalty to manosphere icon Andrew Tate. Notably, these Bobita detours are shown in vibrant color, a respite from the dreariness that pervades Angela’s life.

This isn’t the only way “Do Not Expect” exposes the disjunction between image and reality. As Angela interviews the injured workers, they often craft their stories to suit what they think the company wants to hear, reducing their actual situation to a pitiable performance. And when the company’s remote Austrian head of marketing, Doris (played by the splendidly icy Nina Hoss from “Tár”), reviews the videos, she judges them solely on their appeal to key demographics and positive PR. (“She’s Gypsy,” Doris observes of one applicant, “so it will show we’re more inclusive.”)

However, Jude’s satirical aims extend further, contrasting Angela’s struggles with another Angela, trapped behind the wheel in the 1981 Romanian film “Angela Moves On,” played by Dorina Lazar. This Communist-era drama centered on a female cab driver navigating Bucharest, her despair equal to that of Manolache’s modern-day Angela, despite the latter ostensibly living in a more liberated society than the one once governed by Nicolae Ceaușescu. By slowing down scenes from “Angela Moves On,” presented in color, Jude makes Romania’s past appear both more vivid and more unsettling, a poignant commentary on the countless Angelas who have followed Lazar’s character, each one a victim of a gig economy that leaves many battling for scraps.

A caustic fury permeates this 163-minute journey, offset by a lightening absurdism, Jude appalled at the ludicrous stupidity of our fake, greed-driven world. Whether it’s a painfully awkward Zoom meeting where the obsequious Romanian PSA production team attempts to ingratiate themselves with Doris — “We want to use a gold diffusion filter,” the hapless director blurts out while describing his filmic vision — or the randomness of Angela stumbling upon B-movie director Uwe Boll at his most cantankerous, “Do Not Expect” bristles with the disorder of a hyper-connected, deeply disappointing 21st century. Undoubtedly, Jude intends Angela’s “Ode to Joy” ringtone to be ironic, but its increasingly grating monotony throughout the film, each time met with a facial expression of pure distaste, becomes progressively funnier, acknowledging the incessant barrage of mindless stimuli that constantly besieges us.

Manolache has featured in previous Jude films, but never as prominently, and she’s a joy to watch. Her character’s purifying indignation exudes the prickly defiance many of us identify as a principled objection to insurmountable economic, social, and political ailments. Angela doesn’t impersonate Bobita because she aligns with her online avatar’s idiotic beliefs — she’s assaulting the misogyny and ignorance of our era by immersing herself in it, venting her fury by personifying the worst aspects of public conversation.

One might argue that Jude is doing something similar, urging us to vent our anger by laughing at the corruption and toxic self-obsession Angela observes. In recent years, his films have adopted a burn-it-all-down ethos that’s both subversive and cathartic. But as “Do Not Expect” reaches its ingenious climax, intensifying this satire’s condemnation of consumerism, Jude also harks back to his debut feature, 2009’s witty “The Happiest Girl in the World,” about a girl who’s won a contest and must now record a chirpy soda ad to claim her prize. That commercial didn’t go smoothly, and neither does the one in “Do Not Expect.” Both reflect Jude’s contempt for the ways people shield themselves from harsh realities in pursuit of a fabricated, brighter version of life. His exuberant, acerbic cinema offers a startling antidote. The world is ending, Jude suggests — and it can’t come soon enough.