23/05/2026 - CANNES 2026: Maria Martinez Bayona’s debut feature follows Rebecca Hall as a 250-year-old artist in a future without death who decides to stage her own suicide as her final artwork

The debut feature by Maria Martinez Bayona, born in Spain and now UK-based, The End of It screened in the Cannes Première strand of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The premise is one-of-a-kind: 250-year-old artist Claire (an impeccable Rebecca Hall) is tired of living in a world where death is no longer a problem thanks to technological advancements. She feels no attraction to life now that everything has become repetitive and all the people around her, including her loving husband (Gael Garcia Bernal), seem unable to alleviate her underlying depression.

During her birthday party, she goes through what could be described as a quarter-of-a-millennium crisis and announces to everyone that she has decided to kill herself, after casually blaming the emptiness of all the people gathered at the celebration. Being an artist whose value has diminished over time, she decides that her death will ultimately become her final statement. With an approach reminiscent of Marina Abramović’s work, she becomes a star during the weeks leading up to her final act.

The End of It has many strings to its bow. The script, written by the director herself, is strong and well paced. Lili Lea Abraham’s production design has the right sense of grandeur and fits the tone of the film perfectly. The stunning backdrop of the Canary Islands adds to the artistic atmosphere that characterises the film and the carefully selected soundtrack also helps create these nuances. Heavily inspired by Italian culture, the opening sequence features Occhiali colorati by Giuni Russo, while the official opening uses the famous Gloria by Umberto Tozzi, notoriously used in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street during the shipwreck scene. Winter Allegro, The Rad Man’s Vivaldi-inspired piece used in a club scene, is also a nice touch.

Rebecca Hall further confirms herself as one of the most gifted and classy actors of her generation, conveying all the nuances of her character with extraordinary ease. Her Claire is human, raw and entirely believable in all her resentment and sadness towards a society that has conquered eternal life while losing sight of its value. She appears in almost every scene and always manages to convey the right emotions without ever turning Claire into a one-dimensional caricature.

Also extremely interesting is the character of Sarah, played by US actress Beanie Feldstein. A robot with entirely human features, she takes care of Claire, effectively becoming her best friend. In this character, the boundaries between human and android become fully blurred, and we see this contrast reflected in the relationship between Claire and her daughter Martha (Noomi Rapace, who here comes across as the least inspired performer in the ensemble). The mother-daughter relationship is a troubled one, and little affection seems to remain between the two. In fact, in this futuristic world, people can relive memories from their past, and this does not always happen for the better.

With a striking premise, Maria Martinez Bayona’s debut is a fascinating one. A reflection on death, technology and, ultimately, the meaning of art, her work sits between science fiction and drama and adds an original twist to the long-debated relationship with life-changing technologies.

The End of It was produced by Elation Pictures (UK), Fasten Films (Spain), The Mediapro Studio (Spain) and Eye Eye Pictures (Norway). International sales are handled by Bankside Films.