THE LIVING END U.S.A. Independent Cinema - Fiction

Black humor doesn’t get much darker than The Living End, a road movie about two HIV-positive young men, Jon and Luke, who manage to turn potential tragedy into a desperate, uproarious celebration of their new-found nihilistic freedom. Like Thelma and Louise, this film uses crime as a way of extricating its characters from everyday society, not as an occasion for passing moral judgement on their behavior … Gregg Araki’s film has the power of honesty and originality, as well as the weight of legitimate frustration. Miraculously, it also has a buoyant, mischievous spirit that transcends any hint of gloom. -Janet Maslin, The New York Times