Last Night



Last Night is a Canadian drama directed by Don Mckellar.

The film details how a handful of characters decide to spend the final hours of existence in Toronto. The film won several awards, including Genie Awards for Don Mckellar (Best First-time Canadian Director), Sandra Oh (Best Leading Actress), and Callum Keith Rennie (Best Supporting Actor). The film was also cited by Edgar Wright as one of his influences in making Shaun of the Dead.

""I don't give a damn. People are always saying 'The children. Pity the children'. I'm tired of the children. They haven't lived, given birth, watched their friends die. I have invested 80 years in this life. The children don't know what they're missing.""
 * Apocalypse How: Class 5, for argument's sake (though speculation that the world-ending event is a supernova might put it in class X-2). The how and why are never quite explained, but it's an event that has been known for around two months.
 * Babies Make Everything Better: Played with. Sandra got married and pregnant during the two-month window where everyone is aware that the world is about to end. Since people have to live with the consequences of large decisions for just two months, such choices often have wishful intentions but are essentially meaningless.
 * Better to Die Than Be Killed: Sandra and her husband were of this belief, although it was more in the form of "it's better to kill and be killed by someone you love right before your moment of impending death than to have your life taken from you through passionless circumstance". She tries to fall in love with Patrick and get him to indulge her wish with her when it becomes apparent that her husband isn't coming home.
 * California Doubling: Averted; the film was shot in and takes place in Toronto.
 * Cue the Sun: Subverted in that the inexplicably bright sun gets ominously larger and brighter as the night progresses.
 * The Danza: Sandra Oh's character, also named Sandra.
 * Darkness Equals Death: Completely inverted. The death of the world takes place in light.
 * Endless Daytime: Most of the film takes place at night when it should be dark during any time of the year, but it's always daytime and the sky is always blindingly bright. It's implied, but never outright stated, that it's actually some solar phenomenon that ends the world.
 * Ghost City: Despite everyone still being alive, almost all public services have stopped running. Somewhat justified in that if it's the last day you're ever going to be alive, why would you go in to work?
 * : Perhaps even a Foregone Conclusion.
 * Last Kiss: And also a First Kiss.
 * Light Is Not Good: A very literal example. Something about the light is suggested to be the thing that brings about the end of the world.
 * Think of the Children: Patrick's Grandmother tries to invoke this, but is rebutted by Rose with the memorable line:
 * Think of the Children: Patrick's Grandmother tries to invoke this, but is rebutted by Rose with the memorable line:


 * Toronto: Very very Toronto. And very very Canadian. One reviewer remarked that when asked what a truly Canadian film was, he cited this one. It was because of the scene where Sandra is in a store where everything is free because it's the last day on Earth. She picks up the last two wine bottles, compares them and then takes one and puts the other back in its place on the shelf. Canadian.
 * Out with a Bang: Craig's last day plans are to indulge in all of his previously unfulfilled sexual fantasies.
 * Sealed with a Kiss: Overlaps with Last Kiss.