--- title: "The End of the F***ing World" year: 2017 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-end-of-the-f-ing-world" fi1m_score: 80 critics_score: 82 critics_reviews: 9 published: "2026-09-17T20:01:01.679500+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T20:01:02.259212+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The End of the F***ing World (2017) Created by Jonathan Entwistle · MPA TV-MA · Comedy, Drama, Crime **Fi1m score: 80** · Critics 82 from 9 reviews *In a sentence:* A boy plans to murder his girlfriend and it is still the healthiest relationship in the show > A boy who thinks he is a psychopath, a girl who is sure nobody wants her, and a stolen car. Covell and Entwistle make something quick, rude and tender out of it; episode one borrows too much, but Lawther and Barden are the real thing. ## Synopsis James (Alex Lawther) is seventeen and has decided he is a psychopath. He has been killing animals for years, and he has settled on killing a person. Alyssa Foley (Jessica Barden), new at his school and already sick of it, sits down opposite him in the canteen and announces that he is her boyfriend now. He agrees, because she looks like a good candidate. She lives with her mother Gwen (Christine Bottomley) and a stepfather she cannot stand; he lives with his father Phil (Steve Oram), who tries too hard. When Alyssa decides to run away, James punches his dad, takes his car and drives her out of town, each of them narrating and neither telling the other the truth. ## Review *The End of the F***ing World* begins as a joke about a boy who wants to be a murderer and becomes, over eight short episodes, a love story about two children nobody has looked after. Charlie Covell’s scripts, adapted from Charles Forsman’s comic, keep the joke and the love story running at the same time, and Jonathan Entwistle, who created the series and directs it, never lets one smother the other. It is quick, rude and a good deal sadder than the title suggests. We recommend it, with a caveat about the first episode and a smaller one about the second series. Alex Lawther plays James with a stillness that would be frightening if it were not so plainly a pose. He tells us, flatly, that he is a psychopath, and his face tells us he is a scared seventeen-year-old who has read about them. Jessica Barden’s Alyssa is all attack: she swears at waitresses and shoves her way into James’s life because it is easier than asking anyone for anything, and Barden lets the attack drop for a second at a time, which is the right amount. Covell gives each of them a voice-over, so we hear what they are thinking while they say something else. The jokes come from hearing one thing and watching another. So does most of the hurt. Benedict Spence, Justin Brown and Ben Fordesman shoot it wide and flat, in the greens and greys of an English bypass, and frame the diners and petrol stations so squarely that the whole country looks like the Midwest with worse weather. Grenville Horner and Dick Lunn’s production design puts the pair in red vinyl booths and beige front rooms and never lets a location look prosperous. Graham Coxon’s score is twangy guitar and a little surf, and the old records dropped between scenes are chosen for how romantic they sound against what is actually happening. Tony Kearns, Mike Jones and Celia Haining cut hard on the punchlines, and each episode is over in about twenty minutes, before you have checked the time. There is a moment early in the drive when Alyssa asks James for something small and ordinary and he thinks, in voice-over, about the knife in his pocket. We laughed, and then we stopped, because Barden played the request as if it had cost her everything she had. After that we were not really watching a comedy about a psychopath any more. We were watching two people who had never been shown how to be kind, working it out in a stolen car, and it got to us more than we expected anything with this title to. The first episode is the weakest, and it is the one people will judge it by. Every beat has been borrowed: the couple on the run from [*Badlands*](https://film.one/film/badlands), the deadpan and the retro records from a dozen American independents, and for a while the series seems pleased with itself for shrugging. Some of the grown-ups are drawn with a thick pen. Steve Oram’s Phil, James’s father, is given one thing to be, a man who wants his son to like him, and has to wait a long while for a second. Alyssa’s stepfather is a cartoon, and Christine Bottomley’s Gwen, her mother, is written as the woman who chose him, which is not much of a part. Stick with it; the writing sharpens the moment the car leaves town. A second series arrived in 2019, again eight episodes, with Lucy Forbes joining Entwistle and Lucy Tcherniak among the directors. It brings in Naomi Ackie as Bonnie, a stranger with a grievance whose business with James and Alyssa we will not describe, and Josh Dylan as Todd Alan King, a decent young man well out of his depth. Ackie is excellent, and there are scenes in it as good as anything in the first run. It is also a sequel to a story that had finished. We watched it gladly and would not have missed it had it never been made. Among British comedy-dramas about the young, this is one of the few that does not want to be liked, and it is better for it. Watch the first series in one sitting, which is how it is built, on a night when you can stand to be made fun of and then made sad. Do not let the swearing put you off, and do not let anyone tell you how it ends. *Fi1m score 80, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Every one of the nine reviews comes down in favour, and the praise gathers in one place: Alex Lawther and Jessica Barden. Critics repeatedly note that the two leads take characters who could have been cartoons and make them people worth caring about, reprehensible and sympathetic at once. Beyond the casting, most reviews credit the series with hiding something tender under its nihilism, and several single out its brevity as a virtue, with the dual voice-over narration also earning mention. The reservations are mild and cluster at the start. IndieWire and Vulture both find the opening episodes derivative and too determined to be dark, and both say the series improves as it goes. The spread is narrow, running from roughly 70 to 90, with no mixed or negative notices at all. Variety sits at the lower end while still naming it a Critic’s Pick, which suggests the doubts are about degree rather than direction. ### Reviews we read (9) - **Radio Times**, Ben Allen (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the series a brilliant, concise and emotionally charged bit of British dramedy, worthy of comparison to Fleabag for its blend of disturbing and hilarious moments. They single out the lead performances and dry rapport between the two young actors as a highlight. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/the-end-of-the-fing-world-channel-4-review/) - **The Guardian** (85/100, inferred): The adaptation is fabulous as a dark comedy about teen nihilists that remains convincing despite its extreme tone. The standout element is the lead performances by Alex Lawther and Jessica Barden, which bring the cartoonish characters to vivid life. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/oct/25/the-end-of-the-fing-world-review-a-binge-worthy-comedy-about-teen-nihilists-on-the-run) - **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (80/100, inferred): After a challenging start that feels overly derivative, the series rewards viewers with its uncensored look at young love and unexpected turns. The lead performances and emotional depth make it gripping and surprising overall. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/end-of-the-fucking-world-review-netflix-ending-spoilers-1201913802/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Daniel Fienberg (80/100, inferred): The review praises the series as a twisted, funny anti-romance that is a contained gem with spectacular lead performances. The critic singles out the strong chemistry between the two young actors and the grounded tone amid the outlandish elements. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/end-fing-world-review-1071498/) - **Vulture**, Jen Chaney (75/100, inferred): The series starts out overly derivative and determined to be dark, but improves as it reveals the sensitivity behind the hardened façades of its teen protagonists. It offers glimmers of loveliness amid the gloom and is worth watching for its narrative turns and brevity. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2018/01/the-end-of-the-f-ing-world-netflix-review.html) - **Variety**, Sonia Saraiya (Critic's Pick): The review describes the series as a dark comedy that gets under the skin with sharp intensity while delivering an unlikely love story between two damaged teens. The critic singles out the lead performances for their ability to make the characters both reprehensible and sympathetic. [Read](https://variety.com/2018/tv/reviews/the-end-of-the-fing-world-netflix-alex-lawther-tv-review-1202654103/) - **Den of Geek**, Louisa Mellor (90/100, inferred): The show’s aggressive nihilism conceals a tender and romantic centre, delivering a darkly comic story with real emotional weight through outstanding lead performances and meticulous handling of its themes. It is an outstanding, acerbic, tender-hearted and fearless calling card for fresh talent. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-end-of-the-fing-world-review/) - **Digital Spy**, Ian Sandwell (85/100, inferred): The series succeeds thanks to outstanding lead performances that carry emotional weight in a dysfunctional love story, along with its arresting visual style, pitch-black humour, and refusal to pull punches. It is f**king brilliant and deserves a big audience. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a846634/the-end-of-the-fucking-world-netflix-review/) - **The Ringer**, Alison Herman (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the show's blend of romance and moral ambiguity in a misanthropic love story between two troubled teens. They highlight the excellent performances and the effective use of dual voice-over narration that reveals the characters' inner lives. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2018/01/09/tv/the-end-of-the-f-ing-world-review) ## Details - **Created by:** Jonathan Entwistle - **Creator:** Jonathan Entwistle - **Director:** Jonathan Entwistle, Lucy Tcherniak, Lucy Forbes - **Writer:** Charlie Covell - **Cinematography:** Justin Brown, Ben Fordesman, Benedict Spence - **Editor:** Mike Jones, Celia Haining, Tony Kearns - **Music:** Graham Coxon - **Production design:** Grenville Horner, Dick Lunn - **Producer:** Kate Ogborn, Jenny Frayn - **Cast:** Alex Lawther as James; Jessica Barden as Alyssa Foley; Christine Bottomley as Gwen; Steve Oram as Phil; Naomi Ackie as Bonnie; Josh Dylan as Todd Alan King; Maggie Bain as Angela; Emma Appleton as Kelly - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 24 October 2017 - **Genres:** Comedy, Drama, Crime ## Where to watch in the US - Netflix: streaming - Amazon Prime Video: buy, hd - Apple TV: buy, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Badlands* (1973), Fi1m 91: The couple on the run this series learned from, with Sissy Spacek narrating the sky — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/badlands.md) - *Pierrot le Fou* (1965): Godard’s lovers on the run, brighter, sillier and just as sure the world is ending - *Submarine* (2010), Fi1m 82: Richard Ayoade’s Welsh teenager narrates his own life with the same misplaced confidence — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/submarine.md) - *Fleabag* (2016), Fi1m 90: Talks to the camera instead of over it, and is every bit as rude and as sad — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/fleabag.md) - *Heathers* (1988): The American high school version, where the murders actually happen and the jokes are meaner --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/the-end-of-the-f-ing-world