Film of the Day: "Until the End of the World" — a film worth seeing before the internet disappears

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What happens when you combine a road movie, noir, science fiction, anxious premonitions of the end of the world, and meditative philosophy about memory and technology?

The answer lies in "Until the End of the World" (1991), Wim Wenders' most ambitious (and longest) project. If you love films where "the road is the main character" and the plot is soaked in anxiety about the future, this movie could be a revelation.

Fair warning: this isn't a movie, it's an immersion. Nearly five hours of screen time in the director's cut (yes, five — but don't panic!) transforms into a real journey through an era where 1999 still looms ahead, but fear of the new millennium has already seeped deep into everyone's bones.

What it's about

At the story's center is a woman named Claire (Solveig Dommartin), chasing across the planet after the mysterious scientist Sam Farber (William Hurt), who's stolen a camera capable of recording the visual images born in the human brain.
A man stands wearing glasses with one lens next to a man and woman in purple light
Frame and poster from "Until the End of the World"
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He's being hunted by governments, intelligence agencies, and with him — the very idea of memory's immortality. And looming over all this is an Indian nuclear satellite that's about to crash into Earth.

But this isn't cyberpunk with action and flashing lights. This is Wenders. Which means there'll be lots of roads, lots of anxious music from Talking Heads, Can, U2, and Nick Cave, and cameras recording dreams.

This movie doesn't offer clear-cut answers, but it definitely asks the right questions: what do we want to preserve if tomorrow brings the end of the world? Can you watch other people's dreams and still remain yourself?
Actor William Hurt in a brown jacket embraces actress Solveig Dommartin in a white t-shirt
Frame from "Until the End of the World"
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Why you should watch it

  • It's simultaneously a road movie, love story, and meditation on technology that doesn't save but destroys.
  • It's a unique look at end-of-millennium fears through European eyes, not a Hollywood blockbuster.
  • It's one of the rare films where science fiction is crafted with poetry, not CGI.
  • And finally, you definitely haven't seen anything like it.
This is a film about choice: memory or reality, image or feeling, digital or human. And if the internet ever disappears — for whatever reason — "Until the End of the World" might be the last movie you truly experience, rather than just scroll past in the background.

If you love cinema where the whole world is a route and technology isn't the solution but the trap, "Until the End of the World" deserves a spot on your must-watch list. Preferably the director's cut. And preferably in the evening. When you want silence, music, and a world where even the apocalypse arrives beautifully. Earlier on zoomboola.com, we told you about "Memento" — for Nolan, it was just the beginning of his career. And it still turned out brilliant.