Last and First Men, an astounding and unusual art film, science fiction meditation, and visual symphony, is the first and only film created by the late Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannson.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Aug 17, 2023

Last and First Men is a flash of the cosmos, unveiling an imposing and reflective vision of humanity’s inevitable expiration.

Full Review | Feb 23, 2022

This assuredly onrushing vision, based on the 1930 science-fiction book by Olaf Stapledon, looks, feels, so much like Jóhannsson's musical soundscapes: what must have been contained in that fragile mind. Consider it a hopeful tragedy.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Jan 28, 2022

Last and Future Men is a haunting film of melancholic beauty, but hidden within are stubbornly persistent elements of hope. Just listen patiently.

Full Review | Jan 27, 2022

Not very welcoming in the conventional realms of narrative or character involvement, Men is nonetheless a unique experiment that casts a hypnotic spell.

Full Review | Jan 21, 2022

The only film directed by composer Jóhann Jóhannsson before his death in 2018, Last and First Men is an eerie combination of sci-fi and documentary.

Full Review | Jan 4, 2022

A haunting, philosophical view of the distant future that feels disturbingly prescient in its depiction of humanity's destruction.

Full Review | Dec 17, 2021

Full of wonder and wonderful.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 13, 2021

The push and pull between gradual buildup and apocalyptic rupture allows the film to infiltrate the mind and recalibrate our sensitivity to time.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 11, 2021

It's all quite beautiful and indeed visually striking, but one can't help but feel that what's put to screen is essentially a music video for one of Jóhannsson's compositions.

Full Review | Dec 10, 2021

Johannsson's stark, uncompromising passion project is always striking to the eye even in moments when the narrative lulls.

Full Review | Dec 9, 2021

A poetic, mesmerizing and haunting wake-up call.

Full Review | Original Score: 8.84259/10 | Dec 8, 2021

Eerie and intelligent.

Full Review | Mar 19, 2021

This is a singular vision, made by a decade-defining artist we lost too soon and as a bold final, creative statement from beyond; it's pretty damn chilling in every respect.

Full Review | Sep 9, 2020

If you let your imagination fill in the gaps and make the connections where you see fit, it can be easy to lose yourself in Jóhannsson's multimedia expression of a classic science fiction story that is highly captivating in its other-worldliness.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 28, 2020

It ought to make for an impressive installation piece. Instead it's an extraordinary, engrossing and strangely moving piece of cinema.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 14, 2020

An overwhelming and optimistic film perfect for this time of plague. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 11, 2020

This film is a testament to the man who spent the last few years of his life wanting to bring his personal passion project to reality, and he truly succeeded in achieving that.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 3, 2020

A dystopian film about how only the human race is capable of ending our own existence. Stunning. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 3, 2020

Last and First Men is a treat of invention and stark sadness. It has the feel of a long-forgotten curio - something uncovered by accident - and, as a result, possesses as much dark mystery as it does thematic resonance.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 1, 2020