Director: Xavier Dolan
Writers: Xavier Dolan, Jean-Luc Lagarce 
Stars: Nathalie Baye, Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard
Runtime: 97 minutes

Plot: A terminally ill writer, returns home after a long absence to tell his family that he is dying.

Review: Even when his films stumble through uneven tones or erratic plot twists, Dolan always comes out swinging, with the overarching theme of angry, passionate characters infusing each new effort with sizzling attitude. "It's Only the End of the World" reduces those ingredients to their simplest variables, which is especially telling since he didn't originate the material.

Yet this slickly shot ensemble piece, adapted by Jean-Luc Lagarce, manages to find some high points in its first-rate cast, which includes some of the best that modern French cinema has to offer. Mostly set in the confines of the family's home, "It's Only the End of the World" rises above its inherent theatricality thanks to Dolan's ongoing visual invention, as he recycles the high-contrast lighting and shifting colors that first cropped up in his work with "Lawrence, Anyways." However, where those movies applied their distinctive cinematic tricks to a complex set of circumstances, "It's Only the End of the World" — which clocks in at just under 100 minutes — unfurls like an outline for a formulaic story of constant bickering and resentment that no amount of pretty images can salvage.

Dolan has crafted the semblance of a substantial movie that never quite gets where it was supposed to go. Fortunately, considering Dolan's current rate of production, there's no question he'll keep trying to get there.

Abridged from Indiewire