This weekend, see what the Avengers: Endgame and The Leftovers have in common

Nowadays, streaming options and contradictory recommendations are so numerous that it's hard to see through all the bullshit that you could watch. Every Friday, The edgeThe Cut the Crap column simplifies the choice by sorting out a multitude of movies and TV shows on subscription services and recommending just one thing to watch this weekend.

What to watch

"Nora's book", final of the series Leftovers, HBO's adaptation of Tom Perrotta's existential mystery novel, which lasted three seasons between 2014 and 2017. Perrotta and the former Lost Producer-writer Damon Lindelof covered the essentials of the book's plot during the first 10 episodes, then spent the next 18 working on more and more strange and profound variations on their themes. Both on the page and on the screen, Leftovers It unfolded in a world where 2% of the population disappears simultaneously and inexplicably, years before the beginning of history. In the finale, Nora Durst (played by Carrie Coon), one of the protagonists of the series, accepts the invitation of a ghostly organization to finally get answers to her questions on "The Departed". Lindelof and Perrotta stated throughout the series that they were less concerned about the "why" and "how" of the missing population than about "what will happen next". But the finale offers an answer – somehow – to the question of What happened on the day of sudden departure?

Why look now?

Because Avengers: End of the game open this weekend.

What does the Marvel film universe have to do with a novel by Tom Perrotta? For those who know both, the answer is obvious. Most of the more than 20 Marvel films of the last 11 years have, in one way or another, evoked the ploy of an alien named Thanos to collect ultra-powerful artifacts. called Infinity Stones, as a way to complete an ultimate cosmic weapon. At the end of last year Avengers: war in the infiniteThanos completed his collection and eliminated half of the universe's population, instantly disintegrating some of MCU's best-known heroes.

It's too early to talk specifically about what is happening in Avengers: End of the gameBut it's not a spoiler to say that the movie does not rush after the Thanos mbadacre. With a franchise whose character and actor are Marvel's main actors, fans are ready to wait for the action to resume. So the new movie spends a lot of time checking with survivors – including those who have not appeared in War of Infinity – to see how they navigate on a ravaged Earth with holes shaped like people.

The execution, which is sensitive, emotional and thoughtful, looks like what Leftovers does 28 hours of television. End of Game consider how the world might change after such a confusing and tragic global event, but at least its characters know what happened to their world. In Leftoversthe cause of the event is completely unknown and everything has changed, from relationships to religion. The series follows troubled souls such as Nora, who lost her entire family at the start, and Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), whose loved ones stayed on the spot, but still scattered after the calamity. Gradually, these people had to build new lives and make new connections, in a sometimes melancholy, sometimes inspiring, study of human resilience.

The final Leftovers The season begins with Nora and Kevin who live happily together – at least it seems. Tempted by the possibility of knowing where her husband and children are gone proves to be too tempting for Nora. In the opening sequence of the series finale, she enters naked in a strange machine supposed to send her to an unknown place. When she reappears, she is somewhere – and Someone & # 39; a – other.

Image: HBO

For whom is this?

Leftovers fans, preferably (and Lost the fans, too).

An underestimated virtue of both Lost and Leftovers If both tell long story sprawls, they do it through episodes that are largely full loops. It would be difficult to capture all the emotional resonance of the "Nora Book" without looking at the 27 episodes that preceded it, but it is still conceivable that someone who has never seen it Leftovers Kevin could find a Nora (renamed "Sarah") leading an airtight life in rural Australia. Lindelof and Perrotta structured the finale so that even accustomed viewers would not know if they were watching the same characters in the same reality, or had followed Nora in another dimension. In the end, everything becomes clear when Nora delivers a captivating emotional monologue that explains what she saw and learned after entering the vehicle.

Ideally, however, it's best for people who are already familiar with Leftovers – and Lost, from elsewhere – to compare and contrast Avengers: End of the game and "Nora's book". These three properties have spent years combining a thorny supernatural adventure / action with philosophical dilemmas, all filtered through the perspectives of imperfect heroes. Everyone took the time to think about what really matters for the stories they tell. Their creators understand that the great mysteries of life have less to do with the divine and the other world, but rather with everyday perseverance.

Where to see it

HBO Go and HBO now. For more Lindelof, Lost is available in full on Hulu. And Lindelof's new adaptation / reimagination of influential graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons guardians be there soon. The date of creation of this film has not yet been announced, but the channel already broadcasts video clips.