Last Night (1998)

Last updated:
November 24, 2025

Last Night is a Canadian apocalyptic drama film written and directed by Don McKellar. Far from the typical end-of-the-world blockbuster, it focuses on ordinary people facing humanity’s final hours in deeply personal, intimate, and often darkly humorous ways.

Table of Contents

Detailed Summary

The Final Hours Announced

The film takes place in Toronto during the last hours before the world ends. There is no explanation for why the world is ending. No meteor, no plague, no alien invasion. Humanity simply knows that at a precise hour, everything will stop. This unexplained premise shifts the focus from science to human emotions.

Patrick and His Family’s Cold Farewell

Patrick (Don McKellar), a quiet man still grieving the death of his wife, visits his parents’ house for a depressing farewell dinner. His family tries to celebrate “as usual,” but the mood is lifeless and formal. Patrick refuses to join the group’s emotional goodbyes, showing his numb, detached attitude toward the end.

Sandra’s Desperate Journey

Sandra (Sandra Oh) tries to reach her husband. She buys supplies, tries to secure a way home, and ends up being attacked by rioters. Through a twist of circumstances, she meets Patrick, and he reluctantly agrees to help her reach her husband.

Craig’s Bucket List of Desires

Patrick’s friend Craig (Callum Keith Rennie) reacts to the apocalypse by attempting to fulfill every sexual fantasy he ever dreamed of. His storyline provides comedic relief, yet it becomes strangely melancholic, touching on loneliness and human craving for connection before the end.

Humanity’s Mixed Response

While some people panic, others host street parties, blast music, reenact childhood moments, or attempt meaningful reconnections. The film emphasizes that people choose how to face their final hour: with love, anger, fear, pleasure, or denial.

Movie Ending

Patrick finally understands the emotional significance of Sandra’s mission. However, her husband has already been killed during the chaos. With nowhere to go and no reason left to fight, Patrick and Sandra form an unexpected bond, one rooted not in romance but in shared despair and mutual understanding.

As the world’s final seconds approach, they sit together at Patrick’s apartment. They share a quiet, vulnerable conversation before deciding how they want to spend the last moment of existence. They face each other, hold one another closely, and kiss — not out of passion, but out of human need for connection.

The screen fades to white as the world ends, with the image lingering on Patrick and Sandra’s final embrace. It’s a calm, haunting, and deeply human ending.

Are There Post-Credits Scenes?

There are no post-credits scenes. The story finishes definitively at the moment of the world’s end.

Type of Movie

Last Night is a dramatic, introspective apocalyptic film that rejects action in favor of emotional realism. It asks how ordinary people choose to face the inevitable.

Cast

Don McKellar as Patrick
Sandra Oh as Sandra
Callum Keith Rennie as Craig
Sarah Polley as Jennifer
David Cronenberg as Duncan
Geneviève Bujold as Mrs. Carlton

Film Music and Composer

The film features an eclectic soundtrack with songs by a variety of artists and eras, curated to reflect personal nostalgia and emotional mood rather than spectacle. Music plays a symbolic role, often signifying how characters cling to memory or routine as the world collapses.

Filming Locations

The movie was filmed in Toronto, Canada. The choice to depict a real, familiar city without apocalyptic wreckage emphasizes that the end of the world can look ordinary. Streets are almost normal: calm, recognizable, even mundane. This visual realism reinforces the film’s central theme: the apocalypse is emotional, not sensational.

Awards and Nominations

Won Best Canadian First Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Won Prix Luc Perreault Award from the Quebec Film Critics Association.
Nominated for Best Actor (Don McKellar) and Best Supporting Actress (Sandra Oh) at the Genie Awards (Canada’s equivalent to the Oscars).

Behind-the-Scenes Insights

The film was partly inspired by Canada’s millennial anxieties leading up to the year 2000.
Sandra Oh improvised several emotional beats in her performance.
Don McKellar wrote the script with no traditional “disaster” scenes, intentionally rejecting Hollywood tropes.

Inspirations and References

Inspired by existentialist literature and European auteur cinema focusing on human behavior rather than spectacle.
It indirectly subverts Hollywood disaster films like Armageddon by offering an anti-blockbuster approach.

Alternate Endings and Deleted Scenes

No major alternate ending was filmed, but early drafts reportedly explored Patrick and Sandra not touching at all, ending with a purely silent fade-out. The decision to add the final kiss created a more emotionally resonant conclusion.

Memorable Scenes and Quotes

Key Scenes

Opening montage showing how different people respond to the announcement.
Craig planning his eccentric list of final sexual experiences.
Sandra and Patrick choosing to spend the final seconds together.

Iconic Quotes

“We’re all going to die. That’s not negotiable.”
“I don’t need more time. I just want this time.”
“This is how I want it to end.”

Easter Eggs and Hidden Details

David Cronenberg plays a gas company executive, a nod to his fascination with industry and body horror (from his own films).
The absence of destruction scenes is deliberate: humanity, not spectacle, is the disaster.

Trivia

It premiered at Cannes in the “Un Certain Regard” section.
The film’s low-budget approach influenced many later indie apocalyptic films.
Sandra Oh’s performance helped launch her international career.

Why Watch?

Watch Last Night because it offers a uniquely personal, emotionally raw portrayal of the apocalypse. It’s not about how the world ends — it’s about how people choose to live their final moments, with dignity, shame, fear, joy, or love.

Last Night (1998)