The End

Two decades after an environmental catastrophe renders Earth’s surface uninhabitable, a wealthy family isolates in a luxurious bunker inside a converted salt mine. They establish routines, drills, an indoor pool, and a small art collection to maintain a sense of normalcy. The Mother obsessively perfects the décor and layout, while the Father compiles a memoir and the Son grows up largely underground.

Having never seen the outside world, the Son longs to step above ground. He fills his days by building scale models of historical events and places, imagining a life beyond the bunker walls.

The family follows strict routines: safety drills, indoor workouts, and duties to keep the outpost running. The Mother obsesses over perfection and decor, while the Father writes the memoir and the Son assists by shaping the narrative. The atmosphere is carefully curated, concerned with appearances as much as survival.

The group discovers a Girl unconscious in the mines and brings her into the bunker for questioning. She describes the uninhabitable surface and explains that her family died crossing a river; pressed by fear, they consider casting her back out. The Girl escapes her would-be captors and runs through the corridors, leaving the Son to plead for allowing her to stay.

Mother remains wary of the Girl and probes her motives while trying to teach her the rhythms of bunker life. The Girl slowly adapts, and the Son begins to form a bond with her, even confessing his growing feelings. Tension undercuts the calm, as trust is earned slowly.

The Son gives the Girl a watch, and she accepts it with quiet hesitation. The two clash over the Son’s scale models, especially his defense of the brutality of the first transcontinental railroad, which the Girl questions as a symbol of exploitation.

Mother and Friend suffer sleeplessness and nightmares, which the Doctor minimizes as harmless nerves. He prescribes sleeping pills to help them rest, masking deeper anxieties about their isolation.

During a writing session, the Son learns more about their lives before the bunker and how his Father met his Mother. The Butler and the Father discuss ideas of love and longing, and the Son drafts a flowery, embellished version of their origin that he later repeats to the Mother.

Winter deepens as New Year's Eve approaches, and the family stages a program of homemade animal costumes while the Butler and Father perform a soft-shoe tap dance. The Girl appeals to the Mother to abandon humanity, but the Father interrupts and ends the debate.

The Father continues to justify his actions while writing, insisting he cared and that other corporations were worse. He and the Son argue about leaving everyone else behind, and the Mother grapples with survivor's guilt, ultimately defending their choice.

The Friend reveals that her son did not die of cancer but struggled with addiction, and she chose to leave him to join the bunker. She later obtains more sleeping pills from the Doctor and overdoses.

Some time in the future, the Son and the Girl have a baby, and the family gathers to celebrate the Girl's birthday with a family photo. The Mother and the Girl both ponder what lies ahead for humanity beyond the bunker.