By Robert Scucci
| Published
There aren’t many slice-of-life found footage action thriller cop dramas floating around, so to say that End of Watch is the best of its kind would be a stretch because it kind of stands on its own in this oddly specific subgenre. Through its fleeting yet revealing moments of chaos and sentimentality, End of Watch is a must-see because of just how intimately it follows its two principal characters, Jake Gyllenhaal’s Officer Brian Taylor and Michael Pena’s Officer Miguel “Mike Z” Zavala, on their daily patrols as well as through their personal lives.
Blending points of view through the use of bodycams, Brian’s personal camcorder, an all-seeing third-person perspective, and oftentimes a combination of all of the above, you’re not about to get into your typical cop drama when you fire up End of Watch on Max, and you’re going to be gravely disappointed when no other film (that I’m aware of) matches its style.
Avoids Buddy Cop Tropes
End of Watch could very easily tread into buddy cop territory but plays it straight despite having some moments of comic relief between partners and best friends Brian and Mike. After all, when your job puts your life at risk every single day, you have to make nice by talking about your romantic prospects and family life while cracking a few jokes at each other’s expense along the way to allow some levity to make its way into your periphery every once in a while.
Deciding to personally record their activities for a school project, Brian brings a video camera along with him to every single call he and Mike make while on patrol working for the LAPD in the high-crime South Central area. Capturing moments that would otherwise be lost to the blind spots on their body cams, End of Watch allows you to bear witness to their fear, anger, and most importantly their sense of friendship and camaraderie whenever they find themselves in an impossible situation.
Escalations Are Imminent
Having stumbled upon an instance of human trafficking after checking out a suspicious house, Brian and Mike get more than they bargain for in End of Watch when their initial investigation blows the doors wide open, and way above their pay grade, into the world of the Sinaloa Cartel, who are likely to retaliate at such a crucial juncture in both of their lives. Moving forward in life outside of the police force, Brian finds the love of his life in Janet (Anna Kendrick), who he proposes to, and Mike’s wife, Gabby (Natalie Martinez), has a baby on the way when the stakes couldn’t be higher on the occupational front for the two partners.
Slipping in moments of familial bliss and personal victories, End of Watch becomes all the more brutal when you learn who Brian and Mike are leaving behind every time they go to work, not knowing if they’ll make it home alive at the end of their shifts. By humanizing the officers who admittedly act out of pocket during heightened situations when split-decision making can lead to either life or death, we’re shown how personal relationships can break down, while the power dynamics that are continually at play at the precinct influence their behavior on the job, where they’re doing their best to protect their community while facing life-altering traumas on a daily basis.
Streaming End Of Watch
End of Watch expertly captures the unbreakable bond between two young officers and best friends who always have each other’s six. Through its shifts in perspective, we learn about the delicate balance between their personal and professional lives, and how everything can change, for better or for worse, in the blink of an eye in their line of work.
Breaking away from conventional filming methods to get its point across, End of Watch is an enthralling experience because you feel like a fly on the wall as you gain insight into the lives of its principal characters, who are infinitely more complex than you’d think if they were to pull you over for a routine traffic stop after a long week of getting shot at. To witness what Brian and Mike experience first-hand as they constantly put their lives at risk, you can stream End of Watch on Max as of this writing.
