We’re used to angst inducing last minutes in movies that are about saving the day in the nick of time.

Angsty last minutes are crucial in many generic films–will he or she, or won’t he or she, save the day. The question is brought down to the last minute.

In most westerns, action, sports, horrors, thrillers, fantasies and science fiction films, there is the last minute. in it, the fate of the characters and everyone else involved or in the vicinity is decided.

The ticking time bomb

In that last minute, we the audience, find out the answer to the question that has been running throughout the film. Will the key character save the day in time?

Saving the day in time can come down to defusing a ticking time bomb, as we have seen many times before.

The story comes down to the main character or characters finding a way to detonate a bomb. Defuse it before the bomb destroys a place where people are gathering.

If this is done well and perhaps even if it isn’t, the audience can be on the ‘edge of their seat’.

What are we anticipating? We anticipate the defusing of the ticking time tomb. We anticipate a positive outcome in the last minute, after all the mayhem and disorder.

In generic movies, like action movies for example, last minutes are expected.

Last minutes can be lifelike.

In the last minute

I’m listening to the well liked music of Grace is Gone (2007, USA) and as I’m writing I remember that film.

In Grace is Gone, an American teacher has lost his wife in the Iraq war and is breaking the news to his two children.

He takes the whole of the film to break the news–and in the last minute, does.

The journey there somewhat shielded the children from shocking news. But the pain of being told still resounded. Perhaps a little less than if the children were told at the start.

This shows that people can be prepared for hearing the worst of news. But when they are told, the pain is still difficult to bear.

In Grace is Gone, they still hold onto each other, for comfort, in the last minute.

In the last minute, there is still each other. There is still hope.