Last Night · reception & legacy
1998 · Don McKellar
How Last Night has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
Landed in 1998 as the pointed art-house counterpoint to that summer's Armageddon and Deep Impact — the apocalypse as a quiet Toronto character piece — and it's since grown into a bona fide cult classic, rediscovered by a new wave of viewers during the pandemic as the end-of-the-world movie that actually felt true.
What's debated
The perennial fan debate is whether it's the great underseen Canadian film that outsiders unjustly skip, or whether its gentle, self-deprecating Canadianness is exactly why it never travelled the way it deserved.
Its footprint
David Cronenberg calmly phoning customers to assure them the gas will stay on until the very end is the film's endlessly cited image, and 'the most Canadian apocalypse movie' has become its affectionate shorthand — plus cinephiles love clocking a pre-fame Sandra Oh.
Where it stands
A cult cornerstone of Canadian cinema and a Letterboxd favourite for New Year's Eve and end-of-the-world watchlists — a 'you must see this' among fans of quiet apocalypses.