npc life

carol & the end of the world (netflix, 2023)

image source

I’m not exactly sure how I heard about Carol & the End of the World, because (as Austin frequently pointed out while we were watching it together) I have basically not heard anybody mention this cartoon.¹ The premise is pretty simple: a giant thing from space is going to crash into the Earth. It gets closer every day and everybody knows it. Everybody knows exactly how much time there is left. Society has disintegrated somewhat but perhaps not as much as you’d expect.² The result is a story that you could describe as a mumblecore apocalypse, and by “could describe” I mean “I am describing it that way.”

In this alternate present, a lot of people live lives of low-key hedonism: they travel the world, party, and abandon their clothes. Our heroine Carol, however, doesn’t want to live like that. It is not her idea of a good time. Her parents have gone all-in, becoming full time nudists in a throuple with their live-in health care worker. Her sister, who has always been adventurous …