“If we don’t go before that storm hits, we’ll die down here. All of us. Do you understand?”
— Finch Weinberg
Finch is a Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Adventure Drama directed by Miguel Sapochnik and starring Tom Hanks released to Apple TV+ on November 5, 2021.
Finch Weinberg (Tom Hanks) is an engineer, and possibly one of the last survivors on Earth following a Solar Flare Disaster that destroyed the ozone layer some years earlier. His sole companions are his little robot Dewey and his dog Goodyear. Finch, who's dying of radiation poisoning, builds an android called Jeff (Caleb Landry Jones) to help look after Goodyear in his absence. The unusual family then have to make a cross-country journey to escape a massive storm.
Previews: Trailer
.
Finch contains examples of:
- After the End: The movie is set ten years after a solar flare destroyed the ozone resulting in the death of most of life on earth.
- Apocalypse Anarchy: As all hell broke loose on Earth because of the deadly UV increase, people began to kill each other for the smallest amounts of food. Finch beheld a looter murdering a woman and her young daughter for their supplies and saved their dog (which he named "Goodyear") after the looter left, Dewey is destroyed by a bear trap protecting a cache of food and a car (heavily implied to be the owner of that cache) chases after Finch's motorhome the following night.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Finch doesn't want to hear any more ideas from Jeff after the solar panels that power their van get destroyed.
- Bittersweet Ending: Finch finally succumbs to his radiation poisoning, but does so having finally made peace. He also survived long enough to find out that the western United States is still protected by the ozone, meaning that life still exists and finally gets to feel the sun against his face without risking burning. Jeff is able to get Goodyear to San Francisco and Goodyear has warmed up to him, and because of the ozone existing, it's hinted that others have survived and arrived in the Bay Area and left notes to their loved ones on where to find them.
- Canine Companion: Finch’s beloved dog Goodyear.
- Character Signature Song: Finch is introduced singing "American Pie."
- Character Title: Finch.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Jeff is this for much of the movie. Makes sense since he was only just “born” and is trying to understand how the world works.
- Cosy Catastrophe: Despite the end of the world, Finch has spent around a decade living in relative comfort inside his underground laboratory with Goodyear and Dewey.
- Even the road trip itself is fairly pleasant and cosy bar the storms, deadly solar radiation and the car that briefly pursues the groups motorhome.
- Deadly Dust Storm: Finch has to leave the lab at the beginning of the movie (before his robot's programming is complete) because a large dust storm is coming and he won't be able to come back.
- Disaster Scavengers: Finch is introduced scavenging for supplies with Dewey in long-abandoned buildings.
- Do Androids Dream?: Jeff tells Finch that during one night he saw an image of Finch, Goodyear, and himself on the Golden Gate Bridge in his head, much to Finch's delight.
- Dressing to Die: Inverted. When Finch finds a spot in the desert with no ozone damage, he dresses up in nice clothes to have a meal under the sun for the first time in years. After he ruins the clothes by coughing blood on them, he changes back into his shorts and T-shirt and lies down in bed, where he dies in his sleep.
- End of the World as We Know It: A solar flare destroyed the ozone, which has killed all the crops and left the Earth a scorched wasteland. It turns out that there's still areas where the ozone is present, allowing life to survive.
- Foregone Conclusion: It's made very clear throughout the movie that Finch is dying and doesn't expect to make it to San Francisco. Sure enough, he ends up passing away, and only Jeff and Goodyear make it.
- Gentle Giant: Downplayed with Jeff, he is still a foot taller than Finch and despite being capable of lifting a camper van he is very gentle and soft spoken.
- Hazmat Suit: To protect himself from the sun's deadly rays, Finch has to wear one of these while outside during the day. Given the state of the world, it's very obviously cobbled together, especially with the helmet, as it's a repurposed racing helmet.
- The Hero Dies: Finch ends up dying in his sleep due to his radiation-poisoning having taken its toll.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Finch loves Goodyear and even builds Jeff to look after him in his absence. It is strongly implied that even before he avoided other humans out of self-preservation, Finch was not fond of people as he mentions that he didn’t like working in teams and had a Disappeared Dad.
- Howl of Sorrow: Goodyear does this after Finch passes away.
- Humans Are Bastards: After witnessing humans fight and kill each other over resources after the destruction of the ozone, Finch has come to believe this and actively avoids other survivors as a result.
- Jade-Colored Glasses: Finch has become jaded watching the remaining humans tear each other apart. Due to this, he actively avoids them. He does have some shades of Knight in Sour Armor.
- Last of His Kind: Finch appears to be the last human (or among the last humans) on Earth. It's implied that there are other humans in San Francisco, and Jeff moves to find them at the ending.
- Literal-Minded: When Finch tells Jeff that the ozone has been turned into Swiss cheese, Jeff doesn't understand that it is a metaphor and looks up into the sky trying to find actual cheese.
- Minimalist Cast: Aside from a brief flashback, Tom Hanks is the only human actor seen on screen.
- Monumental Damage: Downplayed, Jeff and Goodyear reach the Golden Gate Bridge, which has been somewhat Reclaimed by Nature from a lack of maintenance, but is otherwise undamaged.
- Mourning a Dead Robot: Finch takes having to shut off Dewey (due to being too badly damaged from a trap) really hard.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Jeff, by virtue of still learning his way through the world, ends up accidentally causing problems for Finch, from damaging the motorhome to causing Dewey to die. It upsets him heavily, especially when Finch lashes out at him about it.
- Noble Shoplifter: Finch himself will avoid causing unnecessary damage when scavenging buildings for supplies.
- Nothing Is Scarier: A car chases the group in their motorhome, but we never see the driver.
- Only One Name: Jeff suggests his name himself because of how simple and easy to remember it is.
- Post-Apocalyptic Dog: Finch's sole living companion is his loyal and loving dog Goodyear.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: It takes a while, but Jeff starts to move and talk more like a human over the course of the movie. It’s still downplayed compared to most examples, though.
- Road Trip Plot: Finch, Goodyear, Dewey, and Jeff go on a road trip west across post-apocalyptic America from St. Louis to San Francisco.
- Robot Buddy: Dewey and the newly created Jeff.
- San Francisco: The group's destination.
- Shout-Out: A small robot named Dewey.
- Sinister Car: A car pursues the group's motorhome until they manage to escape it by turning off the headlights and hiding under an underpass.
- Solar Flare Disaster: The movie is set ten years after a solar flare destroyed the earth's ozone layer, resulting in the death of most life on Earth.
- Sole Surviving Scientist: After a deadly solar flare ravages Earth, the last known surviving human is a roboticist who builds an android to take care of his dog once he dies.
- It's made clear that Finch is probably not the last human, but avoids going out at night in order to avoid others who do so to avoid the sun.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Finch is trying to find the bright side of life, but still playing "American Pie" as he drives through a post-apocalyptic Boston does not helps. Then again, one of the most recognizable parts of the lyrics is “this will be the day when I die…”
- Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: For a robot made for the sole purpose of being a dog sitter, Jeff is strong enough to act like a jack for the van.
- Urine Trouble: Goodyear urinates on Jeff's leg, as a sign of his initial dislike for the android.
- Viking Funeral: After Finch dies, Jeff builds a funeral pyre and cremates him after Finch says that he had Viking ancestry.
- Vocal Evolution: A variation for Jeff. At first, his voice is blatantly robotic and unnatural, but over the course of the film, it slowly but surely starts to sound more natural. By the end, he ends up sounding like a regular human with an electronic filter. It's implied that he's adapting his voice and mannerisms based on Finch, given how he's the only human he talks to, alongside his innate desire to learn as much as he can.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Its unclear how the RV keeps going after Finch while escaping the car accidentally destroys the solar panels that were powering it.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Jeff can be this at times, contrasting the bitter, but still friendly, Finch.
- Wintry Auroral Sky: Subverted; the characters see the aurora borealis in the New Mexico desert because of the solar flare's effects on the ozone.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Finch is dying of radiation poisoning and he knows it. He doesn’t make it towards the end of the movie.
“I believe in you, Finch.”
