The First Straight-to-VHS Movie in Decades is Almost Sold Out

Robert dos Santos is a South African director who came to filmmaking after a career in law. He made the switch after being held at gunpoint multiple times in South Africa, deciding he’d rather take a creative risk than stay miserable behind a desk. This Is How The World Ends is his debut feature.

The film was shot largely at AfrikaBurn, South Africa’s answer to Burning Man, and produced under dos Santos’ banner And Films. It stars Frances Sholto-Douglas as Dani Freeman, a woman who joins the last party on earth as a war between humans and AI Machine States descends into chaos, and Sean Cameron Michael as her brother Tom, who sets out to find her. The story keeps the AI threat largely in the background, present and looming rather than front and center.

The VHS strategy came to dos Santos during the edit. With headlines cycling through “Hollywood is cooked” and “filmmaking is dead,” he wanted to put something physical into the world as a counter-argument. “This is a film that is made by humans, for humans,” he told Variety. “This is cinema you can hold, touch, and most importantly own.”

The film shipped through And Films, with boutique physical media distributor VHS Haven handling U.S. distribution. Preorders are open now at thisishowtheworldends.com, with three tiers available. Pricing is listed in South African rand; at current exchange rates, here’s roughly what that looks like in USD:

The Survival Edition (R300 / ~$18) has already sold out. The Filmmaker’s Edition (R400 / ~$25) is still available and includes the base film on VHS. The Collector’s Edition (R500 / ~$31) is limited and includes a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. A vinyl soundtrack (R650 / ~$40) is also available. All buyers can choose NTSC or PAL format at checkout, and shipping is worldwide.

Straight-to-VHS as a format hasn’t been used for a genuine new release in about two decades. VCR production ceased entirely in 2016, and the last major studios still shipping on VHS wrapped up well before that.

The format survives almost entirely as a collector’s category, with original horror tapes from the 1980s fetching real money on eBay and dedicated communities like VHS Haven keeping it alive. Into that ecosystem, This Is How The World Ends arrives as something genuinely unusual: a new film, made with intent, choosing the oldest consumer home video format as its debut platform.

The film’s plot centers on AI as an existential threat, and the release method is a direct comment on what streaming and algorithmic distribution have done to cinema ownership. Dos Santos has also had promising conversations at Cannes with Neon and AMC about a potential theatrical run, which would be a strange reversal of the normal release order but not one that’s put off the industry execs he’s met.

VHS as a collector’s category has a documented secondary market. Original horror and cult releases from the 1980s and early ’90s regularly trade for hundreds of dollars on eBay, particularly sealed copies or regional variants. The Collector’s Edition here is explicitly limited, though no production number has been published. With the Survival Edition already sold out and Variety coverage landing today, demand is clearly outpacing dos Santos’ initial expectations.

Whether that translates into resale value depends largely on whether the film finds a larger cultural moment. If the theatrical conversations with Neon or AMC materialize, early VHS copies become the “original format” collectible for a film with a real distribution story behind it. That’s a legitimate hold case, especially for the sold-out Survival Edition if copies surface on the secondary market.

There is a bit of a precedent for this though. In 2023, we covered a limited collaboration between the filmmakers behind The Last Blockbuster and LUNCHMEAT for an ultra-limited run of the film on VHS. Similar to dos Santos’ film, these were also produced in multiple variants, and some would go on to resell on eBay for up to $200.

This project is definitely worth watching. It’s become increasingly clear in the last few years that people are growing restless and dissatisfied with the sterility and disconnect in our lives. From mass media to interpersonal communications to dating to work, screens are our primary portal to the world.

It’s no surprise to see physical releases of films and music grow popular. Vinyl records have resurged in popularity through the 2020s, and it’s possible we’re on the cusp of a similar renaissance for VHS. Hell, maybe it’s time to give Betamax another shot.

In any case, we’ll be keeping our eyes on these tapes. If you want to learn more about reselling, or you just want to stay informed on the latest limited edition product releases from across the internet, make sure you subscribe to our newsletter.