I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Go! Classic Kaufman.
Meeting the parents goes metaphysical.
Once the credits rolled, an immediate reaction padded steadily out of my mouth: “It was interesting, but I don’t think I’ll ever want to watch it again”. I then proceeded to talk about it for the next couple of hours, then dream about it a little. The following day it punctuated my thoughts at regular intervals. This pattern continued for three days until I reneged on the supposition of my former self and watched it again. Either I’m a masochist or this is a deeply penetrative, haunting movie.
Its writer, director and producer, Charlie Kaufman, is an unusual filmmaker and a maker of unusual films. He makes critically acclaimed things that no-one sees (Synecdoche, New York), Oscar winning things that are popular (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Oscar winning things part-funded through Kickstarter (Anomalisa), and countless things that never get made at all. He’s a laid-back David Lynch; a brotherless Coen; a Gen X Jordan Peele; a less lascivious Lars Von Trier.
Typically described as “surrealist” or “post-modern”, more colloquially, his films are “weird” - headscratchers, operating outside genre and the storytelling conceits with which we are generally familiar. With great intellectual endeavour, style, and attention to detail, they explore the esoteric theme of “being” - through identity, time, memory, mortality, relationships, sexuality, loneliness, and dissatisfaction. I’m Thinking of Ending Things slots naturally into Kaufman’s catalogue.
Its writer, director and producer, Charlie Kaufman, is an unusual filmmaker and a maker of unusual films. He makes critically acclaimed things that no-one sees (Synecdoche, New York), Oscar winning things that are popular (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Oscar winning things part-funded through Kickstarter (Anomalisa), and countless things that never get made at all. He’s a laid-back David Lynch; a brotherless Coen; a Gen X Jordan Peele; a less lascivious Lars Von Trier.
Typically described as “surrealist” or “post-modern”, more colloquially, his films are “weird” - headscratchers, operating outside genre and the storytelling conceits with which we are generally familiar. With great intellectual endeavour, style, and attention to detail, they explore the esoteric theme of “being” - through identity, time, memory, mortality, relationships, sexuality, loneliness, and dissatisfaction. I’m Thinking of Ending Things slots naturally into Kaufman’s catalogue.
Needless to say, such films are not in keeping with Netflix’s preference for noisy, flashy, “scroller” movies. Instead, these are usually offered up for £20 a ticket by tweedy, pipe-smoking cinemas, which refuse to show anything unless it is old, black and white, or laden with subtitles. But here we find ourselves, in the new world of wealthy online subscription services, who flood rather than stream, but also fund. While I’m Thinking of Ending Things is an example of what we lose when we cannot immerse ourselves in a dark room underneath a big screen, it likely would never have been made without Netflix’s spending power and ability to take risks. So perhaps we should be grateful. Either way, watching at home does affect the experience of this film, which requires patience, concentration, and openness.
Set in rural America during a snowstorm, a college student, Jake (Jesse Plemons, Black Mirror (TV), The Irishman), takes his recently acquired girlfriend, Lucy, (Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose, Chernobyl (TV)) from the city to meet his parents, played by Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine, Knives Out), and David Thewlis (Harry Potter, Fargo (TV)). We witness the car journey to and from the family home, the awkward (often excruciating) interactions between the characters in an isolated farmhouse, and strange, time-shifting, supernatural goings on that guide and interrupt proceedings. Meanwhile, an ominous, parallel story unfolds about an elderly caretaker at a nearby school. Only one certainty exists – all is not as it seems.
Set in rural America during a snowstorm, a college student, Jake (Jesse Plemons, Black Mirror (TV), The Irishman), takes his recently acquired girlfriend, Lucy, (Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose, Chernobyl (TV)) from the city to meet his parents, played by Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine, Knives Out), and David Thewlis (Harry Potter, Fargo (TV)). We witness the car journey to and from the family home, the awkward (often excruciating) interactions between the characters in an isolated farmhouse, and strange, time-shifting, supernatural goings on that guide and interrupt proceedings. Meanwhile, an ominous, parallel story unfolds about an elderly caretaker at a nearby school. Only one certainty exists – all is not as it seems.
It is tempting for me to divulge, at great length, my interpretation of the film, and offer an explanation for its two-and-a-quarter hours of overlapping threads and subtle symbolic gestures. But to do so would be a spoiler of the highest calibre, akin to yelling “Bruce Willis was dead all along!” outside a multiplex in 1999. No, the complexities and uncertainties of this film are at the root of what makes it interesting and enjoyable – wrestling with its ideas and how they are expressed is essential to the viewer’s enjoyment (or lack thereof).
As with most Kaufman films, it is sufficiently ambiguous and disorientating to potentially leave you feeling, at best, bemused; second best, confused; and worst, enraged. However, this is because I’m Thinking of Ending Things ends not on the screen, but later, in your head. With time and thought, the pieces fall into place. If you allow it, the movie will come to question you: challenge your perspectives on life, disrupt the denials in which you seek comfort and trigger your unspoken fears about memory, regret and death. Tiptoeing the thread between humour and despair, it takes a tense yet unhurried approach, laced with cryptic references and clues, constantly asking, who are these people and what do they represent? A casual, Friday night flick this is not.
As with most Kaufman films, it is sufficiently ambiguous and disorientating to potentially leave you feeling, at best, bemused; second best, confused; and worst, enraged. However, this is because I’m Thinking of Ending Things ends not on the screen, but later, in your head. With time and thought, the pieces fall into place. If you allow it, the movie will come to question you: challenge your perspectives on life, disrupt the denials in which you seek comfort and trigger your unspoken fears about memory, regret and death. Tiptoeing the thread between humour and despair, it takes a tense yet unhurried approach, laced with cryptic references and clues, constantly asking, who are these people and what do they represent? A casual, Friday night flick this is not.
Beside the rich dialogue, the unsettling atmosphere is tremendously served by the sound, cinematography and acting. Shot in a near-square, 1:1.3 ratio, with a bleak colour palette [DO NOT ADUST YOUR SET], everything feels claustrophobic. Psychologically repressive, but visually handsome, nonetheless. In the background, disturbing noises are almost incessant, be it a faint, howling wind; the dull, metronomic thud of a windscreen wiper; or the crackle of a record playing beyond its last groove. Understandably, given the surroundings, the characters become caricatures, melodramatically swinging from delight to dejection and exuberance to reticence in the blink of a searching eye. All are wonderfully portrayed by their well-equipped actors, who reflect the suffocating circumstances of each distorted scene through equal measures of precision and abandon.
If there is a general criticism, perhaps the film could be seen as indulgent, or at least over-cooked. Although based on a book of the same name, the film is undeniably Kaufmanesque - self-evidently created by the man with a multitude of highly specific, deep ideas. Some may find the constant cultural references to be impenetrable; others may find the many themes so opaquely rendered to become invisible. But that is the nature of this kind of film. It is not there for your pleasure, per se. It's there to broaden your sense of what it means to be human, and interrogate your presumptions about the world; leaning as much into art and philosophy as entertainment. If you find pleasure such things, you'll find much enjoyment in I'm Thinking of Ending Things.
So Go. Given the sparse cinematic landscape of 2020, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a welcome gem with an unusual amount of space in which to shine. Allocate some time, sharpen your attention and open your mind. Even if you don’t get it, it’s still visually pleasing and you can look up the explanation afterwards.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things is available to stream now, worldwide, on Netflix.
If there is a general criticism, perhaps the film could be seen as indulgent, or at least over-cooked. Although based on a book of the same name, the film is undeniably Kaufmanesque - self-evidently created by the man with a multitude of highly specific, deep ideas. Some may find the constant cultural references to be impenetrable; others may find the many themes so opaquely rendered to become invisible. But that is the nature of this kind of film. It is not there for your pleasure, per se. It's there to broaden your sense of what it means to be human, and interrogate your presumptions about the world; leaning as much into art and philosophy as entertainment. If you find pleasure such things, you'll find much enjoyment in I'm Thinking of Ending Things.
So Go. Given the sparse cinematic landscape of 2020, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a welcome gem with an unusual amount of space in which to shine. Allocate some time, sharpen your attention and open your mind. Even if you don’t get it, it’s still visually pleasing and you can look up the explanation afterwards.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things is available to stream now, worldwide, on Netflix.
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