Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” odd, at times unbearably slow, pacing and hard-to-decipher surrealist atmosphere make it one of the most unsettling horror films of the last few years. Without the crutches of music, gore, character tropes, or a clear villain, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” will enthrall and frighten any Netflix viewer patient enough to watch nearly an hour of in-car conversations about poetry and obscure films.
This movie, in the simplest sense, is about a grad student, sometimes called Lucy (Jessie Buckley) meeting her boyfriend Jake’s (Jesse Plemons) parents for the first time, but to whittle this dense film down to its plot would be a major disservice. Kaufman’s latest work is best described as a dream sequence, where the viewer should never feel comfortable or perfectly aware of what’s happening. Names, ages, time spans and even the existences of the characters are never definite. The only constants are Jake and the janitor, an old man whose state of being, while unclear, becomes the focus of the third act of the movie.
The three acts of this movie are extremely defined. The first act is as unambiguous as this movie gets, introducing our two leads Jake and Lucy in a real-world context: having a slightly tense discussion about the dinner with Jake’s parents they’re driving to, cut up by Lucy’s internal monologue describing why she likes and respects Jake but is thinking of ending things. The blizzard they’re driving through gets worse as they get deeper into the countryside, the atmosphere growing eerie and their slow discussion turning into a sullen argument about human nature.
Act two begins when a snow-covered farmhouse abruptly appears before their car. From Jake’s mom’s incessant waving, to the horrific childhood story Jake describes about a pig being found semi-alive and full of maggots, to the dog that appears at impossibly convenient times, this act begins the chaos and ever-shifting reality that makes this movie memorable and terrifying. It contains the most intense and entertaining scenes of the entire movie with Toni Collette and David Thewlis stealing the show as Jake’s parents. The way Thewlis belittles and undermines everything said by Lucy, whether she’s telling a story or sharing her art, is so effective and so awkward, especially when added on top of Collette’s emanation of frailty and confusion, creating this constantly shifting atmosphere between Jake and his parents and then Lucy who just wants to go home.
The acting in this act keeps the viewer curious and on edge as the scene falls into well-organized madness. Small details that feel off when the four begin to eat dinner become ominous and unworldly over the course of the 45 minutes we spend inside this well lived-in farmhouse.
Act three begins with Jake and Lucy’s drive home to the city—a city they never quite make it back to. Instead, the road leads them to Jake’s former high school parking lot. Jake disappears inside the school and, after a while, Lucy follows him in. There she comes face to face with the janitor. The janitor is not a new face at this stage of the movie but his presence previously consisted of quick jumps to him cleaning or watching something, with no dialogue or obvious connections to the literal plot. The movie at this point is completely surreal. We learn more about how Jake and Lucy met and then a ballet number breaks out, followed by the janitor, naked now, trailing his maggot-filled pig through the hallways. The film concludes with Jake acting in the play Oklahoma to a crowd of people in old-age makeup.
This act is thrilling and very emotionally driven while the plot is utterly abandoned. Act three works as a perfect conclusion and peak of this movie. While few questions are properly answered, there is beauty in its chaos and the act provides a satisfyingly weird end to a movie that emulates a slow build.
It’s difficult to criticize this movie, as tends to be the case with most Charlie Kaufman movies. This film could be called boring. I won’t argue it’s not, but I would say it’s more aptly described as meticulous and dialogue-heavy. This movie could also be described as aimless or convoluted, but I would rather call it complicated and open to interpretation, which is why I avoided inserting my own analyses of the massive amounts of symbolism in this movie into this review.
Watching “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” should be a personal experience. Fully interpreting and unpacking this movie would require repeat viewings and unfortunately the length, pace and subject matter make it a difficult rewatch. It’s not a movie to watch for a fun night in with friends, but if you’re looking for a thought-provoking and unsettling movie that is also, admittedly, pretentious and artsy, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” is the way to go.
