I’m Thinking of Ending Things is the latest from the mind of writer/director Charlie Kaufman who’s made a career out of challenging and complex films such as Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Synecdoche, New York. Despite loving his previous work, this was a big let down. I know it will have its fans who love it, and to them, I say there was stuff I did enjoy, but overall it just wasn’t my cup of tea. This film is very similar in style and tone to Hereditary and Mother! This will prove to be just as divisive as those films were.
The film is based on the 2016 novel of the same name and follows a woman with significant identity issues grappling with the notion of breaking up with her boyfriend, as they are on their way to meet his family. None of the characters are named besides her boyfriend throughout the movie, whose name we learn is “Jake.”
I’m Thinking of Ending Things was not what I expected at all, and that’s saying a lot given Kaufman’s previous work. This was his take on delivering a book worthy of being labeled Lynchian. The film is 134 minutes long, and about 50-60 of those minutes are spent inside a car.
I was losing focus a lot even though the convos were kind of interesting. It was just too much of a slow burn, with the pace being a big issue. I found myself checking how much time was left about five times, which is something I hate doing because, as a cinephile, I like giving every film the benefit of the doubt and try to finish it. However, this film tested my patience as I found myself wanting to give up and stop watching.
In a mini spoiler, there’s something that keeps being shown to us throughout the film that I questioned its point, but I will say be patient because it comes into play eventually in a big and beautiful way. The last 20-25 minutes of I’m Thinking of Ending Things turns into a song and dance fever dream, and by that time, I indeed had given up on the movie despite understanding its intentions. I get some directors like to experiment, but this was just Kaufman being weird for the sake of trying to be artsy-fartsy.
The central saving grace was the cast. They helped it so much for me to enjoy this film. This film features impressive acting, and it’s what kept me in the movie when I wanted to give up so many times.
Jessie Buckley, whose work in Wild Rose and Chernobyl I enjoyed, is our surrogate on screen. Like us, so much of what she is seeing is very confusing to her. Like us, she is lost and can’t make sense of much of what is happening. Her character is such a downer that she had me in a funk because her character’s depression was rubbing off on me. This was a very challenging role, and she nailed it. She sells so much of the film’s weirdness with her facial expressions.
Jesse Plemons always does an excellent job in a different role from most that we’ve seen him play. He plays a very tortured and sad individual, and Plemons does an excellent job displaying his character’s darkness well. If you weren’t already sold on Plemons, this is a performance that will sell you because he is one of our finest character actors working right now.
Jake’s parents, played by the always reliable Toni Collette and David Thewlis, do a good job, but their role is much smaller than the trailer might hint at. The trailer makes it seem like the film will mainly take place in their home, but it is very misleading. I’ll say this much they are in it 20-25 minutes tops. I wish they had been used a lot more because their scenes were my favorite part. They come off as those annoying parents that the child is embarrassed by. Still, they welcome Jake warmly.
Toni Colette was excellent. We see many stages of her character, and some of the makeup used on her was top-notch stuff. Some of the stages we see her are as an older person, and she captures a more senior person—both mentally and physically.
David Thewlis does a good job, but he isn’t as good as Toni was. While I wouldn’t necessarily say his character showed restraint, he is a bit more toned down than Toni’s, who some would say was fantastic while others might say she overacted.
I have never read the book, so I don’t know if reading the book might help you understand and enjoy the film more, but from somebody who watched the movie as its own thing, this left a lot to be desired. This was a film I was very excited about, but having seen this, this fit better on Netflix because had this been released in theaters, it might have died a slow death. It’s that divisive.
