2020 Reviews – I’m Thinking of Ending Things

If you were unlucky enough (or lucky enough, depending on how masochistic you are), to glimpse the trailer for I’m Thinking of Ending Things, then you probably noticed that this movie looks like a mash-up of Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Hereditary and Get Out. I’ve really been looking forward to watching this one, but I also haven’t wet the bed since I was a small child. This movie looks real freaky. Written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, the same guy who wrote Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, I think we can expect the same mind-fuckery to go on here. And looking up Kaufman’s work, I’m ashamed to discover that I haven’t seen any more of his recognisable filmography – I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that the godfather of movie critique, Roger Ebert, absolutely adored Synecdoche, New York; a movie I recently found at a second-hand store, but I’m yet to watch for myself – winning!

Lucy (Jessie Buckley) is quite clearly thinking of ending things; her voiceover tells us multiple times, as she contemplates the reasons to stay or break up with boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons). Jake and Lucy have been dating for several weeks, and Jake has organised a road trip through the countryside, where they will meet Jake’s parents at Jake’s childhood home. The trip gives them time to talk about their similarities and differences, but when they get to Jake’s parents, things seem a little off. Time seems to overlap or replay itself in strange ways. Jake’s parents, played by Toni Collette and David Thewlis, age back and forth in different situations. Unbeknownst to us is how much of this Lucy is noticing, but Lucy wants to get home for the next morning, yet there’s no telling where the night will take her.

First of all, it’s not as scary as I anticipated. Not a jump-scare in sight actually. The most thrilling time of the movie is at Jake’s parents’ house, no doubt. Watching Toni Collette run the chart of human emotions is impeccable, and David Thewlis keeps up with her at a brisk pace. This is where I thought we were going to get some answers, but unfortunately none came. The long conversations either side of the visit to the farm are another story – the pair cover an array of topics quite fast, with the most specific of references, and if you don’t know what they’re talking about, it goes over your head. More than that, in the drive to the farm especially, I felt like I was deliberately being kept at an arms-length by the movie, like I wasn’t fully meant to understand who these characters were. I thought of The Hateful Eight, and how Quentin Tarantino’s scene in the horse and cart is longwinded, but manages to introduces four characters from another world really well, and maintain an engaging atmosphere the entire time. I’m Thinking of Ending Things either didn’t want to do that, or couldn’t do it; for me, at least. The changing camera angles and sound design, incorporating the icy wind and melodic windshield wiper, are well enough to keep me engaged though, despite not much progressing in their stagnant conversation. The first acts also leans into the notion of the inception of ideas… and how can you discuss the existence of ideas without having ideas? Potentially brain-warping stuff. Lucy and Jake agree that people watch a lot of content, including movies, allowing ideas to wash over them, and manipulate their reality – it comes across as an indictment of film, within a film, which is weird within itself, and also personally, are you picking on me, bruh?

I have a few theories about what the movie is about, but each is as wistful as the next, as I really have no clue. Right now, it’s like trying to play darts in the dark. Here’s one – I think the glitches in the parents, and the dogs extended shake, are memories that stick on repeat, standing out in Lucy’s mind as she looks back on their meeting. The characters are acting out the abstract memories of Lucy’s interaction. For example, for years to come, Lucy might remember Jake’s father had a Band-Aid on his head, but not exactly where. Even seeing Lucy act out as a dry movie critic with a cigarette, is more a reflection on how she will remember her behaviour in that moment, with an air of sophisticated snobbery, rather than her character changing personality. Lucy also talks about time whizzing by whilst we stand still; as moments flood back from memory, or we project the future. I think the movie offers two conflicting futures for Jake, as a means of reconciling Lucy’s feelings towards ending the relationship – in one way, the loner oaf she perceives is not destined to end up as anything but a janitor. Yet, through his kindness and determination, he could achieve great things in the field of physics and beyond. Both versions of Jake exist in the basement – his boring janitor uniform in the wash harbouring his monotonous dim thoughts, as well as the passionate brightness that comes through his old paintings, as Lucy aims to consolidate which part of his personality is bigger. The movie makes the point that only through love do things make sense, and there’s a strong lack of love between everyone in this movie. Lucy can paint a moody hillside in the same way that our memories get tarnished by our emotions. Lucy offers two versions of how she met Jake; the first about how she saw something sweet in him, where the second categorises him as an annoying boy she gave her number to in the hopes he would leave her alone.

I think the movie is urging us to view the width of time with the same urgency as its length. What am I smoking, you ask? Nothing! I’m just making the best of this mindfuck-within-a-mindfuck that calls itself I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Think of time as a flat plain, existing as far as our eye can see around us. As we make the motion to move, it is our surroundings that pass by us. That being said, you have to be careful where you go, and on a metaphysic level, what ideas pass through you; I believe this is shown with the schmaltzy Robert Zemeckis movie the janitor watches, that portrays a sweet relationship. Or is it sweet? – that’s on you to decide. The movie insinuates we consume too much content, too many ideas, without reflecting on them, and it eats us away like maggots. Lucy’s name, knowledge, occupation and reason for getting home keep changing because they don’t matter, since she could be any one of us. For myself, I can say there are multiple future versions that exist in my mind’s eye every day, and by making decisions, I’m choosing to end options, one way or another – Lucy is deciding to end her future with Jake.

Secondary theory; Jake is a straight-up murderer. You don’t hire Jesse Plemons for nothing, and the guy has simmering psycho built into his acting DNA. Lucy has not noticed the bigger ploy at play, because she is bogged down by her frivolous ideas on their relationship, as well as keeping polite. One of Jake’s most gleeful moments is when telling Lucy about the maggoty pigs. I would argue Jake is controlling, and definitely harsh to his parents. The Tulsey Town girls are his victims, trying to warn Lucy that she doesn’t have to go on with Jake. Lucy is trying to warn Lucy, which is why her phone blows up with messages from herself. Jake is seen to be stealing her essences, deleting everything from her phone, and taking her poetry and painting to rooms of his own possession. Jake later dies a janitor, and the final scene is his perception of heaven, where everyone adores him, awards him, and weeps with joy when he sings. The car never leaves the snow at the end of the film, and I don’t think Lucy ever makes it out of that High School.

My first instinct was that this is quite an isolating movie, but the more I think about it, the more I could argue it’s also hopeful. Like a landscape portrait, I guess you can colour it any way that fits, which may be part of the genius about it. I wonder how history will view this movie – Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind is studied in schools, with its fair share of absurdity to go round. How will this movie fare; will it be included as a filmic building block for the future, or discarded like a sticky and melting milkshake? I wonder in the decades to come, if anyone could give you a quick rundown of what this film is about, like how it’s universally known what Bruce Willis is in The Sixth Sense, or how there are tangible theories on Donny Darko, like it’s simple to decipher. Do you know what I realised – when a bad movie is made, taking the form of a straightforward narrative, it’s so easy to tell because it doesn’t make sense. But when an interpretive think-piece comes together, who can tell if it’s had the desired effect or not. People can champion this movie and say, “…a metaphysic masterpiece… a transcendent experience…”, but in a year’s time, the production team could come out and say, “oh, we ran out of time shooting, and we just chucked together what we had. It’s a mess to us”. The way my mind works, I want to make sense of it and I want it to mean something grandiose. I think I’ve talked myself into liking this movie a lot more than I thought I did. I think I really like this movie a lot. I can’t wait to hear other people’s reactions to this movie and see where we all sit. If you’ve seen I’m Thinking of Ending Things, let’s get a dialogue going.

4.5