Checked out the new Netflix film I’m Thinking of Ending Things. This is the latest to be written (and directed) by Charlie Kaufman, the wildman who wrote Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and more. He’s a real headtrip of a writer… and this is a headtrip of a movie.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things is about… at least on paper… a young couple going to visit his parents. It’s a dialog-heavy movie that’s largely set in a car and a house for a little over two hours. But the movie isn’t really about the trip or even the visit… but it’s pretty challenging to figure out what’s going on at all much less what it’s trying to say.
The conversations in the movie mostly make sense on individual topics, but figuring out what it all means is a challenge. The film is narrated mainly by the female character (who doesn’t have a name) but details of who she is seem to shift without comment. In fact, once they reach the parents, the movie quickly shifts into more of a dream state. It reminded me very much of the movie Mother! where you might recognize the dream logic from your old nightmares. Events and dialog don’t make sense when looked at logically but, during the dream, you don’t question it. Except for Mother! I’ve never seen this dream structure done quite so well.
The film is very cryptic, very dense, very impenetrable. In fact, you might get through the whole movie and have no idea what any of it means. That is, if you can power your way through it. I was always fascinated and curious to see where it was going and if it would make any sense. I kind of bounced off it though at the end, unsure what the meaning was or if there was meaning at all. But I listened to some analysis of the movie and was able to finally put the pieces together. And I kind of respect that… it might have been made clearer watching it a second time too.
But on first inspection… yeah… it’s a pretty dense narrative and it expects you to be smart enough to put the pieces together AND to recognize references to, for example, a Pauline Kael review of a movie you may have never seen. Or understand why they are referencing essays by David Foster Wallace, follow the analysis of Baby It’s Cold Outside, or to have seen Oklahoma! The play, apparently, not the movie.
I came away from the movie appreciating it though not fully understanding it and not being 100% sure it meant anything. Upon reading and thinking deeper about it, I think I “get it”. And if you’re the kind of person who enjoys film analysis, you might like it too. But there’s plenty more people who don’t want the heavy lifting and should stay far from this flick.
Score: 82