I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Year: 2020
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, Jesse Plemons & David Thewlis
Runtime: 134 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 26/05/21
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, Jesse Plemons & David Thewlis
Runtime: 134 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 26/05/21
Despite being a self-confessed cinephile I’m yet to expose myself to the strange creations of Charlie Kaufman, the man behind Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Kaufman’s work is typically very obtuse, intentionally pretentious, and purposefully misleading, which sounds like exactly the kind of thing I would be into, but just by chance I’ve never found myself in a position to watch one of his films until now with I’m Thinking of Ending Things. And now that I have exposed myself to Kaufman, I’m unsure I’ll ever do it again.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things sees a woman named Lucy (Jessie Buckley) agreeing to meet her boyfriend Jake’s (Jesse Plemons) parents for the first time. The two have been dating for just under two months, but Lucy is, as the title suggests, thinking of ending their relationship. She likes Jake, but she’s unsure whether she sees a future with him, and as the drive to Jake’s parents shows, the two don’t have an awful lot they like to talk to each other about. During the drive to Jake’s parents things begin to become clear that something is wrong, Jake appears to be able to hear the thoughts in Lucy’s head, and the conversation they are having seems to have semi-regular contradictions within it.
Once they arrive at the house things begin to get even stranger as Jake’s mother (Toni Collette) and father (David Thewlis) behave strangely, age or de-age every few minutes, and the house appears to be altering as these shifts happen. Even Lucy begins to go by different names, and also begins to notice that things from her life (such as her artwork and poetry) are in Jake’s house, created by him.
Following dinner during the drive home the two have increasingly more confusing, contradictory, and complex conversations about seemingly inconsequential things as more ghosts from Jake’s past seem to tamper with reality. Calling into question not only Lucy’s perception of the relationship she has with Jake, but also her very existence and the meaning behind it all.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things sees a woman named Lucy (Jessie Buckley) agreeing to meet her boyfriend Jake’s (Jesse Plemons) parents for the first time. The two have been dating for just under two months, but Lucy is, as the title suggests, thinking of ending their relationship. She likes Jake, but she’s unsure whether she sees a future with him, and as the drive to Jake’s parents shows, the two don’t have an awful lot they like to talk to each other about. During the drive to Jake’s parents things begin to become clear that something is wrong, Jake appears to be able to hear the thoughts in Lucy’s head, and the conversation they are having seems to have semi-regular contradictions within it.
Once they arrive at the house things begin to get even stranger as Jake’s mother (Toni Collette) and father (David Thewlis) behave strangely, age or de-age every few minutes, and the house appears to be altering as these shifts happen. Even Lucy begins to go by different names, and also begins to notice that things from her life (such as her artwork and poetry) are in Jake’s house, created by him.
Following dinner during the drive home the two have increasingly more confusing, contradictory, and complex conversations about seemingly inconsequential things as more ghosts from Jake’s past seem to tamper with reality. Calling into question not only Lucy’s perception of the relationship she has with Jake, but also her very existence and the meaning behind it all.
I won’t beat around the bush, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is not an easy watch by any stretch of the imagination, and one that you likely will not gain any kind of reward for enduring; but I think that’s the whole point of the film once you begin to peel away the layers and try to understand what’s actually happening. Kaufman provides very few clues as to what the story is really about, this mixed with the extremely slow pace and the over two-hour runtime can make I’m Thinking of Ending Things feel like an exercise in tedium as you’ll come away with frustratingly few answers.
Without spoiling too much, I feel as though the film is confronting the futility of existence, and rather than being a story about a breakup is actually a suicide note of sorts. But there’s little sense in me diving into my theories as it’ll make for a ridiculously long read and one that probably won’t be particularly interesting to those who do actually want to watch it.
I thought Jesse Plemons was fantastic in this film, along with some excellent performances from Collette and Thewlis. The script demanded so much from them with it never having a clear end point to strive for, and characters that have no real character to them. These three do an outstanding job of feeling simultaneously empty (like the way the film portrays human existence) and also hopeful of the future. Jessie Buckley is a bit more complex though because whilst the delivery of her frequent monologues is completely captivating, her general performance is not quite so. It may be because the character is so difficult to relate to, what with her potentially not even existing, but I often find myself unable to decide how I feel about her performance.
Without spoiling too much, I feel as though the film is confronting the futility of existence, and rather than being a story about a breakup is actually a suicide note of sorts. But there’s little sense in me diving into my theories as it’ll make for a ridiculously long read and one that probably won’t be particularly interesting to those who do actually want to watch it.
I thought Jesse Plemons was fantastic in this film, along with some excellent performances from Collette and Thewlis. The script demanded so much from them with it never having a clear end point to strive for, and characters that have no real character to them. These three do an outstanding job of feeling simultaneously empty (like the way the film portrays human existence) and also hopeful of the future. Jessie Buckley is a bit more complex though because whilst the delivery of her frequent monologues is completely captivating, her general performance is not quite so. It may be because the character is so difficult to relate to, what with her potentially not even existing, but I often find myself unable to decide how I feel about her performance.
The film is gorgeous to look at though with some incredible cinematography from Lukasz Zal. He regularly manages to make everyone in the film feel completely isolated from one another, even when they’re all sat at the same table. This along with the choice of a 4:3 aspect ratio makes the film feel claustrophobic and allows you to really focus your attention. It is arguably too long though, and I feel like that’s the point, because the film does regularly address just how much everything seems to be dragging on and how nothing seems to have any point to it, but just because that’s the intention doesn’t make the experience any less irritating.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things is certainly an intriguing watch. It’s not often that we see a film that does everything it can to not play by the typical rules of filmmaking, and whilst sometimes that can be refreshing in cases like this it feels affirming that those rules are there for a reason. I would only recommend I’m Thinking of Ending Things if you’re after something experimental that’s totally unique, it’s not a film you can kick back and enjoy, and you’re likely going to need to watch the film more than once to understand what’s happening and what significance any of the dialogue has to the plot. Whilst there certainly is a good film at the core of I’m Thinking of Ending Things, it’s going to take you some serious brainpower to find it.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things is certainly an intriguing watch. It’s not often that we see a film that does everything it can to not play by the typical rules of filmmaking, and whilst sometimes that can be refreshing in cases like this it feels affirming that those rules are there for a reason. I would only recommend I’m Thinking of Ending Things if you’re after something experimental that’s totally unique, it’s not a film you can kick back and enjoy, and you’re likely going to need to watch the film more than once to understand what’s happening and what significance any of the dialogue has to the plot. Whilst there certainly is a good film at the core of I’m Thinking of Ending Things, it’s going to take you some serious brainpower to find it.