Review of I'm Thinking of Ending Things
midlandsmovies • September 16, 2020
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020) Dir. Charlie Kaufman
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette, David Thewlis
Charlie Kaufman has always dealt with subject matters that are subtly horrifying. Questions of our consciousness, the way our minds work and the fallibility of our memories. These broad topics always skirt around what truly scares us, the loss of self. How else could you explain the loss of control in Being John Malkovich? The hopeless misanthropy of Anomalisa? Or even the inevitability of Joel and Clementine’s relationship in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?
So, when Netflix announced that Kaufman’s next project would be an adaption of Iain Reid’s psychological horror novel, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, there was a certain amount of excitement. Reid’s story dealt with the synergy between a young woman and her boyfriend, Jake, as they travel to meet Jake’s parents, during which they undergo a bizarre transition through time and reality, and this all seemed well within Kaufman’s wheelhouse.
Fans will be happy to know that, for the most part, Kaufman has deftly adapted the difficult source material, using his unique visual style and writing to drip feed the narrative. He intercuts the story with clips of a janitor working at a high school, as well as a melodramatic film, scenes that become more prominent and take on greater meaning as we approach the finale.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things lives and dies with its cast and the quartet of Jesse Plemons (as Jake), Jessie Buckley (as The Girl) and David Thewlis and Toni Colette (as Jake’s parents) do an excellent job of handling the obtuse material. While Buckley is undoubtedly the focus and is a relatable and witty protagonist, it is the rest of the cast that do the emotional heavy lifting. As The Girl watches Jake and his parents transition through time, Thewlis and Collette go from humorous to cantankerous and finally to ailing and dementia ridden, all while Plemons watches helplessly, working through prosthetics to humanise their broad characters.
These are powerhouse performances but its Plemons that steals the film with a career best performance. He shows real depth as he deals with the awkwardness of taking a girl home for the first time, the difficulties that come with aging parents and then the trauma of end-of-life care.
The first ninety minutes are highly enjoyable, arguably the best work in Kaufman’s high-profile career. It’s full of the referential touches that the cinephilic, bibliophile loves to sprinkle through his work – the dissection of John Cassavetes's ‘A Woman Under the Influence’ is a particular delight.
The film falters however when bringing the complex plot together. As Jake drives The Girl to his old high school to dispose of their ice cream cups, The Girl is trapped in the car during an increasingly severe blizzard. Following him into the school, The Girl experiences a series of surreal vignettes that go someway to explain the plot, but which feel too by-the-numbers and lack the required sting in the tail.
It would be too harsh to call I’m Thinking of Ending Things a failure.
Even at its most indecipherable, it’s an enjoyable ride that flips between disturbing, comedic, and bizarre. It can be argued that the source material would never transfer comfortably to film, dealing with the mental fallout of a traumatic event, with a climax that is totally open to interpretation. Kaufman puts in a noble effort here and is probably the only director who could brought Reid’s novel to the screen.
★★★
Matthew Tilt
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