I’m Thinking of Ending Things Review: I’ll Show You the Life of the Mind
I’m Thinking of Ending Things follows a burgeoning couple as they drive up to meet Jake’s parents at their farm seemingly in the middle of nowhere while the young woman he’s seeing is considering ending things with him, and from there the movie opens into so much more. It’s based on the novel by author Iain Reid.
It’s a movie that gets inside the heads of its characters, a feat its filmmaker knows well from creating Being John Malkovich. Charlie Kaufman’s writing and directing adds so many layers to the onion, and its stars Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons elevate the piece even further as their characters reveal themselves.
The film is like a great puzzle waiting to be solved, offering most of the pieces but some of them are still in the box to be grabbed up once most of the image is complete. Some pieces don’t feel like they fit, or look like they don’t, but they’re all of a full picture.
This isn’t to say the movie doesn’t feel whole at first blush; quite the opposite, in fact.
It’s that there is so much more to it than simply the image and the language, these extra pieces adding to the edges. After two viewings there still feels like there is more to discover, as it’s shockingly full of literary nods, philosophical ideas, and creeping psychological despair.
It’s like looking inside a mind that needs solving. You’ll need a keen eye to catch on some of its hints and deeper meanings, and some may find the movie a little impenetrable at times because of this. But if kept with, the film becomes something special.
It’s the deconstruction of a relationship, the deconstruction of a mind, where one person ends and another begins.
With this in mind, and then paired up with the consideration of the title, ending things with Jake, and its dreamlike nature, it starts to gather a different meaning as it goes on.
Jessie Buckley is a revelation, selling the curiosity of her character and the vulnerability as things start to feel as though they’re unraveling. But it’s through her lonely monologues at Jake, of her poem and of a film review, and the deep frustrations she faces that help to create a sense of urgent longing at controlling things that are completely out of our control. She’s brilliant here.
Jesse Plemons’ Jake is a tough nut to crack at first, where he can feel like a blank canvas for us to draw our own thoughts about, or a tightly wound spring ready to snap. But it’s by design, and Plemons’ character feels more complete with Jake’s parents involved, and grows far deeper and riveting as it goes on.
Toni Collette and David Thewlis are also like great brain teasers with their performances, where there’s so much to unpack as they transform and test us as viewers with their quirks, their riveting behaviors, and, frankly, their realness.
Charlie Kaufman continues his streak of searching into the loneliness and philosophies of his characters to plumb the depths of their humanity, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things can feel like a grand thesis on the matter.
A lot of the movie’s power comes from its editing, its careful and deliberate skips catching you off guard and showing how fleeting everything can be with the details doing their best to fill in the gaps. It’s accentuated by haunting shots and stirring cold winds that howl through most of the movie’s runtime.
But there’s also a grand intellectualism added on top, with plenty of pulls from literature, musicals, poetry, and during one of its more fun conversations, a full Pauline Kael review professed aloud. It all adds up to something that has so much to say, where it can repeat on itself and say even more in the process.
This may all sound rather vague, but it’s in keeping the film’s ideas intact. This is a movie that benefits greatly from going in with little to no knowledge of what you’re getting into.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a masterful look inside the mind, and while it can be severely difficult with a casual viewing, there will be some who find so much within its deep messages. It’s a weird world, and Charlie Kaufman continues to capture it in a way like no other.
What did you think of I’m Thinking of Ending Things? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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I’m Thinking of Ending Things is available Friday, September 4 on Netflix.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.