Review – I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020) directed by Charlie Kaufman.
Watched on September 8th, 2020
Rating: 4/5 Stars
When this ended I wasn't quite sure how to feel. So much felt disjointed, and I wasn't quite sure what I had just watched (and not in that good way where you're like "holy shit what did I just watch”). But as I started to process it more and really think about this movie, my explanations and theories I was coming up with (even if they might be far from the intention Kaufman had) were making me like the movie more and more. I don't know everything, but I can definitely see myself down the road rewatching this and feeling that "holy shit what did I just watch" reaction that I so desperately craved this first time around. Part of me thinks I had high expectations for this, but in a way, they were somewhat met, even if my personal enjoyment might grow over time instead of loving it right off the bat. But regardless, this was still a really fantastic film.
Some of the cinematography is just outstanding. Not only does it look absolutely gorgeous, but the camerawork is just outstanding. The slow pans truly give it that eerie and tense vibe that this movie was going for, as well as times when the camera would pan before informing the audience why, and then you see a character follow that pan, but that slight delay in the character's motion and the foreshadowing of the pan was really exceptional.
The style of this movie and the tone being that strange, odd, and suspenseful tension is quite apparent throughout the entire film. Not only is the editing done in a way that almost layers character's dialogue on top of each other so that it seems as if characters respond to each other before the other finishes, but the conversations itself give off such a strange vibe. This is due to both the writing and directing of Kaufman, each of which deserves a standing ovation. A lot of the writing in this movie is just fantastic, from the conversations to the prose within them was just outstanding. What was especially great, mainly in the first part of the movie was the juxtaposition between the characters' thoughts and reality. Not only do I feel like this captured what goes on in our minds very well, but the relationship between our minds and reality felt perfect, especially how things seem to interrupt our train of thought almost constantly.
The acting was fantastic. I'm not sure if I've ever seen Jessie Buckley in anything before but she was phenomenal and I'd be really interested in seeing some of her other work. Jesse Plemons was also great, and was that a small Breaking Bad reference I caught during their discussion about trains?? Toni Colette honestly stole the show whenever she was on screen; she was so good and this makes me incredibly more excited to watch Hereditary. My man David Thewlis was really great here too. Particularly with Anomalisa, I found that it was hard to separate him in the movie from his previous role as Professor Lupin (possibly because of how heavily ingrained Harry Potter is into my childhood and my nostalgia), so it was always on my mind hearing him speak in Anomalisa. But with this one, I felt like I truly was able to "distance" myself from Lupin and see this new character instead, which I think says a lot about the great performance he gives in this film.
So at a certain point in this film, the movie was absolutely entrancing, but at the same time, I was still trying to wrap my head around what exactly went down. That's why my initial reaction when the credits rolled wasn't as exciting as I had hoped I'd be when this ended. Not only did I not really understand what the movie was potentially about, but the ending itself felt a bit anti-climactic. But as I said above, the more time passed, and the more I began to think, the more I grew to love a lot about this movie. I've still got some ideas that I don't have fulled fleshed out, but it makes me incredibly excited to rewatch this, hopefully soon, because I can see myself loving this given some time to really pick it apart.
This was a great journey to build up to this film by watching the rest of Kaufman's filmography beforehand. A lot of the style felt quite a bit Synecdoche-esque, while still having that very eloquent, thought-provoking, and intelligent dialogue you'd expect from a Kaufman film. I don't think disappointed is the right word because I definitely wasn't disappointed with this movie. I just think that I will enjoy this so much more the next time I watch it. There are so many small details that I haven't even begun to think of theories for. That's what feels so great about this film; you don't necessarily need to know the whole picture to realize that something is there. And like a scene in this film suggests, maybe you don't need to see the answer to feel what you're supposed to feel about this film; being there and experiencing it yourself can be that answer.
Check out the original review posted on Letterboxd here.
