"I'm Thinking of Ending Things" Netflix Review: Nothing Is As It Seems

By: Andrew Rodriguez


The movie industry has changed dramatically over the year due to the pandemic with many films either delayed until next year or put on Video On Demand and streaming services so people can watch from the comfort of their own homes. Streaming platforms such as Netflix have had no issue with releasing their own original content such as "Tiger King" and "Da 5 Bloods" with both of them being some of the platform’s biggest original content of the year so far. With the big releases being normally action blockbusters, Netflix’s new original is a big departure from their other originals. It is a film that not only requires the audiences full attention, but also multiple viewings to fully grasp the message of the movie.

"I'm Thinking of Ending Things" is Charlie Kaufman’s latest film and is an adaptation of Iain Reid’s novel of the same title that came out in 2016. Charlie Kaufman is a screenwriter and director who wrote "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "Being John Malkovich", "Adaptation" and "Synecdoche, New York" which he also directed. It stars Jessie Buckley who plays the girlfriend of Jake (played by Jesse Plemons), Toni Collette, and David Thewlis who play as Jake’s parents. 

The plot is about a young woman who travels with her boyfriend to visit his parents at their farm, and throughout the film, she realizes that her reality is not what it seems. Her memory is distorted, there is no perception of time and her surroundings are constantly changing. It is a film that touches on many subjects such as relationships, identity, loneliness and time. Beyond these main ideas, it also criticizes media and how it can affect the general public by its influence on daily life. Throughout the film there are references to poems, movies, literature, art, etc. which the main character Jake is well-versed in, to the point that it portrays not only a big part of his identity, but his girlfriend's as well. So much so that the girlfriend’s identity isn’t her own, but Jake’s own image projected onto her. One of the main things the audience may notice when watching the film more than once is that Jake would call his girlfriend different names such as Lucy, Lucia and Louisa which is important to notice because it plays a huge role for the ending.

The majority of the film takes place inside of a car while there is a snowstorm, and it serves as a perfect backdrop that sets up the narrative. The first hour of the movie we see this couple, who at first glance seems like a normal couple, but as the road trip progresses it is clear that they are dysfunctional and have little-to-no chemistry. The dark snowstorm builds suspense and a sense of anxiety as well as the 4:3 aspect ratio, which makes the viewer feel claustrophobic and boxed in. It is a very disorienting film that has quick and witty dialogue that is easy to misinterpret. The constant perspective changes leave the viewer confused at first, but as the movie progresses you start to understand why those scenes are important. It is a technique that gives the audience a deeper look into the psyche of one character and their motives as well as building up emotion for the final climax of the film. 

The overlying message of age and time is shown in an interesting way through subtle changes in the characters and the setting. Growing old is something that all humans will have to face eventually and it is scary to think of when and how we are going to die. The film addresses this as bluntly as it could by showing the characters dealing with grief and the process of growing old throughout the film. 

When the couple first meet Jake's parents, they seemed eccentric but normal as any parents would be if they were going to meet their son’s girlfriend for the first time. As the night goes on, the girlfriend begins to notice how the mother is slightly schizophrenic and the father suffers from dementia. Also, their looks change throughout the night as well, with both of them aging rapidly and looking older than before dinner had started. As the couple is prepared to leave, the girlfriend notices Jake standing beside his mom who is laying on her deathbed dying right in front of him. This whole sequence of events shows how time and aging can affect a person and the people surrounding them. While they are two things we cannot control, it is something we have to accept and even prepare for, whether it is living everyday with meaning or appreciating life for the little things. 

As someone who has read the book before the film was released I can say that this is one of the few instances where the movie holds up to the book, or possibly even better than the book because of the direction Kaufman took with it. The main plot points and characters are there, but he changes some minor details from the book and creates his own interpretations of it which make it more interesting and less like he is just copying and pasting from the novel. He creates this dream-like story that is different from the book because the tones from both of them are similarbut also slightly different because of how Kaufman captures the ideas of Reid’s words and turns it into something of his own. 

This is one of the few movies this year I believe can benefit from being on a streaming platform because so many people will be able to experience it and take away their own interpretations of it. I highly recommend the novel and the film because you get two different experiences that are unlike any adaptation before because of how different yet similar the stories are. Adaptions are normally carbon copies of the original source material with little changes made for the big screen. "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" is one of the rare exceptions where the movie holds up to the original material as well as having its' own narrative that is unlike the novel.