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MOVIE REVIEW
'I'm Thinking Of Ending Things' Is Very Quirky And Bizarre, But That's All It Realize On
By Sal LoCicero | September 6, 2020
'I’m Thinking Of Ending Things' is the latest film from writer/director Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York, Anomolisa). Charlie Kaufman is one of the many filmmakers in Hollywood who creates some of the most outlandish movies to come out of Hollywood.
Based on the book with the same title, 'I’m Thinking Of Ending Things' is about Cindy (Jessie Buckley) who goes on a road trip with her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) to meet his parents (Toni Collette, David Thewlis). Now with a plot as simple as that, this movie doesn’t sound like it would be anything so odd. However, when you add the name Charlie Kaufman into the mix, anything can happen. What starts out as a calm story about a couple, evolves into movie that goes completely berserk.
This is a movie that is guaranteed to bore some, unsettled most, and confuse all. Charlie Kaufman has (in a way) made his own version of 'Mother!' (2017). 'Mother!' is one of the most polarizing films of all time, with many audiences having different reactions towards the feature . Some loved it, others despised it. 'I’m Thinking Of Ending Things' starts out as calm Hallmark-eque type movie, during the second act it becomes so unsettling that it feels beyond uncomfortable to sit through. The last act turns itself into a Black Mirror episode. It’s completely and utterly peculiar. It makes you feel like you encountered a glitch on Netflix. Netflix distributed this film and they also bought the rights to Black Mirror, so it would not be a such a surprise if people start giving off theories that Kaufman’s film is connected to Brooker’s show. This film has also gotten some mixed reviews so far. Some find this film to be genius, while others find it to be gratuitously bizarre for no good reasons.
Here’s how the future of this movie could either go. This could be the movie that people will still have in-depth conversations about regarding what in the absolute hell was going on and what at all meant. They may also consider this to be a masterpiece in a few years, or people are not going to remember this movie at all. It may be considered one of Charlie Kaufman’s worst and most forgettable movies. People will not care about the hidden messages and may claim them to be ludicrous, and they could bash this for being overwhelmingly abnormal than it needed to be.
The movie does have some intriguing scenes. There is even one scene that will make viewers feel extremely claustrophobic as if they are in the movie themselves. However, this is not going to be one of Kaufman's most memorable films. He is trying to do a lot here. Kaufman is trying to give a thought-provoking message, he’s trying to let audiences take a peek inside his mind - although not everyone can handle. There are a lot of extensively hidden messages, meanings and ideas sprinkled all throughout this film. But at the end of the day, the only reason why viewers will still have this movie on their minds, will be so that they can digest all of the obscurity that they witnessed.
'I’m Thinking Of Ending Things' is not heading anywhere special. It will eventually go down as Charlie Kaufman’s worst film, one that nobody is going to remember.
Grade: C-
What are your thoughts?
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