im thinking of ending things

a kaufman movie review

Posted by Madeeha Ghori on September 10, 2020
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this post neither avoids nor indulges in spoilers

As you watch a movie, your brain moves through phases. Most times you won’t notice it– heck, the movie’s goal is for you not to. But there’s a genre of film that makes you aware of your brain. You notice yourself feeling confused, recognizing things, recognizing that the director wants you to recognize things. You notice yourself noticing. Notice yourself understanding. Notice yourself giving up and letting the film wash over you.

The stages of watching I’m Thinking of Ending Things:

1. Collecting the vibes

  • Hm. Okay. This is definitely the atmosphere I was expecting— kinda slice of life indie deep-thought vibe.
  • Except with an underlying sense of…dread?
  • This movie is shot kinda like a horror movie. But without the horror.
  • Is he the janitor? No, they have very different noses.
  • I wonder if this entire movie will be set inside this car.

3. Confusion begins to creep in

  • That was weird
  • Why would you go for a walk?
  • Ooh, I like her earrings
  • Yeah, it really is shot like a horror movie.
  • Hang on, did the dad get younger? Did the mom get older?

3. Vibe check: overthrown. You notice your own confusion and intrigue as your brain scrambles to reorient itself.

  • Was she wearing pearls before?
  • Aha! That’s right, she wasn’t. She was wearing these earrings because I liked these earrings.
  • What the heck is going on
  • WHAT is that PHONE CALL
  • Her occupation, name, stories, they all keep changing
  • Yeah, girl, get out and go home. This will all go away once you get home.
  • Okay…what. No, don’t make any stops, just GO HOME
  • What does the ice cream girl mean?

4. You begin to recreate a narrative out of what you’ve seen so far

  • Get out get out get out
  • He’s definitely the janitor
  • Oh, I would be so upset
  • Maybe she’s the one with Alzheimer’s. And she’s remembering all her past days in this one.
  • That would explain why he kept asking her if she wanted to go home to the farmhouse
  • Aw, it’s the slippers
  • Yeah, I think she’s the one with Alzheimer’s

5. Your narrative is destroyed. It’s too late for intrigue and reorientation. Instead, it’s met with…

  • Okay, maybe not.
  • I’m just gonna let this movie flow over me
  • If he ends this movie like Synecdoche, New York, I’m gonna laugh
  • Yeah, this kinda feels like the ending to Synecdoche, New York
  • Apparently that’s the ending to “A Beautiful Mind”? Which must make this something from “Oklahoma”?
  • Which vehicle was that? The truck or the car?
  • Huh. Did it start up again? What’s that supposed to mean? I’m going to ignore it.

6. You begin to gather your thoughts and conclusions with those who watched with you

  • It does kinda feel like the woman has Alzheimer’s. Until the dancers.
  • What’s the deal with all the quoting of other material inside of this material?
  • Maybe it’s two stories about two people. The first half about the woman, the second about the man.
  • Maybe it’s all about the janitor. He is the only character that exists the whole time.
  • What did the girl with the ice cream mean??

7. You go back to your everyday life.

Usually, after a movie of this genre, you go through the next few hours of life seeing everyday movements around you as the director would. Even a banal conversation or silence can sound like a scene from the movie. You may think “how would the director shoot this, me washing dishes?” However, the vibes change so dramatically across this film that no such ideas develop.

8. Occasionally, you swap new considerations with those who saw it with you. Your brain continues to chew on the movie.

  • Maybe it is all about the janitor. Maybe the inner voice of the woman is actually from the man. Now I kinda wanna see it again.
  • It does kinda make sense given that you see the janitor from the beginning. But then the interactions other characters have just with the woman don’t really make sense.
  • The breaking of the fourth wall…in her stare. So many pieces.
  • I don’t want the woman to just be a figment of his imagination because then her character solely exists to tell his story. I’m tired of that trope. In this case, even her inner monologue would actually be his inner monologue. Though, she acts like she lives outside of that imagination too, and is confused by being in the movie. It feels more like a conglomeration of two beings telling their stories and being affected by one another than just one person.
  • Also, if it’s just a story about the janitor’s lonely life and the women are woman is a figment/conglomeration of his imagination…then this is just Synecdoche, New York all over again.