The Best Reactions To Netflix’s Utterly Baffling Film ‘I’m Thinking Of Ending Things’
No spoilers, just confusion.
Charlie Kaufman’s latest film I’m Thinking Of Ending Things was released last week on Netflix, and it might be the writer-director’s least accessible film yet, with many viewers utterly baffled by the film. (And no, there are no spoilers below).
Kaufman is well-known for cerebral films, having written some of the more high-concept and meta major films of the past two decades, including Being John Malkovich, Adaptation., Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Synecdoche, New York, the last of which he also directed.
I’m Thinking Of Ending Things is his third time directing one of his own scripts, and is a less-than-faithful adaptation of the 2016 horror novel of the same name by Iain Reid, with Kaufman shifting things around as he sees fit.
It follows a young woman (Jessie Buckley) who goes on a car trip with new-ish boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) to meet his parents (Toni Colette, David Thewlis) at their rural farm. Things are tense: she’s thinking of ending the relationship, and given how awkward their conversations are in the car, it’s pretty clear the two aren’t working.
I'm watching I'm Thinking Of Ending Things and if I was in this conversation they're having in the car I would have personally chosen to drive into the ocean
— Slightly Pre-Emptive Autumnal Daniel (@ItsDanSheehan) September 6, 2020
Me following my instincts ten minutes into i'm thinking of ending things pic.twitter.com/TK76EuKN9H
— ACAB For Cutie (@jacobtwop) September 6, 2020
Things quickly get weirder and weirder — while the film never quite becomes a horror, it has an uneasy, unnerving tone, as time and space appear to fold in on themselves.
What follows is a strange, delightfully odd film, where characters quote large and unattributed passages of film reviews from the ’70s, monologues from Russell Crowe films and moments from Oklahoma!.
If you didn’t get every single reference in I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, you are an intellectual lightweight, and you should go back to reading Thomas the Tank Engine books.
— (((Christian JB))) ? (@christianjbdev) September 6, 2020
There’s method in the madness (and this IndieWire interview with Kaufman explains some of the choices), but for those not quite ready for the illogical structure and constantly abrasive scenes, it’s a real spin-out.
As a result, reviewers and audiences alike are split between calling it pretentious genius (or is that ‘genus’?) and pretentious drivel. Where The Guardian calls it “daringly unexpected”, Variety says it a “didactically morose” film and a “Debbie Downer dud”.
Regardless of where you land, it’s quite the ride to get there. Find some reactions below from people struggling to work out how they feel. It’s now streaming on Netflix.
Tenet and I’m Thinking of Ending Things have come out within 2 weeks of each other. Both are maddeningly obscure and infuriating. This says everything about this moment in time and in years to come I’m sure will be seen as the ‘COVID movies’.
— N I W ∀ ſ N Ǝ q . ᗡ ᴚ ∀ H Ͻ I ᴚ (@RickyLeeBenj) September 6, 2020
Netflix movie – “I’m thinking of ending things” is the worst movie I’ve ever seen on Netflix. I can’t believe it was made, acted, directed, released. I think somebody owed someone a favor. It’s 2 hours of morose confusion that leads to a garbage ending unconnected to anything. pic.twitter.com/DIt9YqwwSA
— President Kamala’s Hand (STILL) (@DearDean22) September 6, 2020
i highly recommend watching im thinking of ending things if you wanna know what a 2 hour panic attack feels like
— royse (@Roysenotes) September 6, 2020
Charlie Kaufman showing the Netflix execs his final cut of I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS (2020) pic.twitter.com/neJM6jaUFr
— Jamie (@JayElHarris) September 5, 2020
I’m Thinking Of Ending Things is another Charlie Kaufman banger.
No one makes bleak existential despair as funny as he does.
It’s like Meet The Parents married Lost Highway and gave birth to a heartbreaker.
So well directed and acted. Incredible use of A Beautiful Mind. pic.twitter.com/zuCgrMCHj0
— Brett Goldstein (@brettgoldstein) September 6, 2020
im sorry it might b because im not Big Brain but im thinking of ending things was a 2 hr and 14 min blob of nonsensical dialogue, weird looks, and changing the ages of the actors. it was like anxiety took the form of a movie. what the fuck was that
— legally rigby daniel⛓ (@seatbelthandss) September 6, 2020
“i’m thinking of ending things” – adobe when it figures out that my photoshop isn’t genuine software
— james cassar ? (@getcerebral) September 6, 2020
me figuring out how i’m thinking of ending things is actually about internalized homophobia and repression pic.twitter.com/OYvpxVDOaK
— erin (@erinbr4dy) September 6, 2020
Imagine a jokeless Community episode parodying Charlie Kaufman. That’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.”
— Pierce Gradone (@piercegradone) September 6, 2020
I've watched I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS 3 times in the last two days and I'm just living this cursed life on the edge, man pic.twitter.com/p8T51imSno
— your favorite little trash boy (@hottrashboy) September 6, 2020
Building up the courage to request a family viewing of ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ on the back of this historic success https://t.co/zyjgLi3Od6
— Juliette Marchant (@ju_marchant) September 6, 2020
no cause im thinking of ending things did feel exactly like looking at this picture pic.twitter.com/EzjUvTgSS4
— jayda (@detectiverue) September 5, 2020