Kaufman’s film concludes with a revelation: Everything we have seen, from start to finish, has essentially been the mental projection of a lonely old high school janitor who has failed to live up to the dreams of romantic and academic glory he had as a young man. If you haven’t seen “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” we suggest reading this review or this story about the making of the film, then come back. Surrealistic storytelling that bends back in on itself like an M.C. Fantasies, projections, memories and delusions. Explorations of regret, failure and loneliness. “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” bears all of the thematic obsessions and formal daring of Kaufman’s previous work as a screenwriter and director in mind-bending films such as “Being John Malkovich,” “Adaptation” and “Synecdoche, New York.” Characters trapped in the labyrinths of their own psyches. But where the story goes from there - and where it ends up - involves a whole other kind of journey. That’s how you know it’s a Charlie Kaufman movie.Īdapted from a 2016 novel by Canadian author Iain Reid, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” begins from an utterly simple, even mundane premise: A young couple (Jesse Plemons and Jessie Buckley) takes a road trip through a snowstorm to visit the boyfriend’s parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis) at their family farm. On a basic level, you may be wondering, “What was that?” You may be perplexed, disturbed, exhilarated or all of the above. The man has spent his life being slowly eaten away by depression, anxiety, and overwhelming despair he is that pig, seemingly happy and healthy, with the rotting underbelly that no one wants to see.ĭuring the final scenes, as the janitor (presumably) takes his own life, the ghostly, cartoon pig helps him make peace with the fact that his existence was so miserable his life was an unfortunate dice roll, with no greater significance to his suffering.If you just finished watching the new Netflix psychological thriller “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” chances are you have a lot of questions. It appears to be a traumatizing incident from the janitor’s childhood, but might also represent his decaying mental state. The grotesque image of a fat pig, seemingly healthy, but with an underbelly eaten away by writhing maggots, is something that the characters in the film repeatedly mention. Their mockery bleeds into his fantasies, and judging by the garbage container packed with uneaten ice cream, the janitor has likely revisited this same scenario several times, in his head. You can spot two of the ice cream stand’s employees near the beginning of the film, both high school students, laughing at the janitor as he trudges past them. It’s a dreamy stop into his psyche, into his past.” “Then there was this idea that there were many generations of high-school kids who worked there that he had interacted with over the years and had his problems with. So, what’s going on? Take it from Kaufman himself: One of the most intense scenes of the film involves a simple purchase of ice cream, as the foreboding atmosphere, deathly blizzard and bizarre reaction of the store’s employees seem to indicate impending doom. This is why the couple’s encounter with his parents is constantly skipping through time and space, as the janitor imagines the myriad possibilities of introducing them to a girlfriend, yet still can’t escape the awkward silences and humiliations that would likely follow.ĭespite being a complete fantasy, a fictional character inside a work of fiction, Jake’s girlfriend still has a semblance of agency she’s often bored, disappointed, and generally weirded out by him.Įven in his own imagination, the janitor isn’t the hero of his story. Instead, the janitor spends his time being ridiculed by high school students, diligently scrubbing floors, while getting lost inside his own head.
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