Review: ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things,’ Charlie Kaufman’s Subterfuge of the Human Condition
Writer-director Charlie Kaufman does this, though he has never done something quite like this before. Returning to direct his third directorial effort after 2008’s Synecdoche, New York and 2015’s Anomalisa, Kaufman presents us with the enigmatic I’m Thinking of Ending Things, a refitting and reshaping of the Ian Reid’s 2016 novel of the same name. From the beginning of his career as a screenwriter to becoming his own scripts’ director, Kaufman’s work has always inspired more questions than it has answers to. The common sentiment after watching any of his films is a feeling of disorientation, entirely lost even, and his oeuvre ought to include the disclaimer, “Viewer Discretion Advised: What you are about to see is a filmic mind trip traveling at a rate of severe anxiety and grave contemplation, exposing the interior emotional truth of the individual and abstracted intellectualism.” It is, at times, like drinking water from a fire hose.
The sheer sum, though, and the overall cloudiness of his films has only increased since he assumed director on set. But in opposition to his proposed questions stands the most important Q in the business: whether Charlie Kaufman’s brand of film is a viable box-office investment. After penning successes Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind, Hollywood’s cardinal inquiry was answered promptly and without sentimentality as Synecdoche failed to breakeven at the multiplex. A star was fading from the spotlight.
A decade-plus of diminishing returns though would not spell curtains. 2020, a year charged with a distressing amount of uncertainty, has perhaps uniquely set the stage for an artist like Kaufman to reclaim status in the industry and zeitgeist. This Fall saw Kaufman release his debut novel, Antkind, as well as I’m Thinking of Ending Things, and while obviously both projects could not have anticipated the sort of year they’d be set loose in, both are more suited than other new media to benefit from this year’s depressed market.
Watching I’m Thinking of Ending Things, it comes across as unconcerned with things like clarity or box-office expectations. That the film’s distributor is Netflix — a company flush with cash — might explain how Kaufman could realize his vision so unencumbered by typical studio sticking points. It marks a first time collaboration for the director and the studio, pairing the formerly in-demand writer with the leading gatekeeper in contemporary media content. It also represents his debut direct-to-VOD release, with Netflix delivering the 135 minute film to home screens.
The overall nature of the film is signature Kaufman: a dense work that withholds any immediate understanding, but offers numerous nuggets of intrigue to mine while watching and upon reflection after Loosely, this puzzle follows a young couple, the boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) and his nebulously named girlfriend, literally credited as Young Woman (Jessie Buckley), as they drive out to Jake’s family home to have dinner with his parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis). Jake is self-conscious but eager to introduce the Young Woman to his parents, vacillating between giving assurance and notice of their character. The Young Woman does not share his anticipation, in fact the first utterance of the film is her’s, confessing “I’m thinking of ending things.”
This is the film’s first example of subterfuge, as what appears so severe a statement becomes even more chilling as the foremost thematic question, and anxiety, of the work. For the Young Woman it primarily concerns the meaning of her actions, agreeing to meet Jake’s parents in light of the truth that she doesn’t see a future with him. For the greater film inhabitants, but articulated most by Jake, it manifests as a distressing plea for purpose in an existence ridden with pain. Kaufman succeeds in packing I’m Thinking of Ending Things to the brim with information, but this — responding to this initial existential fixation — is easily its most rewarding dimension. Thankfully it is treated accordingly and threads the entire course of an excessive runtime, grounding a dazed, dreamlike experience with the weight of the very real, terminal nature of all things.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things is an imperfect film, but it is an inspired, imperfect film. It is willing to search for insight into the human condition earnestly, and it is crafted with an evident degree of expertise that it is noteworthy. Its opening is something like a free jazz exercise: scenes of empty rooms in soft light pass through one another while the Young Woman’s voice is staccato on top, ambiguously spinning off thoughts, and already there is nowhere to hold, everything is unclear. A major part of the film takes place in a car and it is made compelling by the film’s creative use of location. How Jake and the Young Woman, as well as the car itself, are framed and lit is incredibly inventive and frequently made mesmerizing by cinematographer Lukasz Zal (Ida, Cold War) who crafts the most visually accomplished effort of his career. The writing of the first act unfolds like a thriller, building tension through physical unease and visual stillness and aided by Kaufman’s brand of abrasively awkward comedy. The versatile and ranging performances of its actors make for an engaging drama, and its two leads (Buckley and Plemons) in particular shine, commanding the screen as they carry the lion’s share of the film’s material. There is so much material stuffed into the entirety of the film, however though, therein lies its biggest flaw.
The intellectual fog coming off of it is so thick that meaning is not so much lost as it is over abundant. It is undeniably a rich text, but it is too eager to remind its audience of the fact. There is the fun detailing of the film’s frames with visual cues and easter eggs, which might warrant repeat viewings, but its actual dialogue is esoteric and cagey to the point of annoyance and requires footnotes. The conversation of the couple while driving is littered with references both credited and uncredited. All their talking is conducted in a rush and the line becomes increasingly blurred while distinguishing ownership over an idea or reality. Part of that is the intention of the film, as the mutability of thought and person is a subject. Often though it seems that all of this knowledge is intended to blow by the audience, not much more than noise. French theorist Guy Debord and his book of theses, Society of the Spectacle, come up in conversation, and while this idea is not the one referenced, the book’s ninth thesis might help cut through some of the film’s artifice. It states: “In a world which really is topsy turvy, the true is a moment of the false.” Considering this, the film’s crammed intertextual interior might be read as an alert to the film’s main concern being the very notion of the truth and not the comfort of its audience. If that only obfuscates matters more, then that’s part of the point.
As a purveyor of existential panic and human yearning, Charlie Kaufman arrived with impeccable timing this year to deliver his new feature film I’m Thinking of Ending Things. The film feels cut for the current sense of unease and will reward some viewers while merely passing the time for others. The notion that Kaufman could return at all is reason enough to watch, and certainly to be glad. Who knows what the world will look like the next time we see him.
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