My Pondering Thoughts about I’m Thinking of Ending Things

In the early weeks of December, I caught myself in a cozy zone and it came to my mind that my friend had recommended me a Netflix original. I must say, it was the perfect choice to watch during the early winter as the film had a cold vibe to it.

I’m grateful I dove into watching this film without spoilers or knowing what genre this was as I did not know what to expect whatsoever. It appealed to me that the title and the beginning was straightforward as Lucy, played by Jessie Buckley, kept repeating the phrase and left the rest of the plot to be a mystery to the viewer. Without having read the book this movie was based on, I loved the character dynamics as they felt like normal people in such thrilling circumstances. I wasn’t expecting such verisimilitude in terms of performance and the directing aspects. It was surreal how Charlie Kaufman replicated such specific emotions and gritty feelings in relationships where one falls out of love. The feeling of thrilling mystery with the early stages of the relationship felt incredibly accurate in replication. Besides the familiarity, the manipulation played by the boyfriend’s role was so subtle yet left me terrified of what was going to happen in upcoming scenes.

I almost can’t even describe the trippy journey I felt I was going on towards the middle to the end. The film does such an exquisite job at alluding to the discomfort, suspense and anxiety in the family dinner scene where Lucy is first introduced to her boyfriend’s parents. The aging and youthfulness, back and forth throughout time was the trippiest experience of all and left me questioning what exactly the meaning of such occurrences were. The abstract and theatrical ending was the most artistic touch I’ve ever seen in this form of media as the visible and obvious makeup on everyone in the audience at the end felt like it was such a bold choice. The dance and replicated play were very much mind boggling as I was trying to connect the dots back to the earlier plot.

The stills of the house setting were quite warm yet eerie all at once, which I was also very drawn to. In a way, I saw similarities in the cinematography in comparison to Bones and All, directed by Luca Guadagnino. For some reason I’m drawn to such cool toned color schemes in film and spacious yet intimate settings.

There’s no movie quite like I’m Thinking of Ending Things and I would highly recommend watching the whole adventure in one sitting.