Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons as Jake in 'I'm Thinking Of Ending Things.' | Mary Cybulski / Netflix
In Im Thinking of Ending Things (134 minutes), Jake (Jesse Plemons) drives Louisa (Jesse Buckley) through snow-covered country roads to meet his parents at their remote farm. Both are extremely uncomfortable. Louisa thinks repeatedly about terminating their seven-week relationship. Jake seems intent on displaying his shaky self-worth. They need to prove something to themselves.
Discomfort rises to terror as Louisa meets Jakes parents, played intensely by Toni Collette and David Thewlis. The parents dramatically age and regress throughout the evening. Jake disappears and appears. The farmhouse seems to change shape, furnishings and configuration. Are we here alone?
Jake tries to persuade Louisa to spend the night at the house. Increasingly fearful Louisa insists on returning to her own apartment. With the snow falling heavily, the ride back itself may only substitute one danger for another.
Director Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) ratchets up American gothic to psychological horror as he distorts time, place and relationships, scattering uneasy references to the musical Oklahoma, the film Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and poetryIntimations of Immortality. Louisa may be thinking of ending itbut Jake may actually be the one to end it after all!
First time director Tyler Taorminas landscape in Ham on Rye (85 minutes) is both smaller and larger than Kaufmans Im Thinking of Ending Things. Taormina sets us in suburban America, among high school students, walking through a social ritual of conversation, dance, and food at a local deli. We learn more from the young peoples dress, groupings and actions than from the sparse and often inaudible dialogue.
Where Kaufman jams his long sweeping camera shots and claustrophobic car journey with anxious forced repartee, Taormina pushes his lens uncomfortably close for extended runs with little dialogue. His young people reveal themselves in their dress and facial expressions. Taorminas youth are on their way to adulthood through ritual. It is an uneasy journey where some find purpose, escaping their suburban constraints, as others remain behind, their blank faces reflecting more circumscribed lives.
Both Ham on Rye and Im Thinking of Ending Things deal with the tensions of young Americas uncertain future. These films are unlike earlier genres of self-satisfied materialism or later rebellious promise. They are as uneasy with the past as they are nervous about the future. Cinematic didacticism has given way to filmmakers content to raise questions they wont or cant answer. Where are the writers and directors who are thinking of beginning things?!
See the article here:
'I'm Thinking of Ending Things' and 'Ham on Rye': Odds and ends - People's World
- Wonder Woman: 10 Facts About The Amazons You Need To Know | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources - February 22nd, 2021
- How to achieve immortality and have a food named after you - The Takeout - February 21st, 2021
- How rejecting Inter and Lyon set Andre-Pierre Gignac on his way to Tigres immortality - Squawka - February 10th, 2021
- Marvel Confirms Thanos Can't Be Killed, But Not For The Reason You Think - Screen Rant - February 10th, 2021
- Why Bayern Munich's opponents, Tigres, are taking the Club World Cup seriously, even if Europe is not - DW (English) - February 10th, 2021
- 'The Bitter Comes With The Sweet': Without Death, There Is No Life - WBUR - February 10th, 2021
- Disney Pixar's Soul: how the moviemakers took Plato's view of existence and added a modern twist - The Conversation UK - February 10th, 2021
- Life after death: Woman 'engulfed by light and God' in afterlife vision - Daily Express - February 10th, 2021
- Charles Woodson's Words Prove Just How Special The Hall Of Fame Is - Wolverine Maven - February 10th, 2021
- Cicely, Cloris, and two paths to Hollywood immortality - The Boston Globe - February 2nd, 2021
- Regular Exercise and Lifting Weights Might Be the Key to Immortality - The Great Courses Daily News - February 2nd, 2021
- Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki believes users will create the metaverse - VentureBeat - January 29th, 2021
- Does Matthew Die in 'A Discovery of Witches'? The Vampire's Fate Revealed! - Distractify - January 29th, 2021
- Cyberpunk 2077's Development Was Shorter Than Anyone Realized - CBR - Comic Book Resources - January 19th, 2021
- How Star Wars Could Bring Back A Weapon More Powerful Than The Darksaber - Screen Rant - January 19th, 2021
- How to Fix Some of the Bachelors Thorny Logistical Issues - The Ringer - January 19th, 2021
- JUANITA FLOYD: What testimony will you leave behind? - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal - January 17th, 2021
- The Kansas City Chiefs can secure place among NFLs all-time greatest teams - Arrowhead Addict - January 17th, 2021
- Kumbh Mela 2021 dates: Everything you need to know - The Indian Express - January 17th, 2021
- WandaVision Featurette May Be Hiding Another Major Avenger | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources - January 17th, 2021
- What happened to Jack on Macgyver? Here is the characters fate in the latest episode - Republic World - January 17th, 2021
- Essenes in Judaean Society: the sectarians of the Dead Sea Scrolls - OUPblog - January 17th, 2021
- Lord Of The Rings: 10 Things About Arwen and Aragorn's Relationship That Make No Sense - Screen Rant - January 17th, 2021
- CRYPTOSIS Take You Behind The Scenes Of "Prospect Of Immortality" Music Video - bravewords.com - January 9th, 2021
- Holocaust Memorial Center hosts 'Soap Myth' online reading and discussion - The Detroit News - January 9th, 2021
- Ahead of the national championship, Justin Fields high school coach relives his dominance in Georgia - Saturday Down South - January 9th, 2021
- Inverted tulips, juniper trees added to Iran's national heritage list - Tehran Times - January 9th, 2021
- How are former Yankees doing in the Hall of Fame voting? - Empire Sports Media - January 9th, 2021
- how is the calendar and when are the long weekends in the year - Explica - January 9th, 2021
- Unexpected discovery about stem cell immortality study - News - The University of Sydney - November 29th, 2020
- Dessie Hutchinson's journey from Brighton to the brink of hurling immortality with Waterford - Independent.ie - November 29th, 2020
- MLB Hall of Fame: Breaking down the 2021 ballot - Call to the Pen - November 29th, 2020
- Mythical Beasts that Simply Scream Nanjing - The Nanjinger - November 29th, 2020
- Maradonas divine goal and worthy absurdities - Mint - November 29th, 2020
- Exploring the Last Green Valley: Beauty found in December evergreens - Norwich Bulletin - November 29th, 2020
- Amazing Cultivation Simulator blends Taoist philosophy with Dwarf Fortress - PCGamesN - November 29th, 2020
- The myth of the apple - Evangelical Focus - November 29th, 2020
- Diego Maradona did 'everything better and bigger, but fell more dangerously and darker' - WDJT - November 29th, 2020
- Maradona flew and fell. It is why we loved him - The Straits Times - November 29th, 2020
- #ComicBytes: The comic book origin of Nick Fury | NewsBytes - NewsBytes - November 29th, 2020
- Never Seen Before Tolkien Works Will Be Published In 2021 - Unreserved Media - November 29th, 2020
- New Lord Of The Rings Book Announced, Will Reveal Who Can Grow Beards - GameSpot - November 29th, 2020
- Reminiscing grandmother during days of coronavirus - Hurriyet Daily News - November 29th, 2020
- Sean Connery: Bond and superstar - Frontline - November 29th, 2020
- Divock Origi has gone from unstoppable to invisible - Rousing the Kop - November 29th, 2020
- A Year of Free Comics: Immortality isnt all that it seems in LIVE FOREVER - Comics Beat - August 26th, 2020
- Under Ben Bulben: Neymar And A Saga Of Resurrection And Immortality - World Football Index - August 26th, 2020
- Rick and Morty plot hole: Rick's ride on the Whirly Dirly creates huge immortality blunder - Express - August 26th, 2020
- Sleeps With Monsters: Into the Woods With Emily Tesh and Carrie Vaughn - tor.com - August 26th, 2020
- Emily Dickinson is the unlikely hero of our time - Fairfield Citizen - August 26th, 2020
- Doom Patrol Leaves the Fate of the Whole Team Up in the Air | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources - August 26th, 2020
- Parenting in a pandemic? Your teen is counting on you more than ever - Your Valley - August 26th, 2020
- ALLEN IVERSON PAYS TRIBUTE TO KOBE Greatness needs company, and we needed each other. - Basketball Network - August 26th, 2020
- Lovecraft Country: Why the Sons of Adams Ritual Failed | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources - August 26th, 2020
- Lord of the Rings: 10 Things That Make No Sense About Orcs - Screen Rant - August 26th, 2020
- Hakuho may be on path to becoming great stablemaster if latest recruit pans out - The Japan Times - August 26th, 2020
- The Unbelievable True Story Of How The Memphis Pyramid Became A Bass Pro Shops - Forbes - August 26th, 2020
- American Horror Story: Every Immortal Character In The Show - Screen Rant - August 20th, 2020
- A look back at the faces of 170 years ago and more - Key West Florida Weekly - August 20th, 2020
- Moussa Dembele and the YouTube obsession that has Celtic icon on verge of Champions League immortality - Daily Record - August 20th, 2020
- Words from the Heart: The Message | Columnists | thesuntimes.com - Heber Springs Sun-Times - August 20th, 2020
- Eagles, the worshipped bird of prey of the ancient civilizations - Egypttoday - August 20th, 2020
- 'Burgh's Best to Wear It, No. 13: From midgets to the NFL, Dan Marino wore lucky number - TribLIVE - August 20th, 2020
- Ashton Kutcher Burned an Original Artwork to Promote a New Blockchain Marketplace Where Art Can (Kind of) Live Forever - artnet News - August 20th, 2020
- Aug. 19, 1951: Before Eddie Gaedel went to the plate, the Post-Dispatch got a heads-up - Houston Herald - August 20th, 2020
- 10 Questions We Have After Watching The Old Guard | ScreenRant - Screen Rant - August 20th, 2020
- Emotional character study 'The Truth' opens at the Ross this Friday - Daily Nebraskan - August 20th, 2020
- Astrology 2020: Message of the Day (August 20) - NewsroomPost - August 20th, 2020
- Why This Russian Billionaire Is Creating A Virtual Reality World For Music Festivals And Concerts - Forbes - August 20th, 2020
- Immortality or Bust - Film Threat - July 21st, 2020
- Keanu Reeves New Comic Book Is About An Immortal, But Its Not Autobiographical - Comic Years - July 21st, 2020
- Here's how you can win over 83 years of free Netflix service - Retail News Asia - July 21st, 2020
- Meryl Streep's Funniest Movie Characters and Their Best Moments - Showbiz Cheat Sheet - July 21st, 2020
- A Conversation With Director Gina Prince-Bythewood : 1A - NPR - July 21st, 2020
- ATEMS graduation allows Class of 2020 to rise from the ashes of a broken year - Abilene Reporter-News - July 21st, 2020
- Looking at nature, death, and immortality with a famous poet - McDonough Voice - July 17th, 2020
- The Old Guard: Why Andy Loses Her Immortality | Screen Rant - Screen Rant - July 17th, 2020
- Netflixs The Old Guard: A revolutionary, ancient gay romance - Vox.com - July 17th, 2020
- Where father, son correspond - Featured - The Island Now - July 17th, 2020
- Rockfield Studios: Where Ozzy, Oasis, Queen and Coldplay took off - BBC News - July 17th, 2020