Parents' Guide to

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Movie R 2020 134 minutes
I'm Thinking of Ending Things Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Jennifer Green By Jennifer Green , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 15+

Talky, tense, time-shifting mystery has strong language.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Any Positive Content?

  • I'm Thinking of Ending Things Movie: Scene #1
  • I'm Thinking of Ending Things Movie: Scene #2
  • I'm Thinking of Ending Things Movie: Scene #3
  • I'm Thinking of Ending Things Movie: Scene #4

Parent and Kid Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 4 parent reviews

Mr. Grimm
Mr. Grimm Adult
September 5, 2020
age 14+

Just . . . no.

I'm thinking of ending things is an apt title for a movie during which I considered ending things almost every other scene. The movie is like a museum of ideas, many of them interesting and brimming with potential, but our guide through this museum, Charlie Kaufman, is akin to a child, tearing down the hall, pointing at ideas and saying, "Wow! Look at that, look at that!" But before we can unpack the idea in question he's off again, pointing at another one. Scene after infuriatingly oblique scene rolls by at a pace that somehow seems both blisteringly fast and eye-wateringly slow. Characters descend into uninteresting high school freshmen philosophy monologues at random, pontificating endlessly about the nature of mankind yet failing to ground whatever it's talking about in any kind of meaningful story or situation or even coming to any conclusion, just saying, "Huh, aren't these interesting questions . . . . welp, onwards and upwards." There's never any emotion because anything can happen at any time for any reason, and I mean that in the most literal sense possible. A naked old man following a cartoon pig down the hallway while the pig mutters about how everything in the universe is the same? Sure! An eight minute pit stop at an ice cream store with a horrific female Pennywise mascot in the middle of nowhere staffed by constantly giggling madwomen and a terrified, rash covered young girl talking about how we don't need to move through time we can just stay where we are? Of course! None of it ultimately effects the story in a visible manner, so the madness crescendos until you're either numb, bored, or irate, or (like me) some mixture of all three. The movie ends up feeling like every single idea that was proposed was added to the script without any care for how it would all tie together, ending up with a finished product that looks much like the road trip the movie centers around: convoluted, overly long, with copious numbers of branching paths that lead to nowhere and an abrupt ending that leaves us scratching our heads as to why we took the trip in the first place.
Ericallt
Ericallt Adult
October 31, 2022
age 15+

See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

A young woman (Jessie Buckley) accompanies her boyfriend, Jake (Jesse Plemons), to visit his parents on their farm in I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS. She's questioning the rationale for making this trip when she's already considering calling off their relationship, and the two do seem a mismatched pair. On a snowy drive out of the city, they struggle to find topics to talk about naturally, and we start to get the sense something isn't right. Details about her own life start to get fuzzy, and the farm, which feels stuck in time, adds to her unease. Jake's parents begin to age and then grow younger practically in front of her eyes. She finally convinces Jake to leave, in a near blizzard, but it's not at all clear she'll make it back to the city or to the life she was leading until now.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (17 ):

This is a highly esoteric film that will surely find its fans, but could also feel too talky, too strange, and too confusing for many others. The twisting plot and myriad cultural references and internal clues may excite some viewers and send them down Reddit rabbit holes to dissect it all, but they require patience and attention. Writer-director Charlie Kaufman seems to drop hints about the film's meaning without actually explaining anything. "There is no objective reality." "I guess that's what one hopes for when one writes things ... universality in the specific." Watching too many movies is a "societal malady." "It's all planned ... yet it isn't thought out."

I'm Thinking of Ending Things ponders the bending of time, the glorification of youth and beauty, the relevance of poetry in our lives, feminist readings of classic films and songs, dating and relationships, political correctness, and, if you can believe it, more. Also, it may suggest hell is high school, or maybe watching a high school musical. Despite all that, you get the sense that the film is more about a mood (an ominous malaise, also skillfully captured visually) than a clear message. The talented lead actors, Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons, take their roles seriously and keep you engaged, which is lucky considering there are 20-minute sequences of just them talking in a car. Toni Collette and David Thewlis are perfect as the weirdo parents. Still, you may find yourself wishing Kaufman had ended things -- meaning, this two-hour-plus movie -- a little sooner.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what happens to the young woman in I'm Thinking of Ending Things. The film leaves much up to interpretation, so what's your take on what happened and what it all means?

  • What authors, films, and other works mentioned in the film did you recognize?

  • A character says humans are the only animals aware of their mortality -- they can't live in the present, so they "invented hope." What do you make of this comment?

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