Wow! What a film! Shame about the ending…

I’m Thinking of Ending Things started out as a book and was recently adopted into a film with the help of Netflix.

It follows a girl whom we assume is called Lucy as that is what her boyfriend, Jake, refers to her as (although this changes throughout the movie) going on a trip to visit his parents for the first time. However this is not the happiest of trips as Lucy is thinking of ending things with her boyfriend.

At the parents’ home things start to get strange and this is where my little mind started buzzing with all the theories of what could be happening. The first weird thing I noticed, bar the not-so-subtle nod to a random swing set, was Lucy’s jumper would change colour. I first thought it was a reference to colour evoking certain emotions but due to the scenes it would happen in I soon dismissed this theory.

The next theory came, and this is the one I stuck to until the end of the movie, was Lucy saw an image of herself in Jake’s parent’s house yet Jake debunks this and says it his him. I will return to this later as another theory that I threw out quite quickly happened soon after.

Lucy starts living moments in Jake’s life in the home, first starting with his dad referring to his wife in the past tense despite her still being alive. Then seeing Jake’s parents in dwindling states with dementia and finally, what it seems to be, Jake’s mum’s passing. But then we see them young, his mother when Jake was a baby, his father when he was younger etc. and this made me think of either a time loop or time travel. Especially as we are in a very secluded farm in the middle of a snow storm so seem completely cut away from any other people.

But then the ending happened. I won’t spoil the ending but I was not happy with it as the storyline and theory I had created for myself did not match up. So once I finished the film I hopped onto Wikipedia and read the ending of the book and suddenly….

My theory was correct!

What I had theorised was the point of the movie and where it was heading was correct and for some reason unknown to me they decided to change the film ending.

So what do I think of the film? I loved it up until the point of the ending, I feel if they had kept the original ending the movie would not have seemed so surreal but would’ve made much more sense. The ending of the film completely ruined the movie for me but I do still love it for its incredibly well done and thought through cinematography. There are so many small moments in this movie that could easily be missed on a first viewing that I really want to watch it again and again to pick up more. Like the dog appearing only when spoken about then seeing its ashes in Jake’s room. The family having put food on their plates but then not eating any of it and the dishes being full once again. How a poem Lucy recites is then seen in a book in Jake’s room, plus all the scenes with the janitor! There is so much to talk about this film on a deeper level than just the story and that’s why I do enjoy it and recommend it.

Now of course it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you love theorising and looking deeper into films and how they’re put together and made, this is definitely one for you.

What do you think?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding