Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a slow-burn mystery that refuses to explain itself. Jesse Plemons plays Jake, and Jessie Buckley plays his girlfriend, a woman who questions the whole arrangement on a road trip to meet his parents at their isolated farm. The film is built around a strange parallel: throughout, we watch an elderly janitor at a high school, a man who sees students rehearsing Oklahoma! and watches a romantic comedy. The two threads cross by the third act, but not before Kaufman spends nearly two hours testing how far a relationship can stretch under strain.
Buckley’s performance anchors the film. Her character’s occupation and even her name shift across scenes, and she plays each version with a quiet dread that never tips into hysteria. Plemons matches her, though his role is smaller. Toni Collette and David Thewlis play Jake’s parents, and the film stages a strange trick: they age and revert within scenes without anyone commenting on it. That refusal to explain is the point.
The film’s central game is memory and recognition. Jake tries to recite a poem called “Ode: Intimations of Immortality,” asking his girlfriend to answer with one of her own. She replies with a grim poem about returning home. Later, she finds janitor uniforms in the basement washer and posters for Ralph Albert Blakelock exhibitions that mirror her own paintings. These details land best when taken as separate puzzles rather than clues to a single answer.
The film also stages a phone call from a mysterious voice that keeps repeating “one question to answer.” It’s a thread that never fully resolves, which suits the overall tone.
Trailer, via Netflix.
The Janitor Thread
The janitor’s scenes are the film’s most striking formal choice. They run alongside the main story without ever fully connecting, except in the final act. Watching him see students rehearse Oklahoma! and watch a romantic comedy adds a layer of absurdity, but it also keeps the audience off balance.
The Dinner Table
Jake’s parents are the film’s engine. Their shifting ages are the clearest example of Kaufman’s refusal to explain. Nobody comments on the changes, which leaves the audience wondering who is telling the truth and who is lying.
The Basement
The basement holds the film’s most unsettling discoveries. The scratches on the door, the janitor uniforms in the washer, the Blakelock posters — all of it points somewhere, but the film never quite says where.
The Call
The mysterious voice on the phone keeps asking “one question to answer.” It’s a recurring motif that never gets answered directly, which is fitting for a film that doesn’t want to tie everything together.
Buckley vs. Plemons
Buckley carries the film. Plemons is solid, but Buckley’s range is wider, moving from doubt to fear to a kind of resigned calm. Buckley’s shifting name and occupation keep the audience off balance in a way Plemons’s character never quite achieves.
Comparing the Threads
| Thread | Focus | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Main couple | Relationship strain | Buckley, Plemons |
| Jake’s parents | Shifting ages | Collette, Thewlis |
| The janitor | School life | Boyd |
| Phone calls | Unanswered questions | Voice |
The film is frustrating, and it knows it. Kaufman isn’t interested in comfort. He wants the audience to sit with uncertainty, and he delivers on that promise.
7.8 out of 10.
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