These moments begin at first as subtle continuity errors. Instead, Kaufman effectively employs the uncanny - the familiar in the unfamiliar - to create a sense of psychological terror. The uncomfortable dialogue between the family is almost unbearable, but no frightening attacker materializes and the couple emerges from the house physically unscathed. Immediately, we are offered classic signals of horror tropes: a window swinging open a taped-up basement door covered in scratches an old barn with dead, rotting animals. But once the couple arrives at Jake’s family house, the atmosphere becomes downright strange. The car ride is uncomfortable and a little odd, like any long drive would be with two people in an ending relationship. In true Kaufman style, the distinction between mind and matter becomes only more and more ambiguous as the film continues. Again and again, we see the workings of the mind transposed into real actions on screen: as above, thoughts are materialized into telepathic dialogue a dog appears only after he is mentioned in conversation the camera pans ahead to an empty room before the characters enter. The eerie exchange is one of many in the film. “Did you say something?” asks Jake, as if he heard her. Even worse, she’s in a Charlie Kaufman film, so nothing is as it seems.Īfter getting into the car, the girlfriend, whom we’ll call Lucy, narrates those loaded words - “I’m thinking of ending things.” Unfortunately for her, she’s about to embark on a long road trip with him to visit his family on a snowy day.
Charlie Kaufman’s 2020 film, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” begins with a woman considering breaking up with her boyfriend, Jake - in other words, ending things.
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