The cunning but finally disappointing ”It ends“Which just had the premiere at SXSWTakes a familiar experience and throws into a smart existential horror prerequisite: What if you drove on a fate, tree-lined road in the middle of the night-a strange scenario that many filmmakers have used to deceive people-but the road just never ended? What if you just went on and walk thousands of miles?
There are moments in Alexander Ullom’s debut feature that are really unnecessary, as four 20-Seckenhings try to find out what the hell is happening from the boundaries of their white jeep. Ullom uses the car’s features to his advantage and breaks the uncomfortable glow of flashing risk lights and the uninterrupted beep of an open door for excitement.
But while the movie is often smartly daunting, it becomes short in finding meaning in its fun gimmick of an installation. When “it ends”, yes, endsWondering: So that’s it? What once felt fruitful is only set up for a Gotcha Punchline that seems to laugh at someone who actually invested in history.
But for a while, “It Ends” is a fun ride. It opens from what is mainly the perspective of the vehicle where almost all action will take place and establish SUV as an almost sensitive figure. Four comrades climb into it. There is the driver (Mitchell Cole), a silent guy with a thick southern accent who spent some time in the military. He is Chauffeing James (Phinehas Yoon), a cynic who is starting a boring job, day (Akira Jackson), a graphic design that is important about her future and the silly Fisher (Noah Toth). They are all old friends about to enter the real world. Malaise by degree is an important theme here, as their journey will soon represent What do I do with my life Fear for many in that age range.
Ullom, I suspect, is intentionally coy about exactly where they all go, because the destination does not really end up being the point. Day uses her phone to navigate from the back seat as she asks Tyler to take a ride that will eventually lead to a highway. But the highway never comes, the map remains fixed on the two lanes, and slowly they all realize that something is very wrong. Their conversations are transformed from the type of surface level you have with friends in high school into genuine terror.
These early moments of confusion are where Ullom’s filmmaking is for its flashst and most exciting. We are with James as he peeks out into the tree -lined forest and sees something moving in the red light flashes that come from the short stopped car. The fear is evident when you try to discern exactly what kind of movie that these four comrades are in: Is it a zombie girl? Or something else?
But the set for “IT ENDS” also becomes its Achilles heel. The group quickly understands that in order to stay alive, they have to keep their car on and continue driving. Obvious issues that the situation evoke are explained away with a proverbial wave of hand: staying on the road means that they never get hungry or tired. (They also do not seem to have to go to the toilet, which is not addressed, but something I thought about.) They can take short breaks that they are time on their phones, which never seem to lose the power even though they get internet service.
The rules for the trip are both simple, but sometimes you as a viewer try to find the holes regardless of supernatural curse have come down to the main characters. (Can’t their phones play music? Or don’t college kids not charge music to their phones anymore?)
It also results in a monotony that Ullom cannot really overcome. Yes, the repeated nature of this adventure is a kind of point in this gen Z “no exit”, but eventually it begins to weigh down the action and you long for some form of revelation. Sartre, this is not.
The characters simply do not develop enough to make their slow resolution all the captivating. Ullom does the work of establishing its spoil, but not their deeper relationships. Despite a few moments of confession, we never really get a great sense of who these people were before their trial or what they mean to each other. Yoon gets the most to do when James becomes more and more obsessed with calculating everything while his companions have resigned to his fate, and yet he remains completely defined by his circumstances in a way that makes him more representative than human.
When “It Ends” draws to its conclusion, it begins to whine like an experiment that bleeds a bit of a “fuck you” to his audience. There is an exciting nihilistic streak to the whole deal, but what comes before is not fun or insightful enough to guarantee what is finally served. It’s just a joke for you to take care of. And that is perhaps what the youth is about.
Rating: B-
“IT ENDS” premiered at SXSW 2025. It is currently seeking US distribution.
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