Here’s our review for the new indie horror film “It Ends,” which is available now through Letterboxd Video Store …
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
If you follow any influencer film critics who attended the South by Southwest film festival back in March, chances are you heard them talking about a horror film called “It Ends” and how everybody seemed to love it yet the movie just could not find a distributor.
Again and again, pleas were made for somebody to buy this film and release to the general public and finally Letterboxd stepped up to the plate after adding “It Ends” to the new video store the review site just launched. Now you can rent this much talked about movie for $19.99, which obviously also supports independent filmmakers like Alexander Ullom, who wrote and directed this little gem.
But is “It Ends” actually worth your time or is this a festival darling where everybody was drinking the same Kool-Aid?
The premise behind “It Ends” is quite simple — four friends clearly going their own way in life after growing up together are headed out for one last hurrah before adulthood truly takes over and they all pack into a car bound for some late night eats. But one wrong turn puts them on an endless road that just goes on forever and the four people occupying this car are desperate to find an escape for this highway from hell.
The first thing you have to know about “It Ends” is the premise is exactly what you’re getting with this movie and for an indie film with seemingly no budget, Ullom does an admirable job making this movie feel bigger than it actually is. Once the four friends in this car realize that they’re on a road that goes to nowhere yet never ends and they’re stuck together — the gas never runs out, they never get tired or want to sleep much less get hungry — but slowing down or stopping brings them a whole new kind of terror hiding in the woods around them.
The only way to maintain safety is to keep driving and driving and driving … forever.
There are some well-placed scares in the first half of this movie, especially with one particular scene early on when you really don’t know quite what is happening yet. The harrowing encounter puts everybody in this car on high alert that stopping invites terror so they really have no choice but to keep going.
But after about 30 minutes, this film stops being scary and really transforms into an existential crisis that makes these characters question how exactly they can keep going on and why should they even bother? How long could you drive on an endless road without the claustrophobia and monotony of being trapped in some sort of time loop finally driving you mad?
Ullom does a tremendous job of really putting you inside that car and making you squirm in your own seat as you watch these characters attempt to reconcile with this inescapable hell that they’re now forced to endure. There are definitely more than a few tension filled moments when the car stops and they decide to explore their surroundings, although truth be told, there’s no real payoff when it comes to the potential for something truly terrifying to happen.
Instead, Ullom seems most fascinated with the exploration of the human psyche in a truly untenable situation. There’s no escape. There’s no end to the road. You will drive for millions of miles yet get nowhere. How long could you keep going?
Where Ullom comes a bit short with his film is the character development.
While the four friends at the center of this story clearly have some strong chemistry, the writing in this movie fails to really peel back the layers to understand why these four are so close or perhaps even more importantly, why they’ve seemingly drifted apart. Considering you spend the vast majority of the 90 minutes in this movie in the car with these same four characters, it would be rather fitting that there are some really deep, meaningful conversations and perhaps even a few revelations that get to the heart of what drives these people.
Unfortunately, “It Ends” gives you a sense of what to expect from each person in that car but despite being trapped together on an endless loop, you really don’t learn enough to care much whether these people live or die. That’s the heart of almost any good horror film but remember, this movie is less built on scares and more centered around the impending doom that these people face when they realize there’s no escape from the road they’re traveling on.
The setting works, however, because of the endless road and the added stress that’s built around being stuck in that car forever. Imagine the worst road trip you’ve ever taken and then put that on repeat until the end of time.
That’s the crisis at the center of “It Ends” and while it’s far from a perfect film — it feels like 90 minutes of this might be too much — the concept and the execution are still interesting enough to keep you on the hook until the end.
Overall, “It Ends” is less a horror movie and more a film that feels like a test of tension, stress, friendship and the existential crisis of how long you could keep going after realizing there’s absolutely no chance of escape.
“It Ends” gets 3 out of 5 on the Tarman scale and the film is currently available on Letterboxd Video Store.
