A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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Positive Messages
a little
It's OK to say no -- for women to say no to male suitors, to men controlling them, or to get out of a potentially dangerous situation. Films, books, poetry can have relevance in our daily lives. Being smart is a positive, potentially attractive quality.
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Positive Role Models
a little
The young woman is polite to Jake's parents even when they're behaving very strangely. She's kind to everyone she meets. Jake lulls her into danger.
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Violence & Scariness
a little
No scenes of physical violence beyond dead farm animals and a dance performance ending with an acted death, but entire film plays with suspense of something violent happening. A basem*nt that's taped off and has scratches on the door. A potentially dangerous drive through a blizzard. People behaving strangely, warning the woman off. A final ominous stop at an apparently abandoned high school.
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
some
Jake's father says that the boy's twin bed from childhood is "not for f--king." The young woman tells the story of how she and Jake met and at one point says she thinks the "sex was good."
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Language
a lot
"F--k." "S--t." "Bulls--t." "A--hole." "Crap/crappy." "T-t." "God." "Jesus." "Hell." "Sissies."
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Products & Purchases
none
The couple discuss several known films, books, songs, and poems.
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
a little
Jake and the woman discuss roofies. Adults drink wine with dinner, and Jake suggests she drank a lot because his dad was topping off her glass without her noticing. The woman suddenly has a cigarette in the car as she recites a mid-century film review in a somewhat pretentious way.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a purposefully disconcerting film. Younger audiences might tune out, not understand, or not be interested in long dialogue sequences that cite and debate classic films, books, poetry, and songs. The film seems to be toying with the idea of time-shifting and a lack of an "objective reality," as none of the characters are as they seem, and even the details of the life of the young woman narrating the story through an internal monologue shift throughout the tale. The film creates an intentionally uneasy mood with the settings: a stuffy car on a snowy drive, a farmhouse seemingly stuck in time, an abandoned high school. Despite a lack of physical violence, the sense that something terrible is going to happen is there for pretty much the full two hours. Adults drink wine, smoke cigarettes, and discuss roofies. The woman mentions sex, and the man's father says that a twin bed isn't for "f--king." Other language includes "s--t," "bulls--t," "a--hole," "crap/crappy," "t-t," "god," "Jesus," "hell," "sissies." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
What's the Story?
A young woman (Jessie Buckley) accompanies her boyfriend, Jake (Jesse Plemons), to visit his parents on their farm in I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS. She's questioning the rationale for making this trip when she's already considering calling off their relationship, and the two do seem a mismatched pair. On a snowy drive out of the city, they struggle to find topics to talk about naturally, and we start to get the sense something isn't right. Details about her own life start to get fuzzy, and the farm, which feels stuck in time, adds to her unease. Jake's parents begin to age and then grow younger practically in front of her eyes. She finally convinces Jake to leave, in a near blizzard, but it's not at all clear she'll make it back to the city or to the life she was leading until now.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what happens to the young woman in I'm Thinking of Ending Things. The film leaves much up to interpretation, so what's your take on what happened and what it all means?
What authors, films, and other works mentioned in the film did you recognize?
A character says humans are the only animals aware of their mortality -- they can't live in the present, so they "invented hope." What do you make of this comment?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: September 4, 2020
- Cast: Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, Jesse Plemons
- Director: Charlie Kaufman
- Inclusion Information: Female actors
- Studio: Likely Story
- Genre: Horror
- Run time: 134 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- Last updated: February 18, 2023
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