By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Starring Mitchell Cole, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth and Phinehas Yoon
Written and directed by Alexander Ullom
Snoot Entertainment
Perhaps one of the most chilling things about IT ENDS lies in the dichotomy between what its title suggests and the situation that unfolds on screen. What ends? Or, to elaborate, what always inevitably ends? Life, and to paraphrase David Cronenberg, the awareness of that is the wellspring of horror. And yet IT ENDS sends its quartet of young protagonists into an experience that seems like it will never come to its conclusion. Perhaps their own, eventual demises are the only possible endgame. Scary stuff.
On a superficial level, IT ENDS (which had its international premiere at this summer’s Fantasia International Film Festival, and plays tonight as part of Scary Movies XIII at New York City’s Lincoln Center) resembles any number of films in which a small group of people find themselves on a road to nowhere or in some similar predicament. They often conclude with the revelation that these characters have actually died and are in some sort of purgatory/hell/spiritual world, and to his credit, writer/director Alexander Ullom has his foursome speculate that that’s what has happened to them and get that possibility out of the way fairly early on.
Before that, Tyler (Mitchell Cole), Day (Akira Jackson), Fisher (Noah Toth) and James (Phinehas Yoon) are simply out for a drive together as they face their post-collegiate futures. Actually, Tyler, who’s conveying the gang in his white Jeep Cherokee, never went for higher education but instead has served a stint in the military, while James is about to start a job he’s not necessarily looking forward to and Day and Fisher aren’t sure where their futures are taking them. Still, the latter pair are the more upbeat of the bunch, contrasting nicely with the reserved Tyler and the pricklier James, and the movie immediately allows us to get to know and, just as important, to like them. There have been a lot of 20somethings ruminating over the meaning and direction of their lives in screen history, frequently ranging from unrelatable to insufferable, but this group gets you feeling like you’re in on the hang with them. I don’t know how much of the dialogue was scripted and how much was improvised, but either way, Ullom and his cast have a true knack for personality-revealing exchanges that quickly have the viewer engaged.
Those personalities are put to the test when they take a side road through the woods that does not take them where it’s supposed to. Instead, it stretches endlessly before them, with no exit or escape. Worse yet, when they stop to try to figure out what’s happening, they’re charged by hordes of crazed people emerging from the trees. They at first seem like the infected folks seen in countless movies from 28 DAYS LATER on down, but once again, Ullom puts a fresh spin on the familiar, and the realization of these forest dwellers’ true nature has implications that are even more frightening.
So onward the foursome drive, discovering there’s isn’t a need to refuel the Jeep or themselves, struggling with the questions of what’s happening to them and what they can do about it. The metaphor for the uncertain future so many young people face is clear, and allowed to speak for itself, as Ullom keeps IT ENDS rooted in the emotions and reactions of his protagonists, the choices they make and the actions they take in the face of the inexplicable. A few simple rules can be established and followed, but dealing with the bigger picture isn’t nearly that easy, and the movie keeps up a steady buzz of suspense as we and the characters wonder what twist the next turn in the road might bring.
IT ENDS is existential horror at its most relatable and engrossing, taking us on a trip that has us as anxious about its endgame as the characters are. How does It End? Obviously that won’t be given away here, but in Ullom’s hands, the journey is just as important as the destination. And one thing’s for sure: He and his actors are at the start of what should be long and successful career trips of their own.
