Read_this_review_B4

This is a visual acid trip. I found that there are two types of people, those who hate movies like "Mother!", " Beau Is Afraid", "I'm Thinking of Ending Things", and those who love them. "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" was also a Charlie Kaufman film, but this is the first of such films to really break the rules of time in a film.

In short this is a film that is constantly moving, just like the others I've mentioned. It goes from normal to bizarre within seconds, and it doesn't stop to explain itself. If you were one of those people who needs to understand a film to like it, then you will probably not understand this.

You should know going in to this that it is unlike any idea of film you have in your head . It is strings of ideas and feelings that continually evolve. It is extremely meta, and I don't mean that in the cliché way that is thrown around, I mean it as the definition, it is extremely self-referential, it is a reference to life, and every single character in the movie is referred to on near infinite levels.

If you are open minded and are willing, and looking to watch a surreal and truly bizarre film then this is it. There are quite a few bad reviews, and I think it's fair to say that those are by people who expected a linear movie with a plot in the traditional sense. This is not that. This is a film about life slipping through your fingers. There are a lot of people who come to this Charlie Kaufman film wanting it to be more like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", they want a trippy and fun movie, but a movie that doesn't require them to think for work. This film begs you to find connections, find connections between the infinite number of characters and the infinite number of performances within performances, but also to draw connections with your own mortality.

Put it on now. Just go in blind. Dogtooth meets Blast From The Past, but waaaay better and incredibly moving.

I accidentally stumbled across the IMDb page for this movie while looking up the actress Ryan Simpkins. I had watched The Exorcism (2024), which stunk, but she looked familiar, she was in the Fear Street movies and The House with Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler btw. It was this poster that grabbed my attention as I was scrolling, and then such a weird synopsis. I immediately saved it to my IMDb wish list without watching the trailer, and there it sat for a long time.

I get the alert that is now playing on the Roku channel, and I'm really not sure what to expect. I loved the retro television style that reminded me of shows when I was a kid, and I saw the potential for comedy. There's a lot of pretty decent actors and comedians in it, and I thought it could go either way. But from the very beginning I'm completely intrigued, it pulled me in. As I said, it was reminding me of both Dogtooth (2009) and Blast From The Past (1999) in the idea of a person hidden away from the world, but of course completely different. The direction it went surprised me because they didn't ruin it like most films. This is a quirky movie, but it is very heartfelt. Even though it's not a drama, it has a lot of emotional moments. There was a lot of moments that I feared it would go in a cliché direction, and it didn't.

The acting is fantastic , and as the movie developed I really got sucked in to the storyline, as silly as it may seem from the outside. If you're looking for a weird movie that is also gone to make you laugh (and probably cry if you cry at movies) this is the one to put on. This is a great film to watch by yourself, it's a great film to watch with a group of people. But, if you're on the fence of whether you think you'll like this or not, put it on right now. Don't watch the trailer just watch the movie. You found a hidden gem.

I would've given this a 5 or 6 if I didn't watch the last scene. I was a huge fan of the original movie, in fact I gave it a 10 out of 10 on here. I rated the original so highly because I enjoyed it so much. Even though it's not a flashy, expensive, highly produced movie, it was interesting and intriguing, it was cerebral, and it was fun.

Now that you know how I felt about the original let's talk about this one. They chose a direction that I wouldn't have chosen, and most likely the direction that nobody wanted to see. Fans of the original will understand the first half of the movie as a somewhat reasonable direction.

The thing is, if you're hoping for another deep conversation, if you're hoping he talks to a new group of people, or if it's set as a lecture in a college, a dinner party, you will not get that. The one thing this movie does well is pointing out the hypocrisy of so many overly religious people. Rather than focusing on the teachings and the message of the teachings, people focus on the rules that other people published. I thoroughly enjoyed their honest and believable portrayal of this.

Even though I didn't care for the direction it was going in I was with it, and I don't know if they were unsure how to end it, but the time jump felt abrupt and disappointing. Because of this you don't actually get to see the end of the movie you're watching. They don't wrap up what happened. Still, all that said, I would have given this a 5 or 6 stars if I stopped it as soon as the credit started. It ends on a hopeful and happy note, and as the music comes in you're left with a hopeful image of their future. But in the last five minutes they completely alter the entire movie by suddenly questioning whether John was a villain. That last conversation was such a bad idea, and it leaves such a bitter taste in your mouth, that it ruins the whole movie. After that last scene I came here and gave this two stars... But I knew that was only because of the very ending. So I give four stars,