The Endless (2017)
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The Endless Movie Review
The Endless is a 2017 science fiction horror film directed by and starring Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. It’s one of the duo’s best features.
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“Can you have power over yourself if you give up
any amount of authority to something else?“
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As kids, they escaped a UFO death cult. Now, two adult brothers seek answers after an old videotape surfaces and brings them back to where they began. This is a very interesting, intricate and surprisingly ambitious and layered storyline with some clever twists and turns. At first, it’s basically a drama with some horror overtones, but then it goes toward full science fiction territory, and I actually appreciated both of these different halves.
Admittedly, the movie lost its discussions about cult and manipulation in the SF second half, but still it’s only fitting that something strange is going on in this camp as there were so many hints established previously that did pay off in the end. The atmosphere is particularly incredible as the horror scenes are stupendously creepy and a couple of the moments genuinely creeped me out.
The twist revelation that the camp is governed by this mysterious time loop made for such an intriguing second half. The moment of the realization itself was incredibly disturbing and the highlight of the entire picture. Sadly, the ending felt super rushed and overly convenient, but everything leading toward it was powerful and highly entertaining.
Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead need to be praised for their incredible work on The Endless not just in the directorial chair, but also as actors, where they surprised me how solid their performances were. Justin and Aaron the characters are well developed and their brotherly relationship is wonderfully realized and quite poignant. That discussion near the end about what lifestyle would be better was emotionally powerful and inspirational as obviously the mortal life is still better than one reminiscent of the endless purgatory itself.
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The Endless is definitely cheap-looking at times, but to me some of the cinematography was quite advanced and the drone shots made for a more professional-looking film at times. Some of the acting is weaker and the characterization of the supporting players left a lot to be desired, but the direction was excellent. I wished for more UFO imagery, but the SF elements were superbly executed nonetheless.
