Two summers ago, I browsed through Barnes and Noble and came across this intriguing novel “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”. It looked super mysterious, so I decided to give it a try. I ended up finishing the book in two short days because I could not seem to put it down. It was so deep and kept me at the edge of my seat throughout the entire novel. It is such a beautifully written novel that had to research more of Iain Reid’s (the author’s) novels. You could say I was obsessed.
Flash forward to two weeks ago when I was scrolling through Netflix trying to find a movie to watch with my roommates. We came across the movie, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”, and I immediately freaked out. I explained to my roommates that this movie was based on my favorite novel, so we planned to watch it that night.
We popped popcorn, made some green tea, and excitedly began to watch the movie. At first, it started slow. This couple, Jake and Lucy, are bickering in the car ride on the way to meet Jake’s parents. The way they talked was as if they were reciting a poem, not conversational at all.
Then, quickly, the scene got old. There were almost forty-five minutes of them chatting in the car. My roommates were not impressed. I told them it gets better. When the couple made it to Jake’s house, the movie continuously got slower, and there is not too much action or any other characters involved. I do not want to give away too much of the plot if you decide to watch the movie, but it just keeps getting weirder. There is no plot. My roommates grew bored as the film got drier.
However, I began to catch on because I had read the book. It was not nearly as good as the novel. I believe it was the way that Reid wrote that made me love the book. It is very philosophical and in the main character’s head. We get to read all of her thoughts, but that on the screen, it came across as boring. For me, when I read, my mind creates different scenes and images. But, on screen, the scene stayed the same for 45 minutes, which lost my interest.
In the last few scenes, the movie rapidly escalates (finally), but it also makes no sense. Suddenly, we are thrown into a high school where more characters are slyly introduced. They begin to dance around the school, and there is a good 10 minutes at the end, where there is no dialogue. Finally, this scene ends, and then we are shown a cartoon pig, still with no speaking from any characters.
We follow this pig down the empty hallway, and the scene abruptly changes to a stage where Jake is singing. It has nothing to do with the vague plot that is first introduced to us. His performance comes to an end, taking longer than it should. Then, the movie just ends. My roommates and I were blown away by the structure and logic of this movie. It was very thought-provoking, but I guess just not our cup of tea. I recommend the book over the film. But, everyone needs to watch at least 30 minutes of “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” if you want to challenge your mind.
Overall, it was an interesting movie. If you are bored or it’s a rainy day, I would give it a watch. If you like reading, I highly suggest you read this novel, you will not regret it.