It Ends
Review by Mark Woodring
2026 has been a pretty good year for low-budget, indie-type, horror films, with Obsession and Backrooms both bringing the heat earlier in the year.
Heck, even Markiplier’s Iron Lung made some waves, even if it didn’t break through at the box office.
Enter first-time director Alex Ullom, then, with his existential horror, It Ends.
**NOTE: You can read Mark’s review below, then listen or watch as he and Ryan discuss the film further. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
89 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Alex Ullom
Directed by Alex Ullom
Synopsis:
Friend son a late-night food run become trapped on an infinite highway with otherworldly terrors lurking beyond. Confined in their Jeep Cherokee, they must decide whether to accept their fate or attempt escape.
What would you do if you found yourself trapped in a place with no idea how you got there, with not apparent way out of, but which was otherwise not threatening? You can drive. Your car never runs out of gas. You don’t get hungry or thirsty. You never need to sleep…
Are you dead? Is it aliens?
Oh, and every time you stop driving, mobs of people attempt to take you out of your vehicle and steal it.
To say that It Ends presents an existential crisis would be a bit of an understatement. This is a slow-burn examination of the human psyche and the various ways it can adapt to changing, or in this case unchanging, circumstances.
How long can you last if the face of endless SAMENESS?
Clearly, the endless road is a metaphor, and you can decide for yourself what it’s a metaphor for. Then you can decide how you would like it to end and compare that to the endline Alex Ullom gives us.
I really enjoyed this one for reasons that, if I tell you, would spoil the film, and you know how much we HATE to do that around here. So let me say that my fellow Utah Film Critics are already arguing about this one, which means we’ll be arguing about it for a long time…
Perhaps into awards season.
Which should tell you a lot about this one.
If you want to be challenged and yes, a bit frightening in a way that tickles your reptile brain, then definitely check out It Ends.
It Ends hits theaters this Friday, August 28, and stars Mitchell Cole, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, and Phinehas Yoon.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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