Netflix has released a trailer for an upcoming film version of Iain Reid’s Kirkus-starred 2016 psychological thriller, I’m Thinking of Ending Things. The film, which is written and directed by Oscar-winner Charlie Kaufman, will premiere on the streaming service on Sept. 4.
In the novel, an unnamed woman narrates the story of a winter road trip she takes with her odd, philosophical, and relatively new boyfriend, Jake, to meet his parents at their family farm. It’s quickly made clear that the narrator is seriously considering breaking up with him. As Kirkus’ review notes, “Reid intercuts the couple’s increasingly tense journey with short interstitial chapters that imply a crime has been committed, though the details are vague.” The visit with the parents is also tense, and the trip back home involves a frightening visit to an abandoned high school. “Reid’s tightly crafted tale toys with the nature of identity and comes by its terror honestly, building a wall of intricately layered psychological torment so impenetrable it’s impossible to escape,” wrote Kirkus’ reviewer.
The film stars Irish actor Jessie Buckley, who recently appeared in the HBO series Chernobyl. Jesse Plemons, who plays Jake, is perhaps best known for his supporting roles in the TV series Friday Night Lights and Breaking Bad. Oscar nominee Toni Collette plays Jake’s mother, and David Thewlis, a Golden Globe nominee, appears as his father.
Kaufman won an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay for the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but he’s also well-known for his offbeat, metafictional script for 2002's Adaptation, which is partially based on Susan Orlean’s 1999 book The Orchid Thief, and partly a fictional account of his experience writing its adaptation. The last movie he directed was 2015’s Anomalisa, which was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. His first novel, Antkind, was published on July 7.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
