The Endless
Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead
Directed by:
2017


This movie had a lot of potential. This falls under what I like to call a concept horror film, meaning that its a horror film that relies on a sci-fi esque never-before-seen scenario to drive the horror, and this niche genre has seen a lot of additions recently. This movie's scenario is actually really interesting and intriguing, which made me want to keep watching in the beginning. The main villain is also mysterious and genuinely ominous, which should result in a solid horror flick. However, the execution is dog shit. There are several moments of possible foreshadowing that never get seen through, several concepts that never get fleshed out, and so many little details that the movie pretends are important parts of the story, but turn out to be smoke and mirrors. Even after a character literally sits down and explains what is happening, there are still so many questions and loopholes left unanswered. I understand that this movie is supposed to take place in the same universe as Resolution, and contains many of the same characters, making this movie a sort of sequel. I actually think the movie suffers a lot from this, as it spends too much time easter-egging the previous movie instead of actually developing its plot. While the cinematography can be iffy at points, the visual effects are completely acceptable except for the final scene. The characters are simple and can be interesting, and the movie often is too obvious about its messaging. The soundtrack is also pretty good at parts, but all of these positives don't overcome the vast amount of filler scenes and wasted potential that this movie has. I can't say I didn't enjoy myself at all when watching it, the first half was especially intriguing to say the least, however this movie offers no meaningful horror, payoff, or fleshed-out concepts to think about. I was left dissapointed and angry at how this interesting concept was executed so poorly.
