E's Reviews: The Endless


THE ENDLESS is an indie sci-fi film directed by Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, and stars Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson as two brothers, Aaron and Justin Smith, who return to the UFO cult they escaped years ago as teenagers, and after receiving a mysterious video tape from the cult, to discover that the cult’s beliefs may be more sane than they originally thought. The film also stars Tate Ellington as Hal, Callie Hernandez as Anna, Lew Temple as Tim, and Kira Powell as Lizzy.

Let me begin by saying that this is a very strange film. The movie is a slow burn, so anyone expecting crazy alien stuff should be warned, it takes a while to get to the core of the film, which, when you get there, is so well done and so thought-provoking, that it’ll get it’s hooks into you and cause you to question the very fabric of your existence (and that of the characters of this film).

The movie itself looks great, the camera work is excellent, as the use of different lenses gives the film a strange, almost fish bowl look. The CGI, which there is a bit of, is great, every scene meant to drawn you into the mystery of this story. Moorhead and Benson are excellent as the two brothers, struggling with their lives’ outside of the cult, and performing admirably. But Tate Ellington’s Hal, for me at least, stole the show. He, along with the excellent Kira Powell (who as of this writing hasn’t been in a feature other than this one), really sold their performances well. The script is great, as every conversation is meant to build up the mystery and the odd occurrences that are going on at this compound and in the surrounding wilderness. Now for the bad. The movie itself is very slow moving. There is little action, and some conversations were just too weird and difficult to follow. All that being said, when there is something horrific happening, there was quite a bit of thrill in the scenes. When two characters spoke (specifically any time Justin and Hal spoke) you could feel the tension between the two characters.

In the end, this is definitely not a film for the casual movie-goer. If you’re a fan of independent film, if you love strange science fiction, or someone who just wants to support the filmmakers, then this is something you shouldn’t miss. I absolutely adored this movie, and if you love indie film as much as I do, then you should adore it as well. (PS: Check out their other films, SPRING and RESOLUTION, they are equally as good and definitely worth having in your collection). Also worth mentioning, this movie is very much Lovecraftian in nature. If you’re a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, you’ll love it.

Final Score: 9/10

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