“It Ends”

Writer / director Alex Ullom’s “It Ends” is a clever, low-budget indie that blends highway horror with existential sci-fi, delivering a tense and darkly funny meditation on the crushing uncertainty of young adulthood. What begins as a casual late-night drive among recent grads quickly warps into a surreal nightmare when they find themselves trapped on a never-ending road, surrounded by eerie silence, fractured time, and unseen forces lurking just beyond their headlights. I really loved this movie despite its highly frustrating ending, but the storytelling as a whole is incredibly well done.

The film hooks you early with casual dialogue between the four main characters (Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, and Mitchell Cole) that builds a solid history of their friendship. There’s just enough information revealed about them to make you care, and Ullom nimbly sets the stage for a mystery that keeps twisting. When the buddies find themselves stuck in time, the panic sets in. Are they dead? Stuck in Purgatory? Lost in a wormhole? Cursed? The characters themselves engage in a fun and interesting group brainstorm to untangle their reality, adding a self-aware touch to the film’s mind-bending premise. Leaning into sci-fi far more than horror, the film is less about outright terror and more about creeping dread that’s laced with an unsettling sense of inevitability.

Despite its indie roots, the film feels incredibly well-crafted and uses its limited budget to its advantage. The claustrophobic setting inside a single SUV heightens the tension, and the never-ending road stretching ahead serves as a powerful metaphor for what amounts to an existential limbo. The film’s ambiguity works in its favor, leaving the story open to interpretation (although many are going to be frustrated by the finale).

“It Ends” is the type of genre film that’s best viewed with a clean slate, because the surprises make it so enjoyable. Creative, unsettling, and surprisingly thought-provoking, this is a strong entry in indie sci-fi horror, proving that a smart script and eerie atmosphere can go a long way.

By: Louisa Moore