Warning: Contains SPOILERS for I'm Thinking of Ending Things!
Summary
- Jake's elaborate fantasy world is a manifestation of his deep loneliness and regret.
- The young woman is a figment of Jake's imagination, representing the girl he never had the courage to talk to.
- The mysterious phone calls are Jake speaking to his own subconscious, reflecting his inner turmoil.
Charlie Kaufman's mind-bending drama I'm Thinking Of Ending Things ending isn't meant to be fully understood. Throughout the film, hints are dropped that something isn't right, which leads to twists and turns that leave numerous questions by the time the credits roll. Based on a book of the same name by Iain Reid, I'm Thinking of Ending Things follows an unnamed woman (Jessie Buckley) as she accompanies her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) to his childhood home to meet his parents.
The woman is having second thoughts about their relationship, hence the title of the movie, but goes along for the ride anyway. Once they arrive at Jake's family home, the young woman begins to question her relationship, and soon, her reality. The movie's ending reveals that the majority of the film's events happened in Jake's mind. He never met the young woman; he only admired her from afar years ago. His parents are also long passed away. The movie serves to make a strong commentary on loneliness and regret. I'm Thinking of Ending Things changed the ending of the novel, but it was still controversial.
I'm Thinking Of Ending Things Timeline: Who The Janitor Is
Kaufman's psychological thriller is intercut with the occasional shots of an older janitor working at a high school — those are the only moments in the film that actually happen. That older janitor is what Jake actually looks like in real life. Every scene involving Jake and the young woman takes place in Jake's mind as he lives in the past, consumed by regret, and is stuck in a loop of what could have been. The movie relays his life the way he wishes it had gone up until the I'm Thinking of Ending Things ending.
Even though Jake's fantasy in the Netflix original film is filled with a girlfriend and loving parents, the loneliness in his mind is evident. The color palette on the screen during his fantasy is cold and dark, seemingly tinged in blue — which is synonymous with sadness. The time in his imagination takes place in a blizzard, which adds to that cold feeling. The chilly and isolating atmosphere is wrapped in clues that Jake is remembering a time from decades ago.
At his parents' house, Jake shows the young woman an old black-and-white photo of his dog, and she catches a glimpse of his mother looking as she would have dressed in the 1960s. Jake takes the young woman to an ice cream shop where female employees also look like they belong in the 1960s. It's clear that Jake is a lonely older man in his present state of mind, so he spends his time imagining what his life should be like. Moments from his actual time as a young man just unconsciously wrap themselves around his elaborate fantasy.
Jake's Fate In I'm Thinking Of Ending Things Explained
Jake ended up a lonely man full of regret. Life did not turn out the way he wanted, so he spends his days imagining life as it could've been — loving parents and a girlfriend. The students tease him, but he longs to be accepted. In the sequences with old Jake, the high school students are rehearsing the musical Oklahoma! The I'm Thinking of Ending Things ending scene shows an alternate version of old Jake accepting an award and performing a song from the musical — aptly titled "Lonely Room" — to an enthusiastic audience.
Old Jake is so desperate for a sense of camaraderie and belonging that he even wishes to be the star of the musical at the high school where he works. It's just another fantasy sequence. In reality, Jake wraps up a cold, snowy night cleaning the school. He returns to his car and suffers a mental breakdown. He relives moments from his life — memories of his parents and various moments from when he was a child. During this breakdown, he strips naked and imagines following one of his high school fantasies. The final shot of the movie sees Jake's car completely covered in snow. He never made it out of his car and likely died there.
The title of I'm Thinking of Ending Things has a darker second meaning — Jake is deeply depressed. He never had the life he desperately wanted, and he was likely thinking of ending things. The movie subverted this by leading audiences to initially think it was about a breakup when that was all just another layer of Jake's fantasy life. He got too deep in his depression to get himself out of a dangerous situation — it's clear that he at least considered death as a way out. I'm Thinking of Ending Things ending is ultimately a tragedy. Life doesn't always make sense or turn out the way someone wants it to. Living with deep, consuming regret and sadness can have devastating, long-lasting consequences.
What Happened To Jake's Parents In I'm Thinking Of Ending Things
Jake's parents seem off-kilter from the get-go. That's because Jake is imagining them from different periods of their life. Jake is an older man in real life, so his parents likely passed away years ago. In the fantasy sequences where they are introduced to the young woman, they fawn over Jake — especially his mom. But, in the I'm Thinking of Ending Things ending, old Jake is shown in mental anguish, reliving memories of a painful life. The audience sees a flash of his parents arguing. It's safe to assume he had a complicated relationship with his parents and wishes he could have made them proud.
Jake's relationship with his parents may also run deeper than that. While he and the young woman are visiting his parents, they are shown at different times in their lives — middle age, as younger adults, and then near the end of their lives. Clues are scattered in the sequences where they're middle-aged the fact their health is starting to fail. Jake's dad looks physically unwell, and his mom appears to be mentally unwell. The final sequence with his parents shows his mom at the end of her life and unable to care for herself, with his dad barely functioning.
It's unclear when his parents passed in relation to where Jake is in the present timeline. But without them, Jake is truly alone. Whether he wishes he had more time with them or could've had a do-over with the time they did share, he clearly thinks about whether there was something that he could have done differently in regard to their relationship. Since he can't, I'm Thinking of Ending Things sees old Jake imagining life with his parents the way he wishes it could have been.
Is Lucy Real? The Young Woman In I'm Thinking Of Ending Things Explained
The young woman is not Jake's girlfriend, but rather a woman he admired years ago. Throughout I'm Thinking of Ending Things, the young woman's backstory constantly changes. Jake refers to her by different names, he changes the story of how they met, her career constantly switches, and her childhood is even altered a bit. That's because she's technically a figment of his imagination. As revealed in the I'm Thinking of Ending Things ending, he did see her from afar years ago at a bar, but he never mustered up the courage to talk to her.
The young woman and old Jake have a confrontation at Jake's high school in the I'm Thinking of Ending Things ending, where she shares that Jake never approached her at the bar. He just watched her, and she recalls how unsettling that was. Jake regrets that he never spoke to the young woman, so he imagines what life could've been like with her. He thinks about this young woman so much that moments from his day-to-day life influence the story he creates about her. In his real life as a janitor, the audience sees Jake on lunch break watching a romantic comedy in which the female lead is a waitress.
In the next sequence of his fantasy, Jake decides that his would-be girlfriend is also a waitress. Jake sees the young woman from the bar as the one that got away. It's safe to assume that he never had a girlfriend in his life or any sort of lasting romantic companionship, so he romanticizes the woman he wishes would have been his girlfriend all those years ago. Jake is so lonely that the only way he can find a twinge of happiness now is by imagining what could've been with a pretty girl he spotted at a bar years ago. She is one of Jake's biggest regrets, an intrinsic part of his fantasy world.
What Are The Phone Calls In I'm Thinking Of Ending Things?
Throughout I'm Thinking of Ending Things, the main character Lucy gets phone calls from a mysterious voice, with these calls never fully being explained. While there are plenty of interpretations regarding who is making these phone calls, I'm Thinking of Ending Things strongly suggests that these calls are actually Jake speaking to his own subconscious. Not only does this fit into the film thematically, but one of the phone calls even directly quotes a line that the janitor says at the beginning of the film, proving that the calls are linked somehow.
The Real Meaning Of I'm Thinking Of Ending Things
I'm Thinking of Ending Things' surrealist narrative is full of tons of different ideas that Charlie Kaufman wanted to express, but the main idea is undoubtedly loneliness. The entirety of the film is about how Jake's loneliness has driven him to a point of madness, with him dreaming up this fantasy world in order to cope with the lack of relationships in his life. However, these fantasies are clearly unhealthy for Jake, as they push him into worse positions as the film continues. I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a truly tragic tale, with Jake's loneliness being at the center of the film's real meaning.