Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Endless Blu-ray Movie Review

Pretzel (il?)logic.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 15, 2018

It seems that every few months there’s a new viral social media meme where some “expert” has done his or her “calculations” and has stated absolutely, positively, definitely that this time (whenever “this time” is defined as being) the End of the World is most certainly coming. It’s gotten so prevalent that when someone recently posted one of these memes on Facebook, I responded on their thread, “Already? I just finished unpacking from the last Apocalypse.” That perhaps politically and/or religiously incorrect joke aside, The Endless purports to flirt with another kind of “end of the world” scenario, a subset of eschatological musings that has its own flirtations with popular culture, namely a so-called “UFO cult” that has been awaiting an “ascension”. This particular plot element has a basis in real life, as those who remember reading about a cult bearing the name of a certain legendary (not necessarily in a good way) film may recall, but science fiction literature has been stuffed full of similar storylines for untold decades, with many of the stories hinging on the disconnect between the perhaps inherent unbelievability that some Mother Ship is waiting to transport the faithful and that very faith that believers need to sustain their reason for banding together and looking skyward so much. The Endless has a lot of interesting elements, including the dialectic between faith and skepticism, but what kind of ironically provides some of the most visceral impact in this feature is not the whole UFO aspect but instead the interrelationship between two brothers, Justin (Justin Benson) and Aaron Smith (Aaron Moorhead). The fact that Benson and Moorhead not only star (not to mention play characters with their given names), but also co-direct and co-produce, with Benson providing the screenplay and Moorhead providing the cinematography, may lead some to come to the hasty conclusion that The Endless is a “mere” vanity project. Now, there’s probably no arguing that certain aspects of this film fit pretty snugly into whatever “vanity project” means nowadays, but there’s a rather audaciously ambitious quality to The Endless that deserves attention, if not always (and forgive this truly religiously incorrect pun) rapture.

One of the cool things about this very website (if I do say so myself) is how we maintain a pretty thorough database of international releases, and because I also cover Arrow UK products, I’ve gotten some advance press material on Arrow’s upcoming release of The Endless for the UK market, a release which also includes Benson and Moorhead’s previous film Resolution. That’s an especially important addition, since, as the two mention in a supplement included on this release, they specifically fashioned The Endless as a sort of slightly refracted follow-up to Resolution, and in fact the eponymous characters they play in this film were bit parts in the earlier film. That probably will give The Endless more of a “meta” feeling for those who have seen the earlier film, and I for one am kind of eager to get the UK release simply so I can see Resolution, frankly in the hopes that it might clear up some of the lingering questions I have after having seen The Endless.

The baseline story in The Endless is actually rather straightforward, though there’s tons of subtext and some of the presentational aspects hint at even more hidden layers of meaning. On its surface, the story deals with older brother Justin, who helped get himself and younger brother Aaron out of a UFO cult called Arcadia. The two have been eking out a living as janitors, something Justin feels is honorable in its own way, but which obviously leaves Aaron wanting more. When a mysterious (and kind of hilariously outdated) video tape arrives for the pair, Aaron makes a fateful decision about how to spend their minimal cash supply and invests in a tape player. That leads to another fateful decision, with Aaron convincing Justin that the two need to return to Arcadia, if only for a day, to see if the Ascension has indeed occurred.

The bulk of the film does in fact take place at Camp Arcadia, where Justin and Aaron find their former cult "brethren" (and "sistren", if I may be permitted to coin a term), none of whom seems to have aged in the ten years since the brothers left, which is just the first of several mysteries surrounding the locale. There is a whole retinue of odd characters at the camp, including one guy who may have given himself a lobotomy and another one who brews craft beer, seeming to put the lie to Justin's sensational interviews when the brothers "escaped" claiming all sorts of nefarious activities. The film plays out in a series of sometimes baffling vignettes, with hints of an unseen menace (or at least an unseen something) waiting just out of frame.

I am purposefully not spilling too many of the beans with regard to The Endless for a couple of reasons. The first, and most "confessional", is that I frankly did not understand at least some of what transpires in the film. I think I have a "theory" as to what the brothers experience, one that may hint at a kind of purgatory (to say more probably would spoil things). The second, though, is that The Endless seems open to any number of interpretations, and to foist mine on folks might not be fair (not that that has ever stopped me before, but I digress). The film seems to be about cults and monsters (the film begins with an epigraph from one H.P. Lovecraft), but in essence it really deals at least as much with sibling relationships (there's another, perhaps cheekier, epigraph that appears under the Lovecraft quote at the beginning of the film). I'm not sure The Endless actually holds up to rigorous logical examination, but it's a fascinating film and one that I think will spark a lot of conversation, especially if (as I suspect) Benson and Moorhead follow up with even more adventures with these characters.

The Endless Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Endless is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. Once again the IMDb comes up empty in the technical specs department, but your intrepid reviewer tracked down this interview with Benson and Moorhead where they discuss (mostly) using the Red Dragon for the shoot. I assume this was finished at a 2K DI, and the results are consistently interesting, if also variable (I assume intentionally so) in terms of color temperature, saturation, and even sharpness and detail levels. There's some really interesting grading going on that I think may subliminally hint at some subtext (I'm trying really hard not to give anything away), with colors drained and a kind of dreamlike quality to everything. But there are moments when the palette looks relatively natural and actually quite warm, with some appealing if kind of dusty tones. Detail levels tend to be quite good throughout the presentation, at least when some of the special effects (like the weird reflective refractions) or lighting conditions don't offer obstacles. I personally wouldn't have minded a bit more clearly defined contrast, especially in some of the dusty, sunlit outdoor scenes, where a kind of haze intrudes at times. Most refreshingly, I noticed no major issues with banding on this Well Go USA release.

The Endless Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Endless isn't a "slam bang" science fiction offering from a sound design standpoint, and so audiophiles should set their expectation meters accordingly for the quite nicely done DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. A lot of the effects here are spooky if subtle, with sudden flurries of sonic energy surrounding things like mysterious flocks of birds or seemingly "unprovoked" gusts of winds through trees. There's a lot of dialogue in the film, but quite a bit of it takes place outside, and so there's pretty consistent placement of ambient environmental effects throughout the surround channels. Fidelity is fine throughout, and there are no issues with damage, distortion or dropouts.

The Endless Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (1080p; 31:38) has quite a bit of fun footage with Justin and Aaron (the real life guys, but also the characters), and includes some background information, including at least some allusions to Resolution.


• Behind the Scenes includes:

  Michael Felker, The Editor (1080p; 2:58)

  
  

  Outtakes (1080p; 10:04)

• Deleted Scenes

  The Garage (1080p; 00:31)

  
  

  Goats (1080p; 1:19)

  
  

  Beer Guys (1080p; 00:47)

  
  

  Happiness (1080p; 1:43)

  
  

  The Walls It Constructs (1080p; 00:51)

  
  

  The Trailer (1080p; 00:47)

  
  

  Brotherly Walk (1080p; 00:54)

• VFX Breakdown (1080p; 2:43) has some kind of funny footage of how they did the "rope trick" (you'll understand once you see the film), as well as some other effects scenes.


• Ridiculous Extras are all (intentionally) on the silly side and include:

  Casting

  Smiling Dave (1080p; 2:59)

  
  

  Aaron (1080p; 1:32)

  Vinny's Story (1080p; 9:02)

  
  

  Breaking the News (1080p; 3:05)

  
  

  UFO Cult Comedy (1080p; 3:26)

• Tribeca Promo (1080p; 1:30) has a whole bunch of Justins and Aarons.


• Teaser Trailer (1080p; 1:42)


• Trailer (1080p; 2:07)


• Audio Commentary with Directors and Producer is available under the Setup Menu.

The Endless Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Endless has become something of a cult item itself since its release, and if nothing else it proves what two exuberant young filmmakers can do with a micro budget. Certain elements of the film, including some of the denizens of Camp Arcadia, may be a tad too precious for the film's own good, and I'm frankly not completely convinced the story's attempts at a kind of Boolean structure ever completely make sense and/or pay off, but there's an increasing sense of unease that builds throughout the film and the relationship between the brothers is nicely developed. Technical merits are strong, the supplementary package very enjoyable, and The Endless comes Recommended.