The Endless
Directed by Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson
- science fiction
- horror
- thriller
The story
Two brothers return to the cult they fled from years ago to discover that the group's beliefs may be more sane than they once thought.
What it’s like
Flat, desaturated daylight over scrubby high desert and a cramped, dim camp of tents and ramshackle cabins, shot mostly in plain handheld-steady medium frames that let the wrongness creep in at the edges. The palette runs to dusty ochres, washed greys and the sickly green of wild brush, with interiors lit by a single bulb or the thin wash of an overcast sky. The score is sparse and droning, a low synth hum that swells and then drops into near silence, and the uncanny sound design, faint distant wind and off-kilter ambient tones, does much of the unsettling work. Pacing is slow and deliberate, with long uneasy pauses between bursts of tension. The register is cold, eerie and melancholic: a sibling pair carrying childhood trauma and a shared grief, slowly forced to reckon with what they left behind. Intensity is moderate: suicide is discussed and touches the story, there is some brief shock violence and a few sudden jolts, but no gore and little overt cruelty; dread carries it more than blood. Suits a late, alone viewing or a rainy night when you want something quietly disquieting rather than loud. For viewers who enjoy slow-burn cosmic horror, sibling dynamics and ambiguous, puzzle-like mysteries.
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