It Ends (2025) Review

We’ve all experienced moments in life when we feel stuck, uncertain of where to turn next and overwhelmed by the seemingly endless road ahead. We question our purpose, struggle to find meaning and wonder when, if ever, the answers will come.

Alexander Ullom’s directorial debut, It Ends, captures this feeling with striking precision, exploring the existential uncertainty of adolescence, the fear of what lies ahead and the search for meaning in an unpredictable future. Initially considered by Ullom to be ‘dead in the water’, the film premiered at SXSW in 2025 and was briefly available to rent through Letterboxd’s Video Store before attracting the attention of NEON. Its journey from an independent project to a wider theatrical release certainly marks Ullom as a filmmaker to watch within a growing generation of young horror talent, amongst the likes of Kane Parsons and Currie Barker.

The film follows recent graduates Day (Akira Jackson), Tyler (Mitchell Cole), James (Phinehas Yoon) and Fisher (Noah Toth) as they embark on one final road trip together before going their separate ways. However, not long into their journey, they realise they’ve missed their designated turning, and no matter how far they continue, it never seems to appear. When they get out of the car to investigate, they are set upon by an angry mob who attack Fisher, and it soon becomes apparent that their only chance of staying safe is to remain on the road. As the journey continues, they make another unsettling discovery: none of the group seem to need sleep or food, whilst the car’s fuel gauge remains unchanged, no matter how far they travel. Left to question whether they have entered a form of purgatory or stumbled into another realm entirely, the group must make sense of their surroundings if they are to survive the journey.

The first thing to note about It Ends is that it isn’t a horror film in the traditional sense. As Ullom himself explains, ‘I learned very quickly that this is a hangout movie battling a horror movie’. Rather than relying solely on conventional horror tropes, the film taps into a growing trend of films that focus on the concept of liminality, which Ullom describes as ‘the transition between one thing and another’, and, more importantly, how we navigate the uncertainty that comes with it. Whether this takes the form of the uncanny, seemingly endless spaces of Backrooms or the long, winding road of It Ends, these films explore the unease of existing in a state of transition, bringing to light the discomfort, and the horror, of realising that the path ahead may not lead anywhere at all.

Ullom suggests this is particularly resonant for Gen Z, a generation coming of age in an increasingly uncertain world, where traditional sources of stability, direction and purpose are becoming less secure. Speaking to Letterboxd Magazine, he goes on to explain: ‘There just isn’t a structure. There’s not ‘get a job, get a house,’ etc… There is no end… That’s a generational issue, for all of us.’ It is this absence of a clearly defined path, and the anxiety of having to forge one for ourselves, that sits at the heart of It Ends. The monster in these films is not so much an external threat as a manifestation of the fear of the unknown: the anxiety of change, the loss of direction and the unsettling possibility that, despite our best efforts, we may never quite get to where we thought we were going.

This sense of discomfort permeates the film, leaving us suspended in a constant state of uncertainty as the journey unfolds. At times, the experience feels monotonous and, arguably, a little dull. However, its real gems lie in the ways the characters navigate the confusion, the mundanity and the absence of direction. Some, unable to face the prospect of seeing the journey through to its end, choose to leave, while others, like Day and Fisher, find a sense of release and comfort in their connections with one another. Yet it is James, our central protagonist, who remains until the very end, determined to find his purpose in the seemingly endless journey.

If you’re looking for a film packed with jump scares and fast-paced action, this probably isn’t the one for you. It’s very much a slow burner, with a pace that rarely shifts. But perhaps that’s all part of the point. In many ways, the film reflects the very nature of its subject matter, keeping us waiting, eager to make sense of it all. Much like the characters themselves, you can choose to abandon the journey along the way or stay with our main protagonist until the very end, in the hope of discovering what it’s all about – or whether there’s really anything to discover at all.

Movie Rating:

It Ends trailer