SXSW 2025: ‘It Ends,’ but does it really?

When I went into “It Ends,” the only information I had about the film came from its short blurb and the emcee’s introduction. From that, I knew the film would concern a group of friends freshly graduated from college, that it was going to be funny and that it would start as one thing but eventually morph into another. And transform it did. The story repeatedly reconstructs itself up until the very end by creatively playing with the road-trip horror genre and including nuanced character dynamics, advancing its sordidly existential themes and bleak messages about the reality of adulthood. 

“It Ends” opens with a hard, lonely scene in which a Jeep Cherokee is parked in the woods at night with its hazard lights flashing. The film juxtaposes this scene by abruptly cutting to playful bantering about the “pick two to defend you, the rest are going to kill you” debate in that same Jeep Cherokee. I would’ve never expected “It Ends,” which allowed me these viscerally emotional experiences, to begin like a typical teen comedy.

Candidly and humorously exploring the uncertainty of post-graduation life in a post-pandemic world, “It Ends” follows four friends — James (Phinehas Yoon, “One True Loves”), Day (Akira Jackson, “Chasing Raine”), Tyler (Mitchell Cole, “Against the Spread) and Fisher (Noah Toth, “Ojai”) — on one last hurrah: a late-night drive before they part their ways in the “real world.” What we don’t realize based on this unassuming premise is that we’re along for this tumultuous ride, too — one that happens to be dark, tense and slightly horrifying.  

With one wrong turn (or lack of turns in their case), these four friends find themselves on a never-ending backroad with no exits where strange, otherworldly beings (or maybe the living dead?) lurk in the woods. Strangely enough, it seems that their gas meter is malfunctioning, which means the car is operating off of some ghostly source of energy. As our protagonists — who now miraculously also don’t need to eat or sleep to function — try to exit this endless road, they’re faced with a dilemma: do they continue driving aimlessly without a clear destination, or join the dead-ish bodies in the woods?    

“It Ends” is split into three acts, delineated by the character taking the wheel and the number of miles driven. This structure adds some depth and texture to an otherwise long and dull 87-minute car ride. Instead of prompting viewers to ask the childish question, “Are we there yet?” we are kept in the heat of the moment like we’re a fellow passenger. 

The ride is anything but boring. Sure, the scenery is mostly just tree-lined roads — and the camera, for the most part, remains in the confines of the car. But the camera also follows the characters in the car, and when we do see scenes shot outdoors, we get hazy, shaky shots, as if the spectator was just as unsettled as the characters. The film also incorporates entertaining dialogue into its script, whether that’s through outlandish would-you-rather questions, cathartic screaming sessions or freeing moments of secret-sharing. This tone of lightheartedness and emotional vulnerability showcases the sources of resiliency younger generations rely on in an unpredictably scary world. 

For Gen Z, the uncertainty of adulthood and apprehensions surrounding employment is top of mind. “It Ends” targets these anxieties, taking a refreshing spin on the horror road trip trope. The film includes relatable conversations about things like showing your friends your first-day-of-work fit, rationalizing a mundane office job for the stability it provides or complaining about spending your entire summer post-grad on ZipRecruiter because you chose to major in graphic design. 

During the road trip, the four characters also often create memes and joke about what it’s like being stuck in a car on an endless road, demonstrating our generation’s propensity to make light of harrowing situations. This is an especially important reminder today because, even if we think our world is on the brink of collapsing, humor and friendship can help guide us through otherwise dark and monotonous days.  

I sat through “It Ends” hopelessly expecting a wholesome, happy ending, despite things going awry every step of the journey. Instead, the film seemed to fall anticlimactically short given the ride that the audience took. But maybe that’s the point. As pessimistic and nihilistic as it seems, there is no end goal in life. The destination isn’t what really matters, so there’s no point in torturing ourselves for answers we’ll never find. 

Perhaps the truth is, adulthood is horror in its own unique way, whether we’re stuck on a road where we’ll never age again or whether we’re trying to survive what the “real world” throws at us. 

Daily Arts Writer Michelle Wu can be reached at michewu@umich.edu.

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