It Ends (2026)

It Ends Review: A Promising Premise Lost in Its Own Loop

It Ends arrives with a hook that should thrill fans of cosmic horror: a car full of recent graduates takes a wrong turn onto a road that simply refuses to end. Writer-director Alexander Ullom stretches that concept across a lean 89 minutes, trapping his characters—and the audience—in a Jeep Cherokee that becomes a pressure cooker of existential dread. The setup is genuinely unsettling, but the execution struggles to sustain tension without repeating itself.

Direction and Atmosphere

Ullom makes smart use of his micro-budget constraints. The entire film unfolds inside the vehicle or in the oppressive darkness just beyond its windows, a choice that amplifies claustrophobia. Practical lighting—dashboard glow, phone screens, the occasional headlight sweep—creates a tactile realism that CGI-heavy horrors often lack. However, the visual language grows monotonous. After the first act, the "endless road" metaphor becomes literal in the worst way: same angles, same lighting setups, same rhythmic editing. Ullom hints at larger forces—strange radio transmissions, impossible geography—but never develops a visual vocabulary to match the cosmic scale the script promises.

Performances and Character Dynamics

The young cast carries the film on sheer conviction. Phinehas Yoon (James) and Akira Jackson (Day) anchor the group with a lived-in chemistry that sells years of friendship in a few glances. Noah Toth’s Fisher oscillates between panic and dark humor, while Mitchell Cole’s Tyler embodies the skeptic who refuses to accept the impossible. The script gives them credible, overlapping dialogue—arguments about whose turn it is to drive, old grievances resurfacing under stress. Yet the characters remain sketches. We learn their majors and relationship statuses, not their fears or regrets. When the supernatural elements demand emotional payoff, the foundation isn’t deep enough to support it.

Story and Pacing

The central mystery—why the road loops, what the shadows in the treeline want—unfolds through fragmented clues: a garbled emergency broadcast, a hitchhiker who knows too much, a passenger (Ullom himself in a cameo) who may not be human. The puzzle pieces are intriguing, but the film withholds answers until a final act that rushes exposition in a single, breathless monologue. Pacing suffers from the single-location constraint; middle sections drag as the group debates the same options repeatedly. The R rating earns its keep with visceral body horror in the climax, but the gore feels like a concession to genre expectations rather than a narrative necessity.

Who Should Watch It Ends

Patient viewers who prize concept over polish will find something to chew on. Fans of The Endless or Coherence may appreciate the ambition, even if the budget can’t match the imagination. Casual horror fans seeking jump scares or a clear resolution will likely exit frustrated. It Ends is a calling card for a filmmaker with a distinct voice—one that deserves a larger canvas next time.