Netflix has become the go-to American studio for creative freedom and auteur-driven cinema. It’s not even a debate anymore. The studio system has become a cinematic cesspool of formulaic drivel. Netflix isn’t destroying cinema, rather, it’s actually saving it. Just look at the directors who decided to bring their passion projects to the streaming giant these last 5 years: Scorsese, Coen, Fincher, Soderbergh, Cuaron, Baumbach, Lee, and Bong. And now, the latest marquee name you can add to that list is Charlie Kaufman.
Today, Netflix released the trailer for Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” which will be released on September 4th. Written and directed by Kaufman, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” is based on Ian Reid’s novel of the same name, and is being described as a psychological thriller about a young couple in an isolated farmhouse.
“I was looking for something that somebody would let me direct and it’s easier to get something made if it’s based on a book, or a comic book, or a movie that’s already existed,” Kaufman told the Wall Street Journal. “The producer I work with happened to have a deal with Netflix. I don’t know that Netflix knew going in that I was going to make it into something that was less of a thriller than the book, and I don’t think I knew that either. The book is leading you to a reveal, and I felt like that might be obvious and disappointing in the movie. Things are more mysterious in words than they are in images.”
Kaufman then went on to note how, despite his critically-acclaimed films, ranging from 2008’s “Synecdoche, New York” to 2015’s “Anomalisa,” he couldn’t find sufficient funding to make “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” that is until Netflix reached out to help.
“I could play around and experiment, but the business has changed enormously, and it all happened around 2008 when studios stopped making movies and started making tentpoles,” said Kaufman. “The reason something like Netflix attracts filmmakers is because there’s nowhere else to make those things. It’s infuriating to me when people say Netflix is ruining movies because—no, movies ruined movies, studios ruined movies, and that’s the truth.”
Here’s the official synopsis:
Despite second thoughts about their relationship, a young woman (Jessie Buckley) takes a road trip with her new boyfriend (Jesse Plemons) to his family farm. Trapped at the farm during a snowstorm with Jake’s mother (Toni Collette) and father (David Thewlis), the young woman begins to question the nature of everything she knew or understood about her boyfriend, herself, and the world. An exploration of regret, longing and the fragility of the human spirit, I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS is directed and written by Academy Award® winner Charlie Kaufman (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND). Inspired by Iain Reid’s bestselling namesake novel.
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