The phrase “horror hangout movie” gives me pause. That’s how Alex Ullom’s feature debut, It Ends, is described—a horror movie, but not a full-bore, James Wan or Wes Craven horror movie. In subgenre terms, it’s a rambling road-tripper like Jeremy Gardner’s The Battery or Fabrice Canepa and Jean-Baptiste Andrea’s Dead End. Ullom’s ponderous existential thriller traps viewers in the same unknown peril as the characters, never desiring to shed further light. Conversations and open-ended questions are more prominent than jump scares or groundbreaking reveals, which execute a specific brand of Gen Z mindfuck that reaches the finish line without breaking down.
What Is ‘It Ends’ About?

Image via SXSW

Four friends travel home after college: ex-military driver Tyler (Mitchell Cole), pragmatic obsessive James (Phinehas Yoon), chill realist Day, (Akira Jackson), and funny guy Fisher (Noah Toth). They turn down a shadowy, tree-lined road as per directions but are engulfed by isolation for a long while. Tyler says he didn’t miss a turn or take one, which seems impossible. Then, out of nowhere, Tyler almost crashes into what appears to be a forest barrier. The car screeches to a halt, the friends take a beat—then they’re surrounded by frantic people screaming “Help me!” as they beat against the vehicle’s exterior. The group guns it in reverse, speeds away, and begins their journey down a pavement trail with no end.
Ullom’s story asks a lot from its audience—he wants you not to overthink. It Ends thrives on its ambiguity and feeds off precious anxieties about everyday life. At its simplest, the movie is a metaphor for death—we’re driving forward with no idea where we’re headed and no clue why we’re even alive. The succession of events that escalate and deescalate during It Ends aren’t wholly explained because that’s not reality. Ullom’s not the first filmmaker to attempt such a vibes-forward approach to theoretical horrors, but he’s undoubtedly one of the successful examples. Fears of the unknown are most prevalent, fueling the story’s narrative.
The quartet of young performers is the anchor of It Ends because their dialogue is the focal driver. Personalities clash as wheels forever rotate, leading to breaking points, but their chumminess provides levity. James’ engineering brain can’t stop treating their supernatural scenario like an equation to solve while Fisher tries to jokily reduce stress. Tyler’s strong and silent type worries his companions because he’s last to open himself, while Day’s honesty causes momentary distress as the friends realize they’ve drifted apart. Ullom’s conducting a social experiment by subjecting characters to nebulous threats without reason, seeing how far they’ll flee before succumbing to each other’s outbursts or environmental despair.

Image via SXSW

As for scares, there’s an intensity like 28 Days Later hordes are always in pursuit—but they’re not zombies, they’re like hypnotized or brainwashed survivors. All the young adults know is howling maniacs want their car, they stop getting hungry, and gas no longer depletes. The cycle continues as Tyler and James try to investigate surrounding territories before their enemies reappear, but tension relies heavily on mortal allegories. It’s less frightening and more unsettling, but even that, It Ends is calibrated for metaphor-starved genre fans. Ullom’s presentation is what certain demographics might dub “horror adjacent” since psychological jabs hit hardest.
Cinematographers Evan Draper and Jazleana Jones exploit the claustrophobia of a four-wheel setting while capturing the vast nothingness of the surrounding forests. Composer Matthew Robert Cooper provides a compatible soundtrack for all occasions, whether heightening intensity during attacks or setting the mood during downtime. It Ends is persistently minimal as intended, relying on technique and performances, but some lulls are present. The players are organic as goofballs who kill infinite time creating memes about their doomsday or asking each other bizarre hypothetical questions, but the indeterminate, random rules can become a distraction. Your investment will vary based on how interesting you find dialogue-driven thrillers, especially ones that demand you come along for an adventure without a guide or roadmap.
Ultimately, It Ends is a winning experiment that treads lightly regarding horror influences. Ullom’s head-on collision between hope and fate is a calamitous display, running on the pains of existence. Kudos to all the actors because the air in that car could turn stale quickly with banter at a premium. Instead, It Ends takes viewers for a terrifying ride in unexpected ways. Who needs monsters or slasher villains when life’s impermanence is scary enough?

It Ends

It Ends is an existential road trip into oblivion that manipulates ambiguity mainly for the better, driving toward nothingness in this heady supernatural mystery.

Release Date

March 7, 2025

Runtime

87 minutes

Director

Alexander Ullom

Writers

Alexander Ullom

Pros & Cons

The small ensemble has excellent chemistry.
For those into ponderous horror, you?re in luck.
The dread is there, thick enough to choke on.

Asks more questions than it wants to answer.
Has an inevitability that might lower stakes for some.
The horrors are real, but handled in a way that will land incredibly short for some.