The 2026 awards season is shaping up to be a groundbreaking slate that promises to reward master artists overdue for Oscar consideration, such as Paul Thomas Anderson‘s remarkable vision on One Battle After Another and Stellan Skarsgård‘s profound performance in Sentimental Value. On the flip side, newcomers like Chase Infiniti of OBAA fame have been minted as the next generation’s breakthrough talent in the industry. In between these two pillars is the crop of stars like Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons, who are both rightfully being anointed as two of the finest actors of their generation for their equally striking performances in Hamnet and Bugonia, respectively.

Before being vaulted into Oscar consideration, the pair of Jessie and Jesse starred together in an audacious, auteur-driven film that failed to generate awards buzz, but they nonetheless cemented their status as gifted actors. I’m Thinking of Ending Things, the latest arthouse experiment from Charlie Kaufman, will leave you perplexed on first watch, but there is no denying the triumph of its leading performances.

‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ is a Showcase for Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons

Released during the doldrums of the cinematic landscape in 2020 (or any industry for that matter), I’m Thinking of Ending Things was not the kind of uplifting, energizing movie audiences could’ve latched on to while trapped in their homes. On top of that, the film’s permanent residence in Netflix’s library struggles to give it any prominence in the culture. However, these elements enhance the sheer peculiarity and mystery of Kaufman’s third feature effort as director, which follows an unnamed woman (Buckley) traveling with her new boyfriend, Jake (Plemons), to his parents’ secluded farm, played by Toni Collette and David Thewlis. In a premise familiar to the setup of many elevated horror films, she finds herself trapped in this eerie setting and begins questioning everything she thought she knew about Jake, herself, and the surrounding world.

There’s a lot to process (or nothing at all, depending on how you consume abstract art) in the film, but viewers can latch on to the brilliance of Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons, who bring their full repertoire as performers to the screen, embracing the labyrinthine nature of Kaufman’s script. Buckley, the likely favorite to win Best Actress at this year’s Oscars ceremony for her metaphorical interpretation of William Shakespeare‘s wife in Hamnet, demonstrated her ability to convey the agony of repressed emotions in I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Evidenced by her lack of a name, the young woman is overwhelmed by her overbearing thought process, trying to distinguish reality from fantasy, and you feel as though she isn’t in touch with herself.

Plemons’ special trait as an actor is his effortlessness in playing deeply troubled and intricately constructed characters. In Bugonia, his character should be over-the-top, but Plemons never tries to dominate the scene and approaches all his lines like an unfussy character actor. In Ending Things, the actor allows the viewer to think he’s hiding something for protection from something nefarious, but he’s just so unassuming that he grows on you. In the end, however, Plemons channels a sinister dread that would be further explored by Yorgos Lanthimos.

Charlie Kaufman’s Exploration of Reality in ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ is a Cryptic Odyssey

Calling a Charlie Kaufman film cryptic and mind-bending is redundant, but I’m Thinking of Ending Things makes Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Synecdoche, New York look like chamber dramas. While the film’s burial in Netflix’s vast library is unfortunate, it does speak to how non-commercial the film truly is, as only tech companies with unlimited money are funding these grand auteurist visions these days. Upon release, Ending Things received some slack for seeming self-indulgent and an unrestrained portrait of Kaufman’s navel-gazing commentary on the woes of being an artist, but the film is much more in on the joke than anyone wants to believe. Filled with pitch-black humor and inexplicable narrative detours (none more chaotic than a scene where a janitor watches a fake cheesy rom-com directed by, of all people, Robert Zemeckis), Kaufman’s psychological drama has a mind of its own that never holds your hand, but it implores you to dive headfirst into its mind.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things is designed to only be appreciated on a second watch. The cold and distant tone of the film is a feature, not a bug, and its inaccessible nature on initial watch becomes endlessly fascinating on repeat viewing. Charlie Kaufman’s latest exploration of the human soul, imbued with a self-deprecation of his ostentatious film language, starts with questions and only leaves you asking more questions, but that’s what everyday life often feels like.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things is now streaming on Netflix in the U.S.