Film: It Ends
Writer · Director · Editor: Alexander Ullom
Released: August 21, 2026 (USA)
Rating: R
Runtime: 1h 29m
Genre: Existential Road Horror
Distributor: NEON
Budget: Micro — reportedly ~$80,000
⚠️ Set Your Expectations: This Is Not a Jump-Scare Movie
It Ends is labelled horror, and it is — but existential horror, not the kind with things leaping out of the dark. One critic put it plainly: there are no real jump scares or violence, and much of the film is four friends sitting in a car, waiting, talking and arguing.
If that sounds like your kind of film, it’s one of the year’s best. If you’re expecting a monster movie, the audience scores suggest you’ll be frustrated — and that gap is the single most useful thing to know before you watch.
HorrorExistentialRoad MovieMysterySlow BurnIndieMicro-BudgetTwilight ZoneComing of AgeDebut FeatureCharacter DramaNEON
93%Rotten Tomatoes
5.7IMDb
59%Fandango
3.5/4RogerEbert.com
1h 29mRuntime
🛣️ Know this first: look at the gap between those scores. Critics give It Ends 93%. General audiences give it 5.7 on IMDb and 59% on Fandango. That’s not a film people are split on randomly — it’s a film that rewards a very particular kind of viewer, and this review is mostly about helping you work out if that’s you.
⚖️ Why Critics and Audiences Disagree So Sharply
A gap that wide usually means one thing: the film being marketed isn’t quite the film people are sitting down to watch.
On paper, It Ends is a horror premise. Four friends on a late-night food run take a wrong turn onto an infinite two-lane road, with otherworldly terrors somewhere beyond the treeline and no way off. That sounds like a creature feature.
In practice, the terror is mostly existential. The film spends its time inside the Jeep — with the friends’ arguments, their silences, their slowly fraying plans. RogerEbert.com’s review describes a film built on sitting and waiting rather than on scares, and still awards it 3.5 out of 4. The Los Angeles Times framed it as bringing the Backrooms into the backwoods.
Critics largely came for exactly that. Many general viewers came for a horror movie and got a hangout drama with a cosmic dread underneath. Both reactions are understandable — they’re just responses to different expectations.
One last drive before everyone goes their separate ways
Four recent graduates, one Jeep, and a road that doesn’t end. The metaphor isn’t subtle, and it isn’t meant to be.
It Ends is the debut feature from Alexander Ullom, who wrote, directed and edited it, released in US theatres on August 21 by NEON. A group of recent graduates head out for one last late-night food run before their lives pull them in different directions — and turn onto a road that simply never ends.
Our verdict: It Ends is one of the most quietly affecting horror films of the year, and a genuine micro-budget miracle — but it will only land if you meet it on its own terms.
The Road as a Metaphor
The premise is Twilight Zone-simple, and deliberately so. What makes it resonate is what the road stands for. These are four people on the edge of adulthood, at the exact moment when the future is supposed to open up — and instead they find themselves on a highway with no exits, no destination, and no way of knowing where it goes.
One reviewer made the point well: you can watch It Ends purely as a mystery, collecting clues about what’s happening. But it’s best when you engage with it emotionally — as a film about what it feels like to be young now, when life can seem like an infinite road with very little opportunity along it, and eventually you have to accept something about that.
🚙 The Jeep
Almost the entire film. A cramped, confined space that becomes the characters’ whole world.
🌲 The Treeline
Where the horror lives — beyond reach, rarely seen, always present.
🛣️ The Choice
Accept their new existence, or keep fighting to escape it.
🎓 The Subtext
Post-graduation drift, and the fear of a future with nowhere to turn off.
Four Friends Who Feel Like Four Friends
🎭 The Performances Carry Everything
In a film that spends almost all its time in one vehicle, the cast has nowhere to hide — and they’re consistently singled out as the film’s greatest strength.
Phinehas Yoon (James), Akira Jackson (Day), Noah Toth (Fisher) and Mitchell Cole (Tyler) are convincing as people who’ve known each other for years. When they bond, you believe it. When they fight, you believe that too.
The dialogue editing deserves particular credit. In the big arguments, they talk over each other — sometimes to the point where you can’t entirely follow what’s being said, because they’re shouting. It’s a risky choice, and it works: it sounds like real friends having a real fight, not actors taking turns.
James is the quiet centre. Over the course of the film he’s clearly struggling with something, and the film lets you work out what gradually rather than announcing it — which is where much of the emotional payoff comes from.
An $80,000 Miracle
💰 The Budget Is Part of the Story
It Ends was reportedly made for around $80,000. For context, that’s a rounding error on most studio catering budgets — and the film is now in theatres through NEON, one of the most respected distributors in the business.
It didn’t arrive easily. Ullom worked on it for a long time, reportedly shooting different versions and finding financing in stages, adding to the film as money became available. As one reviewer observed, the making of the film must have felt like an infinite highway of its own.
That’s why a number of critics describe it as inspiring in a very specific way. It’s the kind of film that makes aspiring filmmakers think: this is achievable. Great acting, sharp dialogue, one location, one strong idea — and no reliance on anything that costs money. One reviewer compared the feeling to first seeing Primer.
It also means you should not expect set pieces or visual effects. The film’s power comes from what it does with almost nothing.
What the Critics Said
📰 A Broad and Mostly Glowing Consensus
• The Guardian ranked it among the year’s best, calling the micro-budget horror gripping
• The New York Times described a taut, efficient thriller that delivers real existential dread
• The Los Angeles Times called it inventive and inspiring — the Backrooms, relocated to the backwoods
• RogerEbert.com gave it 3.5 out of 4, while noting it’s built on waiting rather than jump scares or violence
• IGN found it genuinely scary, with characters who grow on you and some self-aware, probing questions
The dissenting note came from IndieWire, which called it promising but underdeveloped — a fair counterpoint that echoes what many general viewers seem to feel about the mystery elements.
The Ending
No spoilers here, but it’s worth saying this much: the ending has been described as beautiful, strangely hopeful, and far less bleak than you’d expect from a film with this premise and this title.
That’s a significant part of why it stays with people. A film about being trapped could easily end in despair. It Ends seems more interested in what acceptance might look like — which is a much more generous note for a film aimed squarely at a generation that often feels stuck.
Where to Watch
🎟️ Theatres and Digital
It Ends opened in US theatres on August 21 via NEON, and is also available to rent or buy digitally — with listings on Apple TV and NEON’s own platform.
If you can still catch it on a big screen, reviewers recommend it — a one-location film about confinement plays very differently when you can’t pause it. But at 89 minutes, it’s an easy rental too.
Rated R. Expect strong language and intense existential dread, rather than graphic violence.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
| The Good |
The Bad |
The Ugly |
| A Cast That Feels RealFour actors who genuinely seem like old friends, with overlapping, shouted arguments that sound like real fights. In a one-location film, that’s everything, and they deliver it. |
The Mystery May Not SatisfyIndieWire called it underdeveloped, and many viewers seem to agree. If you’re watching for answers about what the road actually is, you may leave wanting more. |
Marketed as Horror, Built as DramaThe horror label and premise promise one kind of film; the experience is mostly four people in a car. The 93% critics / 5.7 IMDb split is what happens when expectations and reality don’t meet. |
| A Metaphor That LandsAn infinite road with no exits, for four people at the moment their future should be opening up. It’s not subtle, and it’s all the more affecting for it. |
Deliberately SlowBuilt on sitting, waiting and talking. That’s the point — but it asks for patience that not every viewer will want to give. |
Dialogue You Can’t Always FollowThe overlapping arguments are a strength for realism, but occasionally you genuinely can’t make out what’s being said. A deliberate trade-off, and not everyone will enjoy it. |
| A Micro-Budget MiracleReportedly around $80,000, written, directed and edited by a debut filmmaker, and released by NEON. Few recent films prove so clearly how far talent can stretch almost no money. |
No SpectacleDon’t go in expecting set pieces or visual effects. The budget shows in what the film chooses not to attempt. |
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| A Surprisingly Hopeful EndingBeautiful, generous and far less bleak than the title suggests — which is what makes the whole journey feel worthwhile. |
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The Verdict
It Ends is exactly the kind of film that falls through the cracks of a scoring system. The 93% is real. So is the 5.7. Both are honest reactions to a film that promises horror and delivers something closer to an existential chamber piece, set inside a Jeep, about the terror of a future with no turn-offs.
If you meet it on those terms, it’s remarkable. The performances feel lived-in, the dialogue sounds like real friendship under real strain, and the central metaphor hits hard precisely because it’s so plain. And the ending — the part that turns a film about being trapped into something closer to a film about acceptance — is where it earns its reputation.
That it was made for a reported $80,000 by a first-time filmmaker, and ended up in theatres through NEON, is its own kind of story. It’s the sort of film that makes people want to go and make films.
The honest read: if you love slow, character-driven, Twilight Zone-style dread, don’t miss it. If you want scares, creatures and answers, you’ll likely find it frustrating — and you’ll be in plenty of company. Know which viewer you are before you press play.
For more reviews, check out our full reviews section.
Score Breakdown
Achievement for Budget9.5/10
Performances & Chemistry9.0/10
Dialogue & Naturalism8.5/10
Traditional Horror Scares5.0/10
Final Score
8.0/10
It Ends — Dir. Alexander Ullom
A road with no exits, and a film that knows exactly where it’s going
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