I’m Thinking Of Ending Things: The 10 Best Theories About Netflix’s Surreal Movie

Netflix’s I’m Thinking Of Ending Things wowed audiences and critics alike this year with its complex characters, and plot twists, adding to writer-director Charlie Kaufman’s eccentric style of representing solitude and introspection in his films. (SPOILER) Initially, viewers are supposed to think that the psychological horror’s end would join all the dots, but it’s the ending from where the real questions begin.

Starring Jesse Plemons and Jesse Buckley as Jake and his girlfriend Young Woman (whose name keeps on changing), the film alternates between their visit to Jake’s parents’ house as well as the day-to-day life of a janitor. Needless to say, this list would be filled with spoilers from the film.

10 The Young Woman Is The Janitor’s Old Crush

Even though most of the characters are imaginary, they are dramatic manifestations of people that the Janitor actually encountered. As explained in Iain Reid’s original novel, the Janitor had once seen a young girl a long time ago. He wished to introduce himself to her but could never really make a move. This infatuation lives on with him till his old age, in the form of the Young Woman.

In Charlie Kaufman’s script, there’s a scene towards the end when the Young Woman asks the Janitor if he can remember a mosquito that bit him decades ago. This can be seen as an allegory to the Janitor’s youthful encounter from the past.

9 The Movie Is About Accepting Death

The appearance of the maggot-infested pig might be a symbol of the incoming peace before death. The Janitor has finally come to terms with an alternate reality that he had built inside his mind. After a panic-ridden episode inside his car, he seems to accept death. This might explain why he calmly strips naked and follows the animated pig who talks in an ascetic tone, giving allegories on suffering.

From the start, Jake (aka the Janitor) reveals his childhood fear of seeing that pig with maggots on its stomach in his parents’ farm. This ending confrontation has made him accept his fears and the pig doesn’t bother him anymore.

8 The Pig & The Voice On The Phone Are The Same

It’s obvious towards the end that most of the characters were figments of the Janitor’s imagination. Still, there are two characters that are of surreal nature and viewers are still wary about them. This includes the aforementioned animated pig and the voice on the Young Woman’s phone.

The Young Woman often gets abrupt calls from some contacts that she doesn’t wish to pick up. When she finally does, there’s a voice spewing ‘well-worded nonsense’ at her. Who was this speaker, and why were his words troubling the Young Woman (or the Janitor)? Was it symbolic of the Janitor’s dull real life or a fear from the past? The answer might be the latter, as Oliver Platt voiced both the caller and the pig.

7 Jake Won A Science-Related Nobel Prize

While it’s clear that an aged Jake (in what seems to be a final fantasy of the Janitor) won a Nobel Prize in the end, the category in which he won is not revealed. Some might suggest that he was awarded in the field of Economics for the reason he delivers the speech by John Nash from A Beautiful Mind. Portrayed by Russel Crowe, Nash was a mathematician who won the Economics Nobel Prize for his work on game theory.

Another possibility is that Jake might have won for Physics. As many are suggesting that the Young Woman was just another manifestation of Jake’s personality, it’s possible that Jake shared a passion for the sciences too. This can be seen from the books in his childhood room as well as the fact that the Young Woman was revealed to be a physicist in the beginning.

6 Jake Looked Up To John Nash

It’s possible that the Janitor connected to John Nash because he was a misunderstood genius. Despite his visionary work, Nash was always seen as eccentric since his college days and later struggled with schizophrenia.

Maybe, the Janitor saw him as an inspirational role model to fight all odds as the ending Nobel Prize speech is from the Ron Howard biopic’s end. In fact, in Jake’s childhood bedroom, we do see a DVD of the film. But considering that the Janitor is quite aged and A Beautiful Mind was released in 2001, maybe the ‘childhood room’ wasn’t really his actual childhood room but a representation of it.

5 The Movie Is An (Indirect) Adaptation Of ‘Ice’

When the couple gets down to get ice-cream in the middle of a snowstorm, Jake tells his girlfriend about Anna Kavan’s novel Ice. Those with an eye for detail might notice a copy of Ice to lie in Jake’s childhood room. What’s interesting to note is that the sci-fi novel shares some similarities with the film’s story.

Ice deals with a male protagonist who braves an icy dystopia to meet the girl he’s infatuated with. The girl (just like the Young Woman) is never revealed to have a name and most of her descriptions are based on the hero’s fantasies. Much like Kaufman’s script, this novel too was seen to have a ‘virtually pointless’ plot.

4 Jake’s Telepathy Foreshadows The Final Reveal

As the film opens with a long car ride, the Young Woman is rambling to herself about the uncertainty of her relationship. Whenever she thinks ‘I’m thinking of ending things’, Jake seems to telepathically hear her and constantly asks her if she said something.

This is one of the film’s many instances of foreshadowing the big reveal. Since both lovers are the Janitor’s mental creations, it’s evident that he can hear both of their inner thoughts.

3 Jake’s Parents Are Already Dead

In the book, the parents are minor characters who are revealed to have died a long time ago, which was foreshadowed with the parents aging over the course of one night. Jake’s father often refers to his mother in the past tense when she’s shown to be literally beside him. Similarly, the dog’s ashes are shown in Jake’s childhood room even when the Young Woman encounters the dog.

This just points to the possibility that the parents and the dog are already long gone and this unexpected time-traveling encounter was the Janitor’s final confrontation with the memory of his loved ones.

2 The Young Woman Is The Janitor’s Manic Pixie Dream Girl

While Jake’s love interest might be inspired by a real-life woman as is implied by the novel, the Janitor also seems to have created his ideal love interest based on pop culture. The woman’s name keeps on changing from Lucy to Amy, and so does her profession.

At one point, Jake and his father discuss  how the Young Woman was once a waitress who served him a burger. This is similar to the Robert Zemeckis rom-com that the Janitor watches in one scene. It’s possible that the Janitor created his own ‘manic pixie dream girl,’ giving her traits from the literature and cinema he consumes.

1 The Janitor Is Thinking Of Ending His Life & Relationships

The title of the film might imply ending several things. At the start, it might stand for the breakup of a relationship. In the end, it might point out to the Janitor’s suicide. Come to think of it, the ‘end of everything’ is a constant theme in the film.

Before the Janitor ends his life, he seems to be ending all ties that he had with his fantasy world. He finally accepts the death of his parents and his dog, and the fact that the girl of his dreams was never real. He even confronts his fears like the pig. Hence, the protagonist has ended a lot of things rather than just his life.

About The Author

Shaurya Thapa
(727 Articles Published)

Shaurya Thapa is an Indian freelance journalist who mostly dabbles in writings on cinema, music, and human interest features. When it comes to Screen Rant, he writes lists on a wide array of subjects ranging from international films to mainstream Netflix series and comic book trivia. He also hosts a podcast called ‘BhindiWire’, an Indian parody of IndieWire.

More From Shaurya Thapa