Endless is not a movie about time loops and the definition of insanity. It is a movie about moving on with things. Given my mental state over the past few days, this message was not lost on me.

Complaining about a lack of vegetables and good food starts us off. One brother looks at the past through rose colored lenses, while the older and more grounded one sees the darker side, noting that they were part of U.F.O. cult that was preparing to commit group suicide. After some talking, they decide to go back and visit for one day, staying ovenight and leaving the morning. This stretched out to a second day.

The cult itself isn’t ominous. Dressed plainly and nice – they’re more like family than anything else. Which is one of the points in this movie: family is the people that will always take you in when you’re cold and hungry. No one here holds their defection over their heads. No one shuns them – in one scene that is rather remarkable and a sign of creepiness to come – they try to get the brothers to participate in a tug-of-war with…something in the darkness. When they do, the realize that there might have been something to the beliefs of the community.

The theme of breaking out of being stuck was everywhere. The stage magician working on a new trick, the cute clothes maker showing her new patterns, everyone was trying to do something a little different, but nothing seemed to work. It’s not that they were doing anything other than what they did before, and they knew it. That theme plays out everywhere. The comically frustrated suicide tries to end his life in a different way, only to realize that he’s back at the beginning of his loop.

The brothers manage to break out of the cycle, and make some heart felt confessions in the process. Whereas some films would have the cult cursing that their prey had escaped, or set up machinations so that the brothers were the key only to escape. Instead, the cult leader seems to wish them well in the end. This movie tries very hard to not take the easy way out.

While this is a good film, and certainly one I will watch again (I apologize, but I’ve been distracted as of late). This is a good and deep sci-fi film that should be carefully watched.