The acclaimed The Endless is an absolute must watch for Lovecraft fans. Making movies out of H.P. Lovecraft’s stories is uniquely challenging for a few reasons. Most of his famous tales are very short, he refuses to describe the creatures haunting his protagonists, and they’re mostly very, VERY bleak.
Still, there are Lovecraftian movies like John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness or Annihilation that nail the author’s sense of dread and cosmic horror. Another entry to that genre came with 2018’s The Endless, from directing duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead.
This sees two brothers and former members (played by Benson and Moorhead themselves) of a “UFO” death cult returning to their camp a decade later, and discovering a dark secret. The movie wasn’t a major hit back in 2018, but it received critical acclaim, nabbing 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Endless Is An Overlooked Horror Gem
The Endless is endlessly rewatchable
I honestly wasn’t the biggest fan of The Endless when I first saw it, as I didn’t quite get on its wavelength. Upon multiple rewatches, I think it’s one of the most creative and inventive horror movies of the 2010s. It starts as something of a dark comedy, before slowly unfurling the cosmic horror lurking behind Camp Arcadia.
The Endless isn’t a jump scare machine that prods viewers with sudden jolts; instead, it’s a slow-burn ride filled with incredible ideas and an ever-increasing sense of dread. Despite being so acclaimed, it’s a shame The Endless doesn’t seem to get mentioned much anymore.
The Endless has earned its cult following, though it’s still in need of more love…
The story turns time itself into a weapon and the ultimate source of horror, as a mysterious enтιтy uses time loops to torment its victims. The most horrifying instance of this is an unnamed man the heroes encounter, who is doomed to exist in an endless five-second loop he can never escape.
That’s just one of many creative concepts in a movie littered with them, while Benson and Moorhead make for surprisingly compelling leads. The film has earned its cult following, though it’s still in need of more love.
The Endless Is Perfect For Fans Of Lovecraft
The deity itself could have come out of a Lovecraft story
On one hand, The Endless is too humanistic to have ever come from Lovecraft’s pen, but the film is undeniably inspired by his work. First of all, there’s the unseen monster causing the time loops, which impᴀssively observes the pain of its trapped victims, which is a very Lovecraftian notion.
James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring) is set to adapt H.P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu as his next movie.
The movie has a creepy meta quality too, since rewatching it is essentially condemning the brothers to live through another time loop. The Endless also explores the nature of storytelling itself, including the audience’s need for a neat resolution and why people are compelled to return to a story they love too.
The Endless has plenty of Lovecraftian nods too, from mention of an “impossible color,” an homage to Lovecraft’s The Color Out of Space, to its refusal to actually show the monster. The movie is a horror treat, and genre fans must check it out at least once – or torment the leads further via endless rewatches.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
