The Endless

10^th October 2017 8.45pm at Vue West End
11^th October 2017 8.45pm at Rich Mix
15^th October 2017 6.00pm at Picturehouse Central

It can sometimes be difficult for a film to achieve that engaging status and finessed look when the budget is little to nothing, but this is not the case if Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are at the helm. Armed with just a scenic location, a talented cast and very minimal visual effects, the writing duo have created a feature that boasts a unique concept with a raging intensity that builds throughout.

The Endless opens with two quotes that ring with an ever growing poignant message, one about brotherhood, the other about fearing the unknown. Two brothers, aptly portrayed by Benson and Moorhead, are living average lives as cleaners. Their past is overshadowed by stories of how they once escaped the “death cult” that they part of many moons ago, and in protest to their now boring lives, they travel back to the camp to visit their old companions and to receive closure. What awaits them is a scenario all too familiar to them, but also a new supernatural element that they were too young to understand before.

In what is a fascinating movie with a captivating concept behind it, The Endless walks the line between a supernatural comedy and a heart-in-mouth horror. The lack of special effects in the film adds to the realism of the environment, making one think back to such classics as The Hills Have Eyes, in which it is the setting we almost fear the most. The barren, lonesome desert land in which they place themselves creates an unnerving atmosphere and adds to the ambiguity of the characters that inhabit the land. Chilling performances from Tate Ellington as clan leader Hal and Lew Temple as the mysterious Tim lead us to believe that the dangers in which Justin and Aaron find themselves trapped are more human than existential.

Through supernatural sound effects and visual lighting, fear is induced in the audience and a genuine amount of worry ensues for the safety of Justin and Aaron. It is, however, certainly the unworldly concept of the film that makes it such an intense experience. Using a concept rarely developed in modern cinema, the movie begins to click through the gears as it progresses and slowly reveals more and more to the audience about where Justin and Aaron are. In an overwhelmingly climactic ending, the viewer is a passenger along with the two brothers, and in an experience that will leave hearts racing, The Endless installs a magnificent fear and intensity right to the core.

Guy Lambert

The Endless does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews and interviews from our London Film Festival 2017 coverage here.

For further information about the festival visit the official BFI website here.

Watch the trailer for The Endless here: