"I'm Going to End Things" is not a horror film that explicitly depicts the emotional state of the year 2020, but Netflix's intense drama (out today) is blessed with very creepy timing. Jesse Buckley ("Chernobyl," "Fargo") plays an unnamed young woman on the verge of breaking up with her significant other. Her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) is the only named character and seems like a nice guy. But after exchanging barely intelligent insults on a road trip to meet his parents, it becomes clear that neither of them value their partnership, despite the protagonist's insistence that it is unusual and profound. After an awkward dinner with her mother (Toni Collette) and father (David Souris), the narrative takes an unexpected turn. Suddenly, the only thing she can remember is her relationships. Her studies, hobbies, and even her real name have all disappeared.

This twisty, hard-to-summarize tale is directed by Charlie Kaufman, loosely adapted from Ian Read's novel of the same name. Kaufman's previous films, including "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Being John Malkovich," have explored how relationships are shaped by surrealistic scenarios. He insists that disorienting audiences is not his goal, telling Variety, "I'm interested in giving a kind of emotional resonance and making people react in some way." But in I'm Thinking of Ending Things, it is difficult to discern whether the director is really saying that. This is because, while the film certainly gives the audience a lot to react to, it absolutely alters our sense of what's up and down through frightening storytelling tactics. (While haunted house and cutthroat movies function as a kind of therapy, giving the audience a safe place to relieve their anxiety (who hasn't felt strangely calm after watching a scary movie? (), in Kaufman's highly detailed world, watching zombies stagger across the screen can feel like a cheap reward. Sure, the film has creepy basements, jarring camera angles, and Toni Collette chewing up every landscape, but "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" doesn't have the liberating feel of a traditional horror film. Instead, the filmmaker forces us to live in a heightened state of anxiety, as if we are watching a film version of the incessant bad news of 2020.

The nonlinear storytelling of this Netflix film also feels relatable in a year when many people have lost their sense of time due to telecommuting and canceled events. As the night passes and reality is completely dismantled in the never-ending ride home, the protagonist struggles to find his identity while protecting his physical safety. (It is unclear whether "I'm thinking of ending it" is an invasive thought directed at his relationship with her or a suicidal desire.)

If this emotional downward spiral feels familiar, it is because we are living it. Through pandemics, economic crashes, civil unrest, several natural disasters, and the fear of more to come elections, the year 2020 continues to pierce the surrealist narrative. The message that accompanies this unprecedented era is powerful. We are expected to wear masks, wash our hands, donate to causes we believe in, protest on behalf of "Black Lives Matter," vote, stay productive at our day jobs, stay home and take care of our families, reinvest time to learn new skills, and find connection through our screens. No wonder our mental health has become unstable and normalcy feels like a loose concept. Our surge capacity is depleted and we operate in a state of emotional burnout that can lead to insomnia, depression, and even memory loss.

The film's exaggerated romp through common life experiences feels equally uncertain. Kaufman intentionally left a lot of narrative blanks, but current events train the audience to expect the worst: 2020 has been a winning year for memes that boil difficult ideas about the world into clickable jokes, but in "I'm Thinking About Putting an End to It," similar comedic There's no liberation from the macabre. Even the appearance of creepy cartoon characters and swoon-worthy dance numbers only relegate the story to darker territory.

Ultimately, the strength of "I'm Thinking About the End" is that it is never intended to be a complete story. Its quiet, unsettling conclusion offers no answers. Instead, the film does something more terrifying than show us the horror: it asks us to lean into it. Kaufman may not have intended to create a roadmap for understanding 2020, but his film gives audiences an unexpected gift. If we can have sympathy for the protagonist's complex journey into the unknown, perhaps we can have sympathy for ourselves as well.