It Ends — It Ends(VOD/ Blu Ray)

It Ends (2025) is an American existential thriller written and directed by Alexander Ullom, whose feature debut premiered at SXSW in 2025. Mitchell Cole (Against the Spread) stars as Tyler, with Akira Jackson (Against the Spread, Urban Flesh Easters) as Day, Noah Toth (Ojai, Senior Prank) as Fisher and Phinehas Yoon (One True Loves) as James

Four friends set out on a late-night drive for one last hangout before adulthood pulls them apart. A wrong turn leaves them on an endless highway, where reality starts to come apart and something beyond their understanding is waiting.

The film opens well. The visuals are crisp and clear but still dark, which makes everything feel that little bit more eerie. We meet the four friends on their trip, and they spend the first stretch bickering and moaning about their lives and how they have nothing to look forward to. Gen Z gets a bit of a battering here.

They’re chatting away when they hit what looks like a dead end. The chatter stops, the wheels screech, and I jumped. They’re only there for a minute or so, trying to work out what went wrong, while Tyler insists he didn’t miss the turn. Then a group of people (or something resembling people) attacks them. Some get bitten; they get away and drive off, but just when they think they’ve lost them, they pull over and are attacked again! With only a quarter of a tank of fuel left, they have to work together to find a way out of this very strange situation.

This is where things begin to change. Their friendship starts to repair itself. Until now, not even half an hour in, they’ve been miserable, unexcited and without any real purpose. They haven’t appreciated what they have, only moaned about it. They start doing some soul-searching while a fairly mild version of The Walking Dead plays out around them. As the journey goes on, the reason behind it all becomes clearer. It’s about purpose, the choices we make and the roads we take in life.

I wish more had happened at times, and I was expecting more action. Parts of the story feel like they’re holding back, and I wanted a bit more on that endless stretch of road. But by the end, I understood why it didn’t need to be that kind of film. The metaphor is clever, and for a feature debut I thought Ullom handled it well.

I especially loved one of the final scenes, when James reaches where he’s heading. It made the whole journey make sense to me. I think I’ll watch this a few times, not because I loved every minute, but because I suspect I’ll pick up a little more each time.

It Ends is an existential thriller with a little less action than expected, but it stays in its lane the whole way through. It’s moody, the acting is great, and the message comes across clearly. Although I wanted a little more adrenaline, I still came away with more to think about than I expected. I am going in at a strong three stars.