In the beginning there is the fear of the unknown and the thunk of a package. This is where “The Endless,” an indie, sci-fi thriller, picks its story up: Justin and Aaron (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, respectively, who also wrote and directed the film) are brothers who have escaped a “UFO death cult” and their lives are going nowhere fast. They can’t make friends, can’t find girls, can’t hold jobs, can’t pay their bills — can’t shake the shadow of the cult that defined the early part of their lives.
Until the package arrives, with bizarre footage of the members that prompts Aaron to return to the “commune,” as he affectionately calls it, and drags Justin along with him. All of this is preceded by two quotes at the top of the film. The first from H.P. Lovecraft ominously warns, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
And so “The Endless” heads into the frying pan, pushing buttons of nostalgia, connection, and control over one’s life as a mechanisms to act out a distinctive and ambitious sci-fi thriller.
“The Endless” feels reminiscent of recent low-budget thrillers like “Primer” or “The Invitation” with quick cuts that seem to avert the eyes of the viewer from something before they can even get a sense of what. All they have is a mounting feel of unease, and an acute understanding of vulnerability. This feeling can sometimes be undercut by shakey dialogue and characterization, but writing woes ultimately don’t rob the film of the peculiar twists, turns, and upped antes.
What it lacks in high-budget flash it makes up for in plot turns that show the two brothers how eerie and maddening Camp Arcadia, the site of their return, can be. It’s not that “The Endless” makes grappling with abstract concepts like the unknown look easy, but it keeps a viewer on their toes. Though it can suffer from that instinct to tell and not show, when it is showing it’s a spectacle to behold. The film refuses to neatly settle into any one thing, always bobbing when you think you see a weave coming.
It’s not just that the events they encounter in their first day at the camp are inexplicable. It’s that there’s something so bizarre and unnerving about them in a way that doesn’t add up to, well, anything, by logical explanation. For much of the film it doesn’t feel like Benson and Moorhead have a rhythm to settle into, and that feels by design; moments stop and slow, rush and repeat in ways that feel beyond the viewer’s reach (but in a way that would likely reward repeat viewings). Aided by a baleful score that similarly starts and stops, the whole thing gently mounts the same unease and confusion that Justin and Aaron are feeling.
This isn’t to say that the film isn’t weighted by the typical things that haunt an indie (especially an indie sci-fi); there’s the aforementioned script issues, and the graphics can sometimes leave something to be desired, and mind-bending abilities will depend on the viewer. But it’s a film of (sorry) endless ideas, and it has a more solid framework than a lot of indies out there because it knows where it’s heart is. It’s somewhere between Lovecraft and the second quote on screen, credited to an unknown author: “Friends tell each other how they feel with relative frequency. Siblings wait for a more convenient time, like their deathbeds.”
“The Endless” opens April 27 at SIFF Cinema Uptown (511 Queen Anne Ave. N.), with a question and answer session with Benson and Moorhead after the 6:30 and 9:15 p.m. screenings.