At the beginning of the year, we reported that Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman was set to adapt the book I’m Thinking of Ending Things for Netflix. Based on Iain Reid’s novel, the story “centers on Jake, who is on a road trip to meet his parents on their secluded farm with his girlfriend, who is thinking of ending things. When Jake makes an unexpected detour leaving her stranded, a twisted mix of palpable tension, psychological frailty and sheer terror ensues.” Now Deadline reports that Brie Larson is set to play the girlfriend.

Based on the description, it looks like Kaufman is going to a level of thriller/horror he hasn’t reached before, but of course, Kaufman’s work tends to defy simply explanation. It would be easy to describe Anomalisa as a stop-motion animated comedy, but that would be to neglect how deeply sad and melancholy the whole movie is. I expect that sadness will permeate I’m Thinking of Ending Things as well, but I’m curious to see what Kaufman will do with the freedom Netflix tends to afford its directors

As for Larson, she’ll next be seen in Captain Marvel and Avengers 4. She’s also signed on to star opposite Michael B. Jordan in Just Mercy, which will reteam her with her Short Term 12 and The Glass Castle director Destin Daniel Cretton.

Here’s the synopsis for Iain Reid’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things:

I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It’s always there. Always.

 

Jake once said, “Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.”

 

And here’s what I’m thinking: I don’t want to be here.

 

In this “dark and compelling…unputdownable” (Booklist, starred review) literary thriller, debut novelist Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Reminiscent of Jose Saramago’s early work, Michel Faber’s cult classic Under the Skin, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is an edgy, haunting debut. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, this novel “packs a big psychological punch with a twisty story line and an ending that will leave readers breathless” (Library Journal, starred review).