Friends on a late-night food run become trapped on an infinite highway with otherworldly terrors lurking beyond. Confined in their vehicle, they must decide whether to accept their fate or attempt escape. A film by Alexander Ullom, starring Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, Mitchell Cole, Jon Linstad, Jenny Doyle, Ian Weir, and Alexander Ullom.
IT ENDS
Alexander Ullom
(2026)
Tyler (Mitchell Cole), Day (Akira Jackson), and Noah (Noah Toth) get together to help their friend James (Phinehas Yoon) move into his new apartment. They’re surprised by how little James actually owns. Since there was barely any heavy lifting, James jokingly asks his friends whether he still owes them the free meal he promised.
During a late-night drive in Tyler’s car to grab food, James and Fisher get into a heated debate over a hypothetical scenario: choosing two things to defend them while the remaining two try to kill them. The options are 50 hawks, 10,000 rats, 5 gorillas, or a guy with a gun.
When they cannot settle it, they drag Tyler into the argument. Tired of their bickering and wanting to end the conversation so he can keep his eyes on the road, Tyler simply goes with the hawks and gorillas.
Following the GPS, Tyler makes a right turn onto a backroad. After driving straight for a while, he asks Day if she is sure about the directions because he does not recognize the area. Day insists the GPS told them to keep going straight after the previous turn. Tyler argues they have been driving long enough that they should have reached the highway by now. Finding themselves still on a dark road, Tyler starts to feel like something is off.
Even though the rest of the group insists on trusting the GPS, Tyler senses something is wrong and makes a U-turn to retrace their route. Moments later, while scanning the dark road to see if he missed a turn he knows he did not pass, James suddenly yells in shock. Tyler slams on the brakes. Looming right in front of them is a forest, creating a completely impossible dead end where their clear path should have been.
Convinced they just missed a turn, James suggests that Tyler turn the car around once more. However, Tyler remains confident that he didn’t miss anything. He checks the GPS to confirm their location. Even though they are staring at a dead end, the digital arrow on the map shows an open road stretching out in both directions.
Tyler steps out of the car to investigate the mysterious forest. James follows him and peers into the dark, spotting three figures moving toward him. Before he can react, a frantic crowd bursts from the woods.
They surround the vehicle, bashing the exterior and screaming to get in. Fisher is grabbed by several people who attempt to drag him out through a rolled-down window.
Meanwhile, in the forest, Tyler stumbles upon more people crawling on the ground, with some slowly rising to their feet as if just awakened from a slumber.
In the chaos, Tyler and James cannot get back to the car, which is now completely swarmed by strangers from the forest. Tyler screams for Day to run as he and James flee on foot.
Terrified, Day climbs into the driver’s seat, throws the vehicle into reverse, and slams the gas to break free from the crowd. She stops down the road to scoop up Tyler and James before speeding away.
Fisher suffers multiple scratches from the people who tried to drag him through the window. Tyler points out that the frantic crowd was not working together, having seen them attack one another in the chaos. They all seemed terrified, acting as if they were running away from something.
As the group tries to process what just happened, they eventually conclude that the strangers desperately wanted their car. However, it remains a mystery how so many people ended up in the forest and what they actually needed the car for.
Tyler makes a brief stop to tighten the cloth on Fisher’s arm after he complains that it is still bleeding. But the quiet is shattered when another stranger appears out of nowhere and slams against the door. Tyler points out that the attacker came from the side of the road, not from behind. This detail implies the person came straight from the forest and is separate from the mob they just escaped. Realizing they are still surrounded by danger, the group agrees to keep driving forward while looking for a turn.
They drive through the entire night but still fail to find a single turn by morning. The situation grows even stranger when James notices the fuel gauge is sitting exactly where it was the night before at a quarter tank. Unless the meter is broken, this defies all logic and seems entirely impossible. With the sun up and the woods now clearly visible, Tyler offers to take over driving for Day, who has been behind the wheel for hours. Feeling increasingly suspicious, James insists that Day leave the engine running while they switch seats.
Day pulls the car over and steps out. Tyler and James follow to inspect the engine. James voices his unease, telling Tyler that no road continues for six hours without a single turn. Their conversation is cut short when Day spots another crowd in the woods sprinting toward them. She quickly alerts the others, and the group scrambles back into the car to speed away.
Confused and terrified, the group tries to comprehend what they are experiencing. James retraces their steps, recalling how they were unpacking and talking right before hitting the sudden dead end. He suggests that they might have unknowingly crashed, and now they are trapped in a loop of what they were doing when they died. However, the others remain confident that they never crashed.
Day points out the only fact they know for sure is that every time they stop, people emerge from the woods. She suggests they start taking sleep shifts so the car never has to stop moving. James agrees, adding that the engine must remain running during any driver swaps and to never touch the ignition key. For now, their only plan is to keep driving and searching for an exit while they still have daylight.
Twenty-four hours later, the physical toll of their journey takes a bizarre turn. Fisher complains he cannot sleep because his brain refuses to shut off. Day admits she is not even tired, and James realizes he has not felt hungry at all. Experiencing a situation that defies logic and human needs, the grim theory that they might already be dead floats back into their conversation.
Failing to find any turn or exit, the group decides they might uncover some answers by exploring the forest. That evening, they pull over and honk the horn. Using a timer, they learn they have approximately 90 seconds before the hostile strangers emerge from the trees. Relying on this brief window, Tyler volunteers to venture into the woods at sunrise.
The next morning, Tyler jumps out of the car and runs into the forest, making it about 100 yards deep. He scans the area but finds nothing out of the ordinary. It just looks like normal woods until he notices people rising up from the brush. Suddenly, the car horn blares to signal his time is up. Tyler sprints back to the vehicle, and they speed off as he shares what he just saw with the group.
For days, the group continues driving and checking the woods for clues, desperate to find answers about where they are and why they are trapped. They are almost certain they are not stuck in some kind of loop. Instead, they are trapped on a long road that never ends. During one of their stops, they manage to capture one of the people from the woods. However, the stranger only screams for help without giving any useful information.
One day, something different finally happens when they spot another car in the distance, parked on the side of the road in the opposite direction with its headlights on. James suggests they should get out and talk to whoever is inside. Tyler disagrees, insisting they stay put. Tyler argues that something terrible might happen, and they simply cannot afford to risk losing their car. He argues that it is too dangerous, and they cannot afford to lose their own car.
Defying Tyler, James jumps out and sprints to check the parked car. He is disappointed to find it empty. Leaning in through a rolled-down window, he discovers there is no key in the ignition. The odometer reads past a million miles, proving that the car has been driving this exact road for a very long time.
A journey that changes everything.
—
A film by Alexander Ullom, starring Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, Mitchell Cole, Jon Linstad, Jenny Doyle, Ian Weir, and Alexander Ullom.
Written and directed by American filmmaker Alexander Ullom in his directorial debut, IT ENDS is a sci-fi thriller that follows a group of friends who find themselves trapped on an endless road.
The setup might sound like an episode of The Twilight Zone where a group of teenagers unknowingly crosses into an interdimensional space and gets trapped on a never-ending backroad. However, the film excels through its well-developed character backgrounds, realistic reactions, and engaging dialogue.
I must admit that this film probably is not for everyone, as road trip movies often struggle to maintain their thrill and momentum throughout. But if you manage to endure the slower pacing following a highly exciting first 16 minutes, you will be rewarded with a finale that subverts expectations. Just as the title IT ENDS promises, the road does eventually end, delivering a bleak but undeniably memorable conclusion.
I also think it was clever marketing by Neon to release the film after A24’s BACKROOMS. Even if the timing was unintentional, IT ENDS spent months in limbo following its 2025 SXSW premiere until Neon stepped in to acquire the distribution rights. Prior to that deal, the production did not even have the budget for a proper poster or press kit. The official poster from Neon clearly boasts, “From the producer of BACKROOMS.” This unnamed producer is likely Chris Ferguson, whose name is missing from the original on-screen credits despite being listed on IMDb.
Perhaps their smartest marketing move was bringing in BACKROOMS director Kane Parsons (who is also a good friend of Ullom) to moderate a live talkback and Q&A with the director following a special advance screening of the film at the Park Theatre Vancouver on 16 August.
IT ENDS premiered at SXSW on 7 March 2025. The film is scheduled for a theatrical release in the United States on 21 August 2026.
IT ENDS (2026)
A journey that changes everything.
