lazy comparison would be Da-
vid Lynch, particularly Lost High-
way and Mulholland Drive, but
perhaps the most explicit influ-
ence is Alain Resnais’ surreal
classic Last Year at Marienbad,
which set the template for head-
melting dramas in which charac-
ters become trapped between
indefinable temporal and spatial
boundaries. Both films also play
like a very American riff on the
very British folk-horror genre
that was popular in the ‘70s. The
cult aspect of The Endless makes
it impossible not to think of The
Wicker Man, but thematically,
with its exploration of astrophys-
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 44
ics, time loops and a supernatu-
ral force in the land itself, it ap-
pears to owe a heavy debt to the
cult kids’ show Children of the
Stones.
The marketing for The End-
less has been coy about its
relationship to Resolution (un-
derstandable, given how few
people saw Moorhead and Ben-
son’s debut), but I can’t stress
enough how you need to have
seen the earlier film for this se-
quel to have its intended impact.
Along with a wonderful reap-
pearance by the protagonists
of Resolution, The Endless fea-
tures many little nods that will
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