It Ends is the third horror movie this year that deals with familiar, but also eerie, and seemingly endless, locations where characters find themselves trapped. Backrooms offered a scenario in a vast liminal space within a furniture store. In Exit 8 a man finds himself stuck in a looping Japanese subway station with strict rules he must follow in order to gain an exit. And now we have It Ends in which a car full of recent college grads find themselves on an endless road they can't escape.
All of these scenarios are similar, but to me, this one sounded like it would be the most tedious to sit through. Turns out it was my favorite of the three, by far.
Maybe it was the nostalgic Blair Witch vibes I was getting at the beginning, as four friends (played by excellent newcomers Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, and Mitchell Cole) find themselves lost on a eerie road surrounded by ominous woods. Convinced they've missed a turn-off, they circle back, only to find the road completely blocked, and some real dangers out to get them should they try to leave their car. So they turn around again and continue to drive, hoping to finally reach a turn off, or an end.
Questions like, "How can they possibly keep driving and not run out of gas?", and "Aren't they going to get hungry? Or have to use the bathroom?" are answered pretty quickly. Whatever alternative universe, purgatory, or nightmare these travelers have found themselves stuck in has taken care of any impediment to their continuing to just...continue.
Sure, the metaphor may seem a little obvious at times, but I enjoyed seeing this car full of Gen Z'ers react to the situation they've found themselves in, and I found myself contemplating whether I'd do the same. (In some case yes; in other cases, most definitely not.) Writer and director Alexander Ullom manages to turn what could have been cinema's most repetitive road movie into something original and thought provoking.
By now, Coyote vs. Acme's long and winding road to a theatrical release is pretty well known. Originally completed and set for a theatrical release in 2023, Warner Bros. ultimately decided to shelve the movie and take the tax write-off instead.
One would assume they did this because they knew the movie stunk, and figured they'd get more from a tax write-off than from theatrical profits, but test screenings had been positive, so I still can't really wrap my head around this business decision. (The Wikipedia page delves further into the various offers and rejections that were made before it was finally acquired by Ketchup Entertainment, and released to theaters this week.)
Those test screening reactions were not a fluke. Coyote vs. Acme is genuinely entertaining, and probably the best animation and live action hybrid since Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
The film opens with Wile E. Coyote making another attempt to capture the Road Runner with the help of some Acme products. Per usual, those products backfire, and he fails. When he sees a commercial on TV from a personal injury attorney (Will Forte) who specializes in faulty Acme product claims, the Coyote hires him.
The Coyote in this movie is the silent Coyote of the Road Runner cartoons, and not the "Super Genius" speaking version that showed up in cartoons with Bugs Bunny (who, of course, has a cameo). I mention this because his silence, and the slapstick comedy that comes as a result of it, leads to some of the movie's biggest laughs, and dare I say, some of its most touching moments as well. (Was I expecting to get chocked up during a courtroom scene featuring the Coyote and the Road Runner? Definitely not!)
As someone who still watches classic Warner Bros. cartoons almost every Saturday morning, I was prepared to cringe through this as much as I cringed through Space Jam (apologies to Space Jam fans, it just wasn't my...you know). Coyote vs. Acme doesn't quite reach the sublime level of the best Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, but it's the first feature film to come close.
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