About Endlessness (2019): Review
Stub • 372 Words • Film, 2026 • 04/05/2026 • View in graph
⚠️ This post contains a rougher cut of my thoughts on the topic and may be updated in the future. Please forgive any mistakes or lack of polish!
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A reflection on human life in all its beauty and cruelty, its splendor and banality, guided by a Scheherazade-esque narrator. Inconsequential moments have the same significance as historical events. Simultaneously an ode and a lament, presents a kaleidoscope of all that is eternally human, an infinite story of the vulnerability of existence.
There are 391 words in this article, and it will probably take you less than 2 minutes to read it.
This article was published 2026-04-05 00:00:00 -0400, which makes this post and me old when I published it.
This is my second Andersson film, my first being A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence, which I liked, but not as much as this. For one, I liked the recurring characters in this film better, but also I think there was less focus on humor which helped the tone. As Ehrlich said in his review, it is Andersson’s “least funny and most tender movie”.
As it says in the movie’s description, this film is about the daily life big and small happy and sad. There’s stories of:
- losing faith
- having a crush
- going to doctor
- having bad dream
- going to a restaurant
- someone busking in the subway
- girls dancing to music
- a man trying to conquer the world and realizing he would fail
- a man begging for his life
I think this film really focuses on the way we treat each other:
- the crucifixion (a dream by a christian man, a priest losing his faith)
- the wife reaction - empathy but not really understanding
- the doctor reaction - empathy but also wanting money
- There are many times in this film where people don’t really listen to each other. They want to ignore what others are saying because it inconveniences them; or they are just in their own world.
- “what should i do now that i’ve lost my faith?”
- “i don’t know what i want”
- “isn’t it quite fantastic?”
- Which ties in on a larger theme of focus and attention:
- the couple on the bench not looking at each other
- the man pouring wine
- the woman who cannot feel shame look out the window
- a man who forms a crush on the girl watering the plants
It also focuses on how life/the world treats us, especially in tragedy. Although in this film tragedy is dispensed and treated very casually, almost matter-of-factly.
- man getting crucified in his dream
- busker who stepped on landmine
- parents at their veteran son’s grave
- ruined city
- doctor not trying to help the priest
It is also about how love motivates us: both in good and bad.
- man killing daughter
- husband assaulting wife
- parents at the grave
- a couple floating
- lots of couples in general
- a man and daughter going to a birthday party in the rain