Neil BakerEndless is available to rent or buy on all major digital platforms from 23rd November.
Who remembers the delicate beauty of Ghost (1990) and its sensual potter’s wheel? Or the intoxicatingly brilliant Truly Madly Deeply and its musical powerhouse of emotion? Both of these supernatural romantic delights remain audience favourites to this day, but not all supernatural romantic outings are created equal, and some feel endlessly dull.
Riley (Alexandra Shipp) and Chris (Nicholas Hamilton) are two high school seniors who are madly in love. But Riley’s parents are less than enamoured by the motorcycle-loving Chris, and they would rather see Riley escape town for college to study law. But Chris loves Riley with all of his heart and knows she will likely drop her passion for art for law to please her parents. At the same time, Riley is torn between her love for Chris and her parent’s wishes, and when she receives an acceptance letter from a top college, a night out with Chris quickly descends into an argument and way too much booze – leading to a tragic journey home.
As Riley wakes up in a hospital bed following the automobile accident, she learns that Chris did not survive, and her guilt in attempting to drive her drunk boyfriend home is cemented. However, Chris is casually standing by her bed, no longer in physical form, his spirit trying to console her and find a way to communicate again.
A brazen attempt to reinvent 1990’s Ghost for a teen audience, Endless, unfortunately, forgets to create any sense of emotional attachment between its characters, with the brief pre-death scenes between Riley and Chris vacant of any spark. Here, Shipp and Hamilton (both accomplished actors) desperately fight a screenplay determined to descend into lazy cliches and narrative simplicity. Young adult movies are at their strongest when they bring to life stories that challenge, inspire and engage young minds while linking to a range of coming-of-age themes, think The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Love Simon or Maze Runner. Endless makes no effort to offer its audience anything new, instead opting to rip off several older films to earn a quick teen buck. Despite its potential, it is a tiresome melodrama that fails to make the most of the young talent on-screen. Endlessly dull and endlessly unenthralling, it’s a movie with no creative ambition.
Director: Scott Speer
Cast: Alexandra Shipp, Nicholas Hamilton, DeRon Horton, Ian Tracey, Catherine Lough Haggquist, Eddie Ramos
