The Endless (2017)

We’re falling into Aaron Moorhead & Justin Benson’s irregular spacetimes, working backward from their latest bent world (the fractured LA of 2022’s Something in the Dirt) to 2017’s The Endless, the Griffith Park to David Lynch’s Hollywood. As in some of the memorable set pieces from The Return, The Endless literalizes the magic of digital cinema—Lynch’s delayed coin flip becomes a tardy baseball in the sky—and shows us some tricks we’ll never forget. The appearance of the directors as primary actors, apparatus often in hand, permeates the lens, and Benson is just Cagey enough in looks and affect to add another uncanny layer to the proceedings. Come for The Struggle, a tug of war with the darkness, and stay for Weirdos of the Infinite Loop. 4 out of 5 sacs of blood.

—J †Johnson