Charlie Kaufman achieves peak-Charlie Kaufman.

Oh, to be in Charlie Kaufman’s head. Having spent the best part of two decades rummaging around inside characters’ minds in increasingly strange and abstract ways, the writer-turned-writer-director has nonetheless been something of a closed book.

Notoriously introverted and often visibly uncomfortable with the fame that came his way after the successes of Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Adaptation, Kaufman has consistently been one of the most fascinating and frustrating figures in Hollywood, a dichotomy that would make a trip into his head such an undeniably fascinating experience.

It also makes his choice to adapt Iain Reid’s mind-bending novel for Netflix - a streaming giant that still appears to be searching for their own personality as a film studio - an infinitely intriguing one. But after a wobbly career trajectory since becoming a director, is the move to bring such bizarre and intricate source material to the screen the right one?

Having second thoughts about their relationship, a young woman (Jessie Buckley) joins her new boyfriend, Jake (Jesse Plemons), on a road trip to meet his parents at their family farm. Snowed in with Jake’s mother (Toni Collette) and father (David Thewlis), the young woman’s world rapidly unfurls as she begins to question the very nature of all she knew about her boyfriend, herself, and the world around her.

On the surface, the pairing of Charlie Kaufman and I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a match made in surrealist heaven. Playing out like a highly concentrated encapsulation of Kaufman’s entire filmography, the movie is packed so tightly with many of the writer-director’s customary thematic preoccupations that it’s hard to imagine anyone else taking it on.

From a literal doorway into John Malkovich’s head, to the extravagant process of wiping Jim Carrey’s memory, Kaufman has never had a problem with throwing us down the rabbit hole of our own minds, no matter how dark and downright weird it turns out. Essentially a feature-length version of the many strange mind-trip sequences from its director’s earlier efforts, I’m Thinking of Ending Things feels like as pure, uncut Kaufman as you’re ever likely to get. And whether that notion tickles your pickle or not will dictate just how you feel about the film.

As such, the film simultaneously showcases both Kaufman’s best and most frustrating habits. It’s a near relentless tidal wave of surreal, stream-of-consciousness ideas that, depending on how in-tune you are with the filmmaker’s storytelling approach, will either leave you in awe or utterly nonplussed.

Diving deep to explore notions of regret, loss, desire, and the delicacy of the human spirit, I’m Thinking of Ending Things pulls no punches as it goes out of its way to make things as obscure as possible, leaving us to painstakingly piece together its various fragments. With layer upon layer of subtext, Kaufman willingly bamboozles his audience in an approach that dispenses with the relatively simple narrative structures of his early hits, opting instead for something far more experimental and enigmatic.

For those (like myself) coming to this cold, having no prior knowledge of the novel, it’s exceedingly hard to know how to handle I’m Thinking of Ending Things, as great swathes of the film zip by in a steady stream of WTF moments. If you’re on the ball, much of what’s going on will be apparent eventually, but with no baseline knowledge of the source material, there will likely be a lot that’ll fly under the radar.

Utilising clever camerawork and the kind of impressive practical special effects that have now become an eye-catching mainstay in Charlie Kaufman’s career, I’m Thinking of Ending Things certainly cushions the impact of its narrative impenetrability with some truly impressive imagery. With an array of tricks and treats that will have you constantly looking at every inch of the frame, the film really does look the part as it lures you in and keeps you gripped by its abstract aura.

The film’s locations are certainly minimal, restricting itself to an almost stage play-like setup, yet this locational claustrophobia feeds into I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ suffocating and disorientating energy perfectly. With big call backs to the various abstract mind-wiping dream sequences of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the film uses every inch of the screen to keep you guessing, resulting in a truly mesmeric viewing experience.

Supplementing this, the small but perfectly formed cast are nigh on faultless. Carrying much of the film’s heavy lifting, the core duo of Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons are both on form, as they handle an incredibly tricky, shapeshifting script with ease.

As the dialogue twists, turns, and constantly doubles-back on itself, Jessie and Jesse must be on the ball from the off. Of the two, however, Jessie Buckley is the film’s true lynchpin, as she juggles several different personalities and personas to show just how much of a talent she is coming off the back of Wild Rose.

As her mood and energy swings back and forth on a whim, she absolutely owns the screen, yet it’s her mesmerising, peculiar chemistry with Jesse Plemons that really carries the film, even in its most obscure moments. Add to this the unnerving chameleon-like performances from Toni Colette and David Thewlis, and you have a potent combination that you just can’t keep your eyes off.

And boy does I’m Thinking of Ending Things need those performances. Somehow both one of Charlie Kaufman’s best and most frustrating efforts, the film is a lot to take in from start to finish, and it’s really on the back of its fantastic cast that we emotionally connect in what can be (often literally) cold viewing.

At its best, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a hypnotic dive into the human mind, an exploration of identity and mental health that offers as many questions as it does answers. With a title that suggests multiple meanings, the film is a complex puzzle that’ll take time to piece together and will stay with you even longer.

These cryptic, purposely oblique, aspects lead to an enthralling experience, a fully immersive delve into the subconscious, yet its these relentless convolutions that will just as likely turn many off. Charlie Kaufman is who he is of course, he’s a filmmaker with such an acute style that will never be for everyone, even more so with I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

As characters converse in what sometimes sounds like their own language and the film throws visual quirk after visual quirk at us, it can often feel a little too idiosyncratic for its own good, like Kaufman is pushing too hard to solidify his indie cred. When it works, it really works, showcasing Kaufman at his very best as both a writer and director, however, when it misses the mark, it can be downright bewildering.

Built on the back of astonishing performances from its stars, Jesse Plemons and Jessie Buckley, and a surrealist visual masterclass from Charlie Kaufman, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a thoroughly enthralling watch but one not without its faults. About as Kaufmanesque as it gets, the film is somehow both its director’s finest and most confounding efforts to date, operating as an endearingly surreal psychological tale of love, life, and loss, and an infuriating piece of bewildering, overly quirky self-indulgence.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things is available to stream on Netflix now.