So, I just finished Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead’s The Endless (on Netflix) last night. And I’ve been googling theories and questions I’ve had since.
I’ve read some pretty good ones. Some not so good ones (people seem to think Aaron and Justin made it to the real world because the directors said in one interview it was a “happy ending,” but they clearly say in others the answer to whether they’re in a loop or not is in the movie—which essentially tells you that they are and you need to find the clues!)
But there’s one thing I noticed, that bugged me when I watched the movie, that no one has talked about. So here goes: what’s with all the dated technology? I get for the people trapped in the loop, they’ve got whatever came in with them, right? Mike and Chris have a lap top (I assume they brought that in with them in Resolution, which I haven’t seen yet), that weird shed has all sorts of old equipment the Craft Beer guy’s been collecting over the years, but, what about the mini VHS tapes? And what about Aaron’s flip phone?
So, this movie was made in 2017. Yeah, the argument can be made he has a flip phone because they’re so poor they can’t afford Smart Phones, but that’s a pretty weak argument. Nobody has flip phones anymore. Not even poor people. They also have a tube TV where they plug in the $20 camcorder Aaron bought from that garage sale (that garage sale scene felt really weird to me too…do you know how lucky you’d have to be to find a garage sale with old camcorders in it? They don’t even make these things anymore…and hardly anyone was ever into them). How many people still have a functioning tube TV? It’s even one of those VHS DVD combos. I’d have to go out of my way to buy it off Ebay for $200 bucks. When I could go to Amazon and get a refurbished 20’’ LED Vizio for $119. Now, the directors put a lot of work into this movie thinking out all the little references and how the loops work, etc. I find it hard to believe they were just lazy for the first 15 minutes of the movie and didn’t bother to show what modern day poor looks like. (I also found it hard to believe they couldn’t do better than Raman noodles in 10 years, but that’s a different thought).
So, the only way this makes sense (to me, anways), is if this isn’t really 2017. It’s earlier than that. Back when this dated tech was more common, and Aaron and Justin have been making this pilgrimage back there and back again over and over for awhile now. That’s why everyone recognizes them when they come back, even though it’s been 10 years, and they look different (Justin’s hair is shaved, so he looks much different). They do this a lot, so everyone recognizes them. They may even do it pretty frequently. They probably have a shorter loop then the death cult does.
But, what about when they get out? How come Justin’s hair is still short? My thoughts on that are that the stuff we see in the beginning are not from the loop. That’s the story of how they got here in the first place. When they’re in the car, that’s the loop. That said, this theory really doesn’t work with Aaron driving at the end, unless they switch at some point off screen after the movie ends to start the loop over.
Problems with the theory: All the characters outside of Arcadia seem to be meeting Justin and Aaron for the first time. So, unless this is the very first time the loop is going (makes my argument about dated technology not work) all these characters should recognize Justin and Aaron.
Random Questions:
How do they get their beer out of the loop? The Cult Leader seemed genuinely pissed that Justin went and told the real world they’re a cult, because it cost them beer sales, and that’s “their livelihood”). So, how do they get the beer out? What would they even do with the money?
What’s up with Anna having the hots for Aaron when he was a kid?
Why does the painting they made their mom still look new?
How did their mom die?
What happened to their dad? He’s never mentioned.