Endings (film)
Encyclopedia
Endings is the second feature film written and directed by Chris Hansen, a professor of film and digital media at Baylor University
and the director of the film program. It was shot in Waco, Texas
in June of 2008, using Baylor film students as a large part of the crew. Postproduction occurred until April 2010. It had its world premiere at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival in June 2010.
The film opens in the middle of a convenience store robbery. A strung-out drug addict, Chris Ryan, holds his knife to a little girl’s throat (Emmy Ferguson) while the other patrons look on in horror.
The story then cuts to "EARLIER THAT DAY."
We are introduced to Emmy Ferguson, a ten-year old at home with her father, Charlie, who is medicating her for leukemia. She overhears a doctor telling him that she probably won’t live to see another day. Charlie clearly loves her and protects her as if it’s his only purpose in life, and he goes into a panic a little later when he finds Emmy missing from her room. As he begins his search for her, he heads to the only place he can think that she might go – his ex-wife’s house.
Emmy, knowing her life is about to end, clearly has a specific destination in mind as she tells another child in a park that she has to keep moving because she has "something important I have to do." She runs into a man in the park -- he appears to Emmy as a burning oracle, and when he questions her as to why she's alone, she takes it as the oracle telling her to find a protector. She tries at a nearby motel, and before the clerk there can do something sinister with her, she is saved by his supervisor, who appears to Emmy as an angel. Finally, she stops at a convenience store, where Chris Ryan, the drug addict we saw robbing the store, sees her take out a wad of cash to buy her candy bar. We cut to:
Adonna Frost, a 40 year old wife and mom trying to get her family ready for the day. As they finally leave, she faints dead away.
Adonna’s doctor explains that her cancer is now advanced and that she should have been getting treatment. After they argue about it, he provides her with the medication to take her own life. But he tells her that she should tell her family now. She still refuses to tell her family. Instead, she tries to prepare things for them – even picking out her own casket and then trying to find a friend to be a mother to her boys in an old college friend. Finally exhausted, she stops off for a cup of coffee in that same convenience store where Chris is about to rob the store and take Emmy hostage. Adonna chases them out, hearing Emmy's cries and screams, and enters a warehouse basement when it cuts to black.
A title on the black reads: CHRIS – THREE WEEKS EARLIER
After Chris steals from his mother to get drug money – and allows his friend to assault her – he is kidnapped by a group calling themselves the Death Prevention Squad. They’re dedicated to getting addicts clean, and they do so the hard way -- at a remote location, where they put them through a boot camp-like experience and make them earn their rights back. And Chris is their special case. He learns why when he tries to escape. The camp director reveals that his mother couldn’t pay the fee, and Chris gets the message loud and clear that he’s not just hurting himself. He bonds with another "prisoner" of the camp, Jamie. When they finish the rehab process several weeks later, Chris tells Jamie that he is ready to get high again - but that he wants to kill himself with drugs to end his family's suffering. Jamie abandons him.
Chris visits his mother, hoping to get money from her one last time to get his final fix. But he doesn't have the heart to ask her. Instead, he ends up at the convenience store, where he sees Emmy pull out that wad of cash. But he doesn't grab her. He follows her outside. In an alley, he approaches her, but she disarms him with her forthrightness. She explains that she is dying and can sense he is sick, too. She offers him part of her candy bar, which melts his heart. They talk about his disease of drug addiction and his plans to kill himself, and she explains that she is going to see her mother before she dies. She then tells him that she has an idea how he can get the money he needs for his plan.
We see again that he robs the store and takes Emmy hostage, but now we know she's in on it. Adonna follows them out again, and she finds them in a warehouse basement counting their money. When she is filled in on the plan, she decides she will drive Emmy to her destination, and the three travel together.
Meanwhile, Emmy's dad is still searching for her. He ends up in a church and is recognized by the priest, who calls the police in. Charlie yells at the police when they question him because they're wasting time when he could be out looking for her. They find his behavior suspicious.
Emmy asks Adonna to stop at a flea market so she can buy something for her mom. While they're there, Adonna reveals her situation to the others.
The police enter the Ferguson home without a warrant because of their suspicions. They find some medicine without a label, and, having found no doctor in the city that is treating Emmy, they wonder where the medicine came from.
Chris, Adonna, and Emmy make another stop - for him to get drugs (only after Emmy coaxes Adonna to agree). Chris has to convince the dealer that he is for real, and he references Jamie, who told him about this dealer. The drug dealer provides him with what he wants and mentions that Jamie is coming over later. Chris is heartbroken and tries to buy off the dealer to get him not to sell drugs to Jamie Back in the car, Emmy wants to know how to take the drugs, so Chris (to Adonna's chagrin) demonstrates.
The police find Charlie at his ex-wife's place. They take him away for questioning and interview her. She tells them she was just Emmy's stepmom and that Emmy's real mom left the family years ago.
After stopping by a roadside carnival and a bridge at night, the three travelers make their way to their destination - which turns out to be a cemetery. Emmy's mom is dead and she wanted to visit her grave. The adults give her some space, and Emmy - having another delusion - talks with her dead mom, who asks if she wants to do something nice for her friends who are dying.
Meanwhile, Charlie is being questioned by the police, who have discovered that the "medication" he has been giving Emmy is a powerful hallucinogenic.
At the grave, Emmy takes the medicine and drugs intended for her new friends so that they cannot kill themselves but will be forced to live. They awaken to discover her already dead with a note explaining that they should try to live.
At the police station, Charlie confesses that he has been trying to protect Emmy and that he made up her illness to keep her safe at home with him. The medication was so that she would be controllable, and it gave her "wonderful visions." He still doesn't think he has done anything wrong.
The sun has risen, and Chris and Adonna must decide what to do. Chris tells her he will call the police and stay with Emmy's body to explain. He tells her to go home to her family.
As she drives off, we see an animated Emmy with angel wings flying over the two of them...
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
and the director of the film program. It was shot in Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
in June of 2008, using Baylor film students as a large part of the crew. Postproduction occurred until April 2010. It had its world premiere at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival in June 2010.
Synopsis
Endings follows the stories of three people who are dying on the same day. Their stories eventually become intertwined.The film opens in the middle of a convenience store robbery. A strung-out drug addict, Chris Ryan, holds his knife to a little girl’s throat (Emmy Ferguson) while the other patrons look on in horror.
The story then cuts to "EARLIER THAT DAY."
We are introduced to Emmy Ferguson, a ten-year old at home with her father, Charlie, who is medicating her for leukemia. She overhears a doctor telling him that she probably won’t live to see another day. Charlie clearly loves her and protects her as if it’s his only purpose in life, and he goes into a panic a little later when he finds Emmy missing from her room. As he begins his search for her, he heads to the only place he can think that she might go – his ex-wife’s house.
Emmy, knowing her life is about to end, clearly has a specific destination in mind as she tells another child in a park that she has to keep moving because she has "something important I have to do." She runs into a man in the park -- he appears to Emmy as a burning oracle, and when he questions her as to why she's alone, she takes it as the oracle telling her to find a protector. She tries at a nearby motel, and before the clerk there can do something sinister with her, she is saved by his supervisor, who appears to Emmy as an angel. Finally, she stops at a convenience store, where Chris Ryan, the drug addict we saw robbing the store, sees her take out a wad of cash to buy her candy bar. We cut to:
Adonna Frost, a 40 year old wife and mom trying to get her family ready for the day. As they finally leave, she faints dead away.
Adonna’s doctor explains that her cancer is now advanced and that she should have been getting treatment. After they argue about it, he provides her with the medication to take her own life. But he tells her that she should tell her family now. She still refuses to tell her family. Instead, she tries to prepare things for them – even picking out her own casket and then trying to find a friend to be a mother to her boys in an old college friend. Finally exhausted, she stops off for a cup of coffee in that same convenience store where Chris is about to rob the store and take Emmy hostage. Adonna chases them out, hearing Emmy's cries and screams, and enters a warehouse basement when it cuts to black.
A title on the black reads: CHRIS – THREE WEEKS EARLIER
After Chris steals from his mother to get drug money – and allows his friend to assault her – he is kidnapped by a group calling themselves the Death Prevention Squad. They’re dedicated to getting addicts clean, and they do so the hard way -- at a remote location, where they put them through a boot camp-like experience and make them earn their rights back. And Chris is their special case. He learns why when he tries to escape. The camp director reveals that his mother couldn’t pay the fee, and Chris gets the message loud and clear that he’s not just hurting himself. He bonds with another "prisoner" of the camp, Jamie. When they finish the rehab process several weeks later, Chris tells Jamie that he is ready to get high again - but that he wants to kill himself with drugs to end his family's suffering. Jamie abandons him.
Chris visits his mother, hoping to get money from her one last time to get his final fix. But he doesn't have the heart to ask her. Instead, he ends up at the convenience store, where he sees Emmy pull out that wad of cash. But he doesn't grab her. He follows her outside. In an alley, he approaches her, but she disarms him with her forthrightness. She explains that she is dying and can sense he is sick, too. She offers him part of her candy bar, which melts his heart. They talk about his disease of drug addiction and his plans to kill himself, and she explains that she is going to see her mother before she dies. She then tells him that she has an idea how he can get the money he needs for his plan.
We see again that he robs the store and takes Emmy hostage, but now we know she's in on it. Adonna follows them out again, and she finds them in a warehouse basement counting their money. When she is filled in on the plan, she decides she will drive Emmy to her destination, and the three travel together.
Meanwhile, Emmy's dad is still searching for her. He ends up in a church and is recognized by the priest, who calls the police in. Charlie yells at the police when they question him because they're wasting time when he could be out looking for her. They find his behavior suspicious.
Emmy asks Adonna to stop at a flea market so she can buy something for her mom. While they're there, Adonna reveals her situation to the others.
The police enter the Ferguson home without a warrant because of their suspicions. They find some medicine without a label, and, having found no doctor in the city that is treating Emmy, they wonder where the medicine came from.
Chris, Adonna, and Emmy make another stop - for him to get drugs (only after Emmy coaxes Adonna to agree). Chris has to convince the dealer that he is for real, and he references Jamie, who told him about this dealer. The drug dealer provides him with what he wants and mentions that Jamie is coming over later. Chris is heartbroken and tries to buy off the dealer to get him not to sell drugs to Jamie Back in the car, Emmy wants to know how to take the drugs, so Chris (to Adonna's chagrin) demonstrates.
The police find Charlie at his ex-wife's place. They take him away for questioning and interview her. She tells them she was just Emmy's stepmom and that Emmy's real mom left the family years ago.
After stopping by a roadside carnival and a bridge at night, the three travelers make their way to their destination - which turns out to be a cemetery. Emmy's mom is dead and she wanted to visit her grave. The adults give her some space, and Emmy - having another delusion - talks with her dead mom, who asks if she wants to do something nice for her friends who are dying.
Meanwhile, Charlie is being questioned by the police, who have discovered that the "medication" he has been giving Emmy is a powerful hallucinogenic.
At the grave, Emmy takes the medicine and drugs intended for her new friends so that they cannot kill themselves but will be forced to live. They awaken to discover her already dead with a note explaining that they should try to live.
At the police station, Charlie confesses that he has been trying to protect Emmy and that he made up her illness to keep her safe at home with him. The medication was so that she would be controllable, and it gave her "wonderful visions." He still doesn't think he has done anything wrong.
The sun has risen, and Chris and Adonna must decide what to do. Chris tells her he will call the police and stay with Emmy's body to explain. He tells her to go home to her family.
As she drives off, we see an animated Emmy with angel wings flying over the two of them...
Main Cast
- Emma Hansen as Emmy Ferguson
- Ellen Dolan as Adonna Frost
- Matthew Brumlow as Chris Ryan
- Joseph Frost as Charlie Ferguson
Main Crew
- Chris Hansen (writer, director)
- John Franklin (director of photography)
- Brian Elliott (producer, line producer)
- Damon Crump (associate producer)
- Kelley BakerKelley BakerKelley Baker was born July 20, 1957. He is an independent filmmaker based in Portland, Oregon, United States and the writer and director of three indie feature films: Birddog , The Gas Cafe , and Kicking Bird...
(sound designer)
Screenings
- Seattle True Independent Film Festival 2010
- Atlanta Underground Film Festival 2010 (Best Director award)
- Southern Winds Film Festival 2010 (Best Dramatic Feature/”A Seriously Good Movie – Feature” Award)
- Dallas VideoFest 2010
- Secret CityOak Ridge, TennesseeOak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
Film Festival 2010 - Trail Dance Film Festival 2011 (Best Screenplay, Chris Hansen)
- ReelHeART International Film FestivalReelHeArt International Film FestivalThe ' known as The Filmmakers Film Festival is an annual independent film festival that screens over 100 films from 30 or more countries during six days around the 3rd week of June in Toronto, Canada....
2011 - Myrtle BeachMyrtle Beach, South CarolinaMyrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...
International Film Festival 2011
Awards
- Best Director (Atlanta Underground Film Festival 2010)
- Best Dramatic Feature/”A Seriously Good Movie – Feature” Award (Southern Winds Film Festival 2010)
- Best Screenplay, Chris Hansen (Trail Dance Film Festival 2011; also nominated for Best Feature Drama and Best Actor/Actress in a Feature, Emma Hansen)
Reviews
- KillingBoxx (Will Colby): http://www.killingboxx.com/content.php?section=BoxxOffice&cID=Endings
- BadLit (Mike Everleth): http://www.badlit.com/?p=3867
Sources
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1262892/
- http://endings-movie.com/
- http://festivalleague.com/endings.cfm
- http://southernwindsfilmfestival.com/blog/2010/08/06/endings/
- http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Venues/Stiff?film=3978098
- http://www.videofest.org/23-0050-NARF
- http://www.secretcityfilmfest.com/schedule.php
- http://www.traildancefilmfestival.com/films-extended.asp?ID=11-0109-TD
- http://www.baylor.edu/kwbu/news.php?action=story&story=76377
- http://www.baylor.edu/kwbu/news.php?action=story&story=76404a