Halloween Ends feels like one heck of a narrative curveball right before the curtain closes on the franchise.
Director David Gordon Green opted to jettison all but the original film as canon.
The film furthers Green's exploration of whether evil and its effects can truly be overcome.
Halloween Ends focuses on how trauma can mutate and form destructive cycles.
New character Cory shares a lot in common with Laurie Strode at that age.
Strong introduction sets stage for study of how Michael Myers' legacy has affected Haddonfield's hopes for the future.
Rohan Campbell gets off to a sympathetic start as Cory, but Ends loses its commitment to fleshing out the character near the middle.
Cory and Laurie's granddaughter Allyson develop a bond through mutual sense of unbelonging that's meant to contextualize his place in the larger morality play.
Halloween: Ends may be the best looking of David Gordon Green's three movies.
Opulent design gives Green room to build dread and misdirect attention to wicked results.
The film's opening scene takes place in what must be the biggest house in Haddonfield.