DECEMBER 5, 2025
FILM: ENDLESS COOKIE
DIRECTED BY: PETER SCRIVER, SETH SCRIVER
STARRING: ADA SCRIVER, PETER SCRIVER, SETH SCRIVER
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
This week Film Independent, which hosts the annual Spirit Awards for movies made under $30 million, announced its annual nominees of the best films and television shows released in the past year. I’m always curious as to what gets into the documentary category. If I were to truthfully list my Top Ten films for any year, documentaries would probably make up the bulk of those lists. Instead, I create a separate one based on the dozens of documentaries I see each year. One of the films nominated for a Best Documentary Spirit award though was one I had not previously encountered anywhere. It’s called Endless Cookie and it’s a rather bizarre animated film directed by Peter and Seth Scriver whose family is also featured as voices and characters. It’s hard to say exactly what the Scrivers are trying to document, but the stories they tell each other are visually brought to life with seemingly basic but vibrant colors and images. It’s a feast for the eyes and a bit of a head scratcher for the mind.
Peter and Seth are half-brothers from different parts of Canada. Peter’s mother was a Cree member of the Samattawa First Nation and lives in the northern region of the country. Seth’s mother was white and he lives closer to the U.S. border in Toronto. The stories they tell involve their family, indigenous traditions, and other random memories. Initially it appears that they are talking via the phone and on some sort of podcast. In fact, we find out that they have just been given a grant to make the very film we are watching. While this is periodically referred to throughout the narrative, most of what we see and hear are recreations of things that supposedly happened to them (hence the “documentary” element of the film) as well as other members of the Scriver family. In telling their stories they also travel back to the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.
None of the characters are created to look realistic in any significant way. Peter and Seth look like a mix of clowns and Mr. Potato Heads. Adding to their faces are noses that appear to be something between carrots and balloons. Other characters that speak during the film include a trophy, a sock, a lizard, car seats, a Mr. Peanut dog, and a daughter who has the giant head of a chocolate chip cookie. During a few scenes, other branded characters appear such as Garfield the cat, Mickey Mouse, and Olive Oil from the Popeye cartoons. (I’m assuming these have been taken so out of context that any legal issues using them are null and void.)
The film is filled with eye-catching colors amidst a snowy Canadian landscape. It’s quite inventive animation that was reportedly created using Adobe software. It’s visually satisfying even without the more sophisticated CGI that essentially creates most of the big animated movies today. The music is quite whimsical, almost sounding like something you’d expect from a young children’s cartoon. While there are also the occasional fart jokes, this is really not a film for small kids though. There are images, for instance, of caribou having sex and other characters getting high. There are even some societal comments on food products (such as “Croak” on a “Coke” can) that suggest a darker side of consumerism.
Yet throughout it all, it is hard to discern what, if any political message the filmmakers are trying to make. The fact that one of them is indigenous and the other is white is almost a given not worth diving into any deeper. One of the best parts of the film is when a series of actual photos of the Scriver family and their pets are presented giving us a clearer picture as to their distinctive “real” features. (None has a carrot nose or cookie head in real life…)
Endless Cookie doesn’t intend to tell a traditional narrative. It is a series of visual recreations of a family and culture that has been animated to transform their stories into something almost magical and dream-like. The form is experimental, yet the characters feel real doing sometimes silly things (such as taking a photo with a puppy on a head.)
I wouldn’t say the film is particularly funny although some might disagree. One’s sense of humor will dictate the laughs it brings. Ultimately, the project, which took approximately nine years to complete, is a fascinating documentation of a particular cross section of Canadian stories and people.
Endless Cookie is now playing in New York and Los Angeles. It will be available to stream/buy beginning December 16th.
FILM: ENDLESS COOKIE
DIRECTED BY: PETER SCRIVER, SETH SCRIVER
STARRING: ADA SCRIVER, PETER SCRIVER, SETH SCRIVER
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
This week Film Independent, which hosts the annual Spirit Awards for movies made under $30 million, announced its annual nominees of the best films and television shows released in the past year. I’m always curious as to what gets into the documentary category. If I were to truthfully list my Top Ten films for any year, documentaries would probably make up the bulk of those lists. Instead, I create a separate one based on the dozens of documentaries I see each year. One of the films nominated for a Best Documentary Spirit award though was one I had not previously encountered anywhere. It’s called Endless Cookie and it’s a rather bizarre animated film directed by Peter and Seth Scriver whose family is also featured as voices and characters. It’s hard to say exactly what the Scrivers are trying to document, but the stories they tell each other are visually brought to life with seemingly basic but vibrant colors and images. It’s a feast for the eyes and a bit of a head scratcher for the mind.
Peter and Seth are half-brothers from different parts of Canada. Peter’s mother was a Cree member of the Samattawa First Nation and lives in the northern region of the country. Seth’s mother was white and he lives closer to the U.S. border in Toronto. The stories they tell involve their family, indigenous traditions, and other random memories. Initially it appears that they are talking via the phone and on some sort of podcast. In fact, we find out that they have just been given a grant to make the very film we are watching. While this is periodically referred to throughout the narrative, most of what we see and hear are recreations of things that supposedly happened to them (hence the “documentary” element of the film) as well as other members of the Scriver family. In telling their stories they also travel back to the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.
None of the characters are created to look realistic in any significant way. Peter and Seth look like a mix of clowns and Mr. Potato Heads. Adding to their faces are noses that appear to be something between carrots and balloons. Other characters that speak during the film include a trophy, a sock, a lizard, car seats, a Mr. Peanut dog, and a daughter who has the giant head of a chocolate chip cookie. During a few scenes, other branded characters appear such as Garfield the cat, Mickey Mouse, and Olive Oil from the Popeye cartoons. (I’m assuming these have been taken so out of context that any legal issues using them are null and void.)
The film is filled with eye-catching colors amidst a snowy Canadian landscape. It’s quite inventive animation that was reportedly created using Adobe software. It’s visually satisfying even without the more sophisticated CGI that essentially creates most of the big animated movies today. The music is quite whimsical, almost sounding like something you’d expect from a young children’s cartoon. While there are also the occasional fart jokes, this is really not a film for small kids though. There are images, for instance, of caribou having sex and other characters getting high. There are even some societal comments on food products (such as “Croak” on a “Coke” can) that suggest a darker side of consumerism.
Yet throughout it all, it is hard to discern what, if any political message the filmmakers are trying to make. The fact that one of them is indigenous and the other is white is almost a given not worth diving into any deeper. One of the best parts of the film is when a series of actual photos of the Scriver family and their pets are presented giving us a clearer picture as to their distinctive “real” features. (None has a carrot nose or cookie head in real life…)
Endless Cookie doesn’t intend to tell a traditional narrative. It is a series of visual recreations of a family and culture that has been animated to transform their stories into something almost magical and dream-like. The form is experimental, yet the characters feel real doing sometimes silly things (such as taking a photo with a puppy on a head.)
I wouldn’t say the film is particularly funny although some might disagree. One’s sense of humor will dictate the laughs it brings. Ultimately, the project, which took approximately nine years to complete, is a fascinating documentation of a particular cross section of Canadian stories and people.
Endless Cookie is now playing in New York and Los Angeles. It will be available to stream/buy beginning December 16th.