A movie’s ending either makes it or breaks it, and these endings definitely made their respective movies. Some of them have gone down in filmmaking history, in fact. Here are 10 of the greatest endings of all time—some sad, some happy, some twisty—but beware of serious spoilers if you haven’t seen the films in question! Seeing them for yourself is an experience you want to have, believe me.
10. Children of Men (2006)
You’re holding your breath throughout all of Children of Men, hoping against hope that Kee’s pregnancy—the last pregnancy in the world as far as anybody knows—will result in a living baby. But even after it’s born the horror of this dystopian world doesn’t let up. The movie ends with Kee, her protector Theo, and her newborn baby on a small rowboat waiting for rescue. Oh, and Theo’s dying thanks to wounds he sustained earlier. Kee gives her baby a name meaningful to Theo just before he seemingly dies, and then she finally sees the rescue boat coming for her. Is the human race saved? Well, sounds of children playing can be heard after the final cut to black, so … Let’s say yes.
9. Thelma & Louise (1991)
You can thank screenwriter Callie Khouri for the iconic ending of Thelma and Louise. Director Ridley Scott wanted at least one of the women to survive, so he toyed with the idea of Louise pushing Thelma out of the car just before it went into the Grand Canyon. But luckily, that wasn’t the ending that made it to film. Khouri told Slate in 2022, “There was just something about the flying off into the great unknown. Really, it was supposed to feel like they got away. At least they did it on their own terms. And it wasn’t with despair.”
8. Titanic (1997)
Titanic has one of the most argued-about endings in modern cinema. Did Rose die at the end and reunite with Jack at last? Or is she just asleep and dreaming? You decide. But after the horror of watching all those people die, it’s good to see them again in Titanic Heaven/Dreamscape. Audiences can also argue about Rose’s decision to throw the priceless Heart of the Ocean necklace into the sea, considering how many of her great-grandkids that thing could’ve put through college.
7. The Mist (2007)
Possibly the most depressing movie ending of all time. During the finale of The Mist, Thomas Jayne’s David has temporarily escaped the monsters with some other survivors, including his young son, but the situation looks hopeless. So hopeless, in fact, that the whole group decides a mass suicide is the only way out. So David shoots his own son … and then the army shows up to defeat the monsters. Dear god, it’s bleak, even more so than the original ending of Stephen King’s novella. King loved the new one, of course.
6. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Another Stephen King movie! The Shawshank Redemption puts its characters through the wringer (and, in Andy Dufresne’s case, through a stinking sewer) but grants them happiness in the end. Andy and Red are both free, Shawshank is long behind them, and the corrupt Warden is dead. Justice has been done, more or less. This is another ending that’s not directly from the pen of King, the novella leaves things a little more ambiguous.
5. The Truman Show (1998)
After a lifetime of being an unwitting reality TV star, Jim Carrey’s Truman takes a final bow and walks off into the great unknown. What’s life going to be like for him in the outside world? Will he find love with Sylvia, one of the only people to ever truly care for him? Will he ever be able to overcome being the most famous person in the world, or the fact that all his closest friends were lying to him? The Truman Show wisely never answers those questions and allows us the audience to finally, finally leave Truman alone.
4. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Yes, the ending to this movie is a meme now. You’ve probably seen it, right? Donald Sutherland pointing at the camera and making a silly face. Except in context, that face isn’t silly at all, it’s horrifying, and so is the noise he makes. Watch it and see for yourself! Sometimes things become memes for a good reason and the ending to Invasion of the Body Snatchers is one of those things. Although if you like the human race it’s another downer, sorry about that.
3. Atonement (2007)
The ending of Atonement is like a punch to the gut, after having already endured multiple other punches to the gut. None of what we saw after Paul Marshall’s wedding to his rape victim Lola actually happened. Robbie and Cecilia were never reunited. Nope, they both died in horrible ways during the war instead. Briony made the whole scene up in a desperate attempt to absolve herself of guilt and give the tragic couple a happy ending at last. And as if that all wasn’t saddening enough, she’s dying herself as well. It’s one of the best British films of the ’00s, but jeez.
2. Seven (1995)
An incredibly bleak ending for an incredibly bleak movie. The ending of Seven passed into pop culture long ago so you know it, right? You know exactly what’s in the box. It’s been parodied numerous times at this point. Not that that takes away from the powerful words spoken by Morgan Freeman’s Detective Somerset over the aftermath of the terrible scene: “Ernest Hemingway once wrote: ‘The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for’. I agree with the second part.” Maybe you agree too.
1. Planet of the Apes (1968)
Yes, the twist is no longer a twist anymore, everyone knows that It Was Earth All Along. Consider what movie audiences must have thought back in 1968, though. Suddenly, the concept of nuclear annihilation and the end of all mankind must have seemed just that tiniest bit closer. Many people find the imagery of the Planet of the Apes ending slightly funny now, that’s what years of parodies will do, but Charlton Heston’s cry of “You maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you! Goddamn you all to hell!” isn’t funny at all.
(featured image: Dimension Films)
