A plethora of films throughout cinema history skillfully woo their fans for an hour or two before giving up the fight in the latter stretch. There have been several films with endings that have left viewers with bad taste in their mouths, whether it’s because of a stunning, miscalculated conclusion, such in the soppy drama Pay It Forward or M Night Shyamalan’s The Village, or just because the movie is running out of steam. These are 17 otherwise outstanding movies whose conclusions let them down.
10 Cloverfield Lane
In this strange follow-up to Cloverfield, much of the action takes place in a subterranean bunker with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, and John Gallagher Jr. When Winstead’s heroine emerges from the bunker in the waning moments of the movie, she discovers that her captor was speaking the truth about an extraterrestrial invasion above, which disastrously destroys all of the hard-earned tension that had built up previously.
Baby Driver
In contrast to the delightful, rhythmic lightness of touch that permeates the first part of the movie, Baby Driver’s last act explodes with action melodrama as Ansel Elgort’s headphone-addicted getaway driver battles a demonic Jon Hamm. It’s a vehicle collision, or at the very least an engine failure, compared to what came before.
Bad Times at the El Royale
Films seldom take such a drastic turn for the worse as Bad Times at the El Royale, which begins as a clever, capricious Tarantino riff. Bad Times devolves into an overly complicated and tiresome disaster as Chris Hemsworth’s pretentious cult leader seizes control as it hurtles towards its conclusion. Undoubtedly disappointing.
Fight Club (Chinese cut)
Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter clasp hands as they watch buildings explode outside the window in the iconic original conclusion of the film Fight Club. This scene, however, was replaced in the Chinese version of the movie with a rather unimpressive postscript.
Happiest Season
The main character Aubrey Plaza has with Kristen Stewart is so strong throughout the movie that her choice to reconcile with the (inadvertently) poisonous Mackenzie Davis seems like a tack in our figgy pudding.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Until the very end, when an extraterrestrial spaceship is activated by Harrison Ford’s brave archaeologist. The transition from Indiana Jones to science fiction isn’t much more fantastical than the quasi-religious enchantment of the previous three movies, but Crystal Skull makes the scene seem not just ridiculous but completely uninteresting.
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
That forbearance finally gives way to pure frustration at the conclusion of the third movie, Return of the King. After the trilogy’s drama is wrapped up, we are given to a very long scene in which Elijah Wood’s character, Frodo Baggins, meets up with each of his former pals one by one.
The Magnificent Ambersons
The only version that is currently accessible is the studio-mandated “happy ending” that was added to this clever period drama. The film succeeds despite its finale, however it is still very much worth seeing since Welles’s original goals are haunting the movie like a ghost.
Now You See Me
In the end, Now You See Me fails miserably at its major reveal, revealing that the magic is genuine but incredibly disappointing. The movie “The wizard did it” ultimately amounts to little more than the worst cop-out ever, and it leaves a lot of unanswered questions unanswered. Not even a mediocre follow-up could turn things around.
Pay It Forward
In an unexpected turn of events, the hopeful drama featuring Haley Joel Osmant as a little child trying to make a positive difference in the world turns out not to be so hopeful after all, as the youngster is fatally stabbed. It is extremely dark—much, much too dark—and gave viewers the impression that they had just received a smack in the face.
Psycho
There are several iconic cinematic moments in Alfred Hitchcock’s groundbreaking horror film. However, an awkward, afterthought epilogue that overexplains Norman’s psychology in stilted, antiquated words detracts from the film’s satisfying conclusion. If the moment were cut, the movie would only get better.
Remember Me
In an unexpected turn of events, the hopeful drama featuring Haley Joel Osmant as a little child trying to make a positive difference in the world turns out not to be so hopeful after all, as the youngster is fatally stabbed. It is extremely dark—much, much too dark—and gave viewers the impression that they had just received a smack in the face.
Spectre
There are several iconic cinematic moments in Alfred Hitchcock’s groundbreaking horror film. However, an awkward, afterthought epilogue that overexplains Norman’s psychology in stilted, antiquated words detracts from the film’s satisfying conclusion. If the moment were cut, the movie would only get better.
Split
The 2016 film directed by M. Night Shyamalan begins as an interesting psychological thriller. With unrestricted freedom, James McAvoy displays exceptional acting skills as he assumes the several personas of kidnapper Kevin Wendell Crumb, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. Then it is discovered that Split is actually a covert continuation of M. Night Shyamalan’s earlier picture Unbreakable. However, it destroys the suspense and brings the movie to an end as well.
Sunshine
The film’s foundation was psychological plausibility and compelling characters. But it abruptly shifts into slasher territory in the last act, undermining a lot of the preceding material.
The Village
In his review, the esteemed Roger Ebert, who passed away, criticized the movie harshly, stating that calling the conclusion an anticlimax would be an affront to both climaxes and prefixes. It’s a terrible secret, roughly one rung higher on the story creativity scale thanEverything was a dream. In fact, it’s so dumbfounding that, once we figure out the secret, we want to go back in time and erase the memory of it.
The World’s End
Edgar Wright’s third feature, the so-called Cornetto Trilogy, is among his greatest up until the film’s finale. The momentum is completely destroyed in the last fight, as extraterrestrial body snatchers battle Simon Pegg’s irritating Gary King.
