A well-crafted closure is a crucial part of filmmaking as it often showcases the main themes of a film and sends out a final message to viewers. However, movie endings can either fall short of viewers’ expectations or make for the most remarkable moment in a film. Therefore, leaving a mark on viewers through a carefully crafted ending is undoubtedly essential.
On Reddit, cinephiles share which movie endings were huge letdowns or simply had the potential of being a lot better, even suggesting alternatives. These are some of the most interesting takes on film endings on the platform, from Interstellar to Lincoln.
The following article contains spoilers for the movies discussed.
10 ‘Interstellar’ (2014)
Interstellar is a science fiction masterpiece starring Matthew McConaughey. It takes place in a dystopian future, where humanity is facing catastrophic blight and famine. Cooper, McConaughey’s character, is compelled to join a team of astronauts on a mission through a wormhole near Saturn, searching for a new habitable home for mankind.
Featuring perhaps one of the most memorable — and arguably puzzling — movie endings of all time, Interstellar is a treasured film in many aspects. However, JellyRollGeorge believes it could have benefited from a different closure: “Anything else instead of the love is a tesseract or whatever so now I’m a ghost in your bookcase thing,” the user wrote.
9 ‘I Am Legend’ (2007)
This 2007 post-apocalyptic movie based on the 1954 horror novel of the same name by American writer Richard Matheson stars Will Smith in the lead role and follows Dr. Robert Neville’s journey to finding the cure to a deadly virus that has killed everyone in New York, leaving no one but him and his dog behind.
I Am Legendhas two different endings: While Robert sacrifices himself in the original one, he discovers that the hemocytes actually came for the female he captured earlier in the film in the alternate version. This seems to be TRNRLogan’s preference: “Just give us the original end as the theatrical version,” they wrote.
8 ‘The Mist’ (2007)
This science fiction horror by Frank Darabont revolves around a freak storm that releases a bloodthirsty species of creatures in a small town. In the meantime, a group of citizens takes refuge in a supermarket and battles for survival against these terrifying creatures.
Based on the 1980 novella of the same name by iconic author Stephen King, which has had many of his works adapted to the big screen over the years, The Mistis an intriguing film that Redditors believe could’ve been better with a much more different ending. “The ending of The Mist completely ruined the movie for me,” movieguy95453 explained. “I would have preferred a much more ambiguous ending where the fate of the survivors is unknown.”
7 ‘Snowpiercer’ (2013)
Set in 2031, Snowpiercer offers audiences a thought-provoking premise surrounding a world where an experiment to tackle climate change turned out to be a failure, causing the extinction of all life forms except for the people who took refuge on the Snowpiercer, a train that circles the planet.
Theyusedthelamppost, for one, believes that the Bong Joon Ho film is excellent except for the ending. The user suggests two alternate versions, one in which “Chris Evans finds an older version of himself at the front of the train,” and the other where “there’s no one at the front of the train, it’s all automated.”
6 ‘Promising Young Woman’ (2020)
Directed by Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman is a crime drama starring Carey Mulligan as Cassandra, a young woman who is deeply disturbed and traumatized by an impactful event in her past. Because of this, she seeks revenge against those who wronged her.
While Promising Young Woman is clever and provides audiences with an interesting premise, it is arguably not very well executed towards its end, ultimately being both shocking and incredibly disappointing given the message it sends. According to frenchtoasterss, the men getting away “with bad things they did with no consequences or maybe a slap on the wrist” would make for a much more realistic and thought-provoking ending than the victim just ending her life.
5 ‘Law Abiding Citizen’ (2009)
Starring Gerard Butler in the lead role, Law Abiding Citizen is an action drama by director F. Gary Gray that tells the story of a disgruntled man after a plea bargain sets one of his family’s killers free. Understandably, he decides to take justice into his own hands.
As it would seem, Law Abiding Citizen ending is not very much appreciated by Reddit users on the platform, starting with a now-deleted user who commented “Just throw away the entire third act and start over.” In a different post, Needless-To-Say wrote: “The end came as a surprise to the main character, why? It’s exactly what he planned all along.”
4 ‘Glass’ (2019)
This 2019 film serves as a crossover and sequel to Shyamalan’s previous films Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016). This movie marks the end of the Unbreakable trilogy and focuses on David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis), a security guard who uses his special powers to pursue Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), a man with 24 different personalities.
“The ending may have been planned…, but I did NOT enjoy the ending. In the movies, the hero should prevail. Not get drowned in a puddle,” a deleted account said with some others agreeing. “I always felt the way it ended was a disservice to Bruce Willis’s character,” shadownight311 also shared their opinion on Glass‘s closure.
3 ‘Titanic’ (1997)
In James Cameron‘s iconic movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, viewers look back at the tragic sinking of the ill-fated British ship. Titanic mostly centers on the romance between a 17-year-old aristocrat and a poor artist abroad on a luxurious cruise.
Combining facts and fiction, this 1997 drama remains a timeless classic today, with some people still refusing to accept its tragic, unforgettable, and much-discussed ending. “Put both your life jackets under the door, boom, you can both survive now,” 84121629 said, to which CommunityFan_LJ replied, “I’m sure it could have supported the both of them.”
2 ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998)
One of the most favored war dramas out there, the critically acclaimed Saving Private Ryan by talented director Steven Spielberg depicts the aftermath of the Normandy Landings, in which a team of American soldiers ventures into enemy territory to rescue a paratrooper whose siblings have died while serving in the war.
When it comes to movie endings that viewers would absolutely love to rewrite, the 1998 film’s one is highly mentioned on the platform. “Instead of succeeding and the whole ‘Earn it.’ part, they fail and Ryan dies in the last battle, and the old man at the cemetery is revealed to be Upham, who lived because he was too scared to move,” bongo1100 suggested.
1 ‘Lincoln’ (2012)
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Starring the undeniably talented Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis, this 2012 biography of the political figure makes for captivating and educational viewing. Set during the American Civil War, Lincoln follows the former president’s struggles to deal with the violence on the battlefield as well as the resistance from various members of his own cabinet regarding the emancipation of the slaves.
“I found the superimposed ghost-Abe over the candle to be rather cheesy, so I would have ended the film before his death,” a deleted user suggested. On a different post, another deleted account admitted that they think the movie “should have ended when he walks away to go to the play.”