Top 10 Most Frustrating Cut to Black Movie Endings
#10: “A Quiet Place” (2018)
Is A Quiet Place Another Cloverfield? Spoiler Free Review! Mojo @ The Movies
John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” proved one of the most successful movies of 2018, performing exceptionally well at the box office and earning strong reviews for its acting, unique concept, and atmosphere. That said, the ending was clearly meant to set up a sequel, and it proved a little frustrating. Regan figures out how to expose the creatures’ flesh, and Evelyn takes out one with a shotgun. The movie then ends with Evelyn pumping the shotgun and preparing for a fight. It closes out her character arc and promises a unique twist in the next movie - that being the characters’ knowledge of the monsters’ weakness - but there’s nothing more frustrating than an ending that leaves the story unresolved and blatantly sets up its own sequel.
#9: “A Serious Man” (2009)
Top 10 Best Thriller Movie Endings
When it comes to the Coen brothers’ filmography, “A Serious Man” is often overlooked. That’s a shame because it contains one of their best endings. The movie explores the powerlessness of man in the face of God and the meaninglessness of life’s tragic events - it’s not the cheeriest of movies. After grappling with his faith throughout the movie, Larry succumbs to temptation and accepts a bribe. God doesn’t take too kindly to this, and Larry immediately receives an ominous phone call from his doctor. Meanwhile, his son is stuck in the path of a massive tornado, and the movie ends with a haunting shot of the apocalyptic blackness approaching his school. The Biblical parallels are obvious, and it leaves the movie on a horrifying note.
#8: “Reservoir Dogs” (1992)
Serving as Quentin Tarantino’s first major movie, “Reservoir Dogs” is also his bleakest - both in terms of tone and story. The ending in particular is a total bloodbath, complete with poor Nash’s death and the Mexican standoff that kills Joe and Eddie. But the most frustrating aspect is the fate of both Orange and White. The two share an intimate bond throughout the movie, leading Orange to painfully admit to White that he is an undercover police officer. White kills Orange in retaliation and is shot down by the police as a result. Cut to black. It’s the director’s bleakest ending (even though these are murderous criminals), and that jarring tonal shift from the bloody climax to the poppy credits music is pure Tarantino.
#7: “Prisoners” (2013)
Denis Villeneuve’s first English-language film, “Prisoners” tells a seemingly simple story about a father taking justice into his own hands after his daughter Anna is abducted. Anna’s father, Dover, is later imprisoned by the kidnapper as well and finds his daughter’s emergency whistle. When Loki returns to search the house, he hears the faint sound of a whistle blowing, indicating a possible rescue of Dover. Dover’s fate is left ambiguous, but we can infer that he is saved due to Loki’s tenacious professionalism and willingness to help and Dover’s steadfast survivalism. The ending is also quite satisfying on a thematic level, and in that way, the movie assuredly succeeds.
#6: “The Blair Witch Project” (1999)
Top 5 Scariest Blair Witch Project Moments (Director Explains)
Opinion remains firmly divided over the quality of “The Blair Witch Project.” A particular source of contention is the ending, with some finding it a stellar and horrifying image, with others finding it frustratingly ambiguous. Heather makes her way down to the basement and finds Mike standing in the corner - a nightmarish image and a throwback to the Rustin Parr story they heard earlier. She screams and is attacked from behind. The end. All three protagonists certainly die, but the logistics of the scene tend to bother some viewers. Was it the Witch? Was it Josh? Was it Josh acting on orders of the Witch, or possibly under her possession? The movie doesn’t give us answers, and it’s all the scarier for it.
#5: “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975)
Top 10 Monty Python Movie Moments
Often heralded as one of the funniest movies of all time, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” has a suitably hilarious ending to prove its reputation. Castle Aarrgh has been taken over by French soldiers, and both Arthur and Bedevere launch an assault with an army of knights. It promises to be an epic battle sequence, but this being a wacky and low-budget comedy, the movie throws a wild curveball. Anachronistic police drive up, arrest the main characters, and break the camera. It’s so hilariously surreal, ridiculous, and anticlimactic that viewers can’t help feeling both amused and bemused. And therein lies of the wondrous magic of Monty Python.
#4: “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)
Can Avengers: Infinity War's Box Office Records Be Topped? - The CineFiles Extended Cut
Quite frankly, how dare Joss Whedon do this to us. “Age of Ultron” promised us the epic and long-awaited “Avengers, assemble.” Well, it didn’t promise us, but we were expecting it nonetheless. Cap and Black Widow talk about beating a “team” into shape, and we watch the epic gathering of War Machine, Vision, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch. The music swells, the camera zooms into Cap’s proud face, and he declares, “Avengers…” Just before he could say “assemble,” the movie cut to credits and had us all throwing popcorn at the screen in utter disappointment. Of course, we finally heard the iconic line four years later in “Endgame” and it was worth the wait.
#3: “No Country for Old Men” (2007)
Top 10 Best Movie Endings of the 2000s
Another Coen brothers masterpiece, “No Country for Old Men” is one of the most faithful movie adaptations ever made. It borrows nearly every scene and line of dialogue from Cormac McCarthy’s novel, including this infamously anticlimactic - if beautiful and poetic - ending. Sheriff Bell never catches Chigurh - he doesn’t even save Moss. Rather, he retires from law enforcement owing to his feelings of hopelessness and tells his wife about some dreams he had. The dreams contain enormous thematic relevance, but Bell’s telling of them serves as a very bizarre and untraditional way to end an exciting chase thriller. Then again, subversion is entirely the point. It’s up to the individual viewer whether or not they want to accept it.
#2: “The Thing” (1982)
Top 30 Scariest Movie Endings
John Carpenter’s masterpiece “The Thing” is one of the best horror movies ever made, and it contains one of the bleakest endings in the history of cinema. Having destroyed both the base and The Thing, MacReady and Childs share a bottle of scotch and stew in their paranoia as they slowly freeze to death. Many viewers like to posit whether Childs was The Thing, but that’s beside the point. The point is that The Thing has utterly obliterated their trust in each other and that the group’s paranoia and unwillingness to trust each other eventually led to their literal destruction. People absolutely hated the ending back in 1982, and we can’t exactly blame them. It’s great stuff, but it’s also horribly bleak, pessimistic, and nihilistic.
#1: “Inception” (2010)
Perhaps the most infamous cut to black ending of our time, “Inception” really leaves viewers’ minds spinning. Like “The Thing’s” ending, this one is largely served for a thematic purpose. After finally earning his way home and getting to see his children, Cobb abandons the totem altogether and chooses to ignore its reality. He has his kids, and that’s all that matters. But again, that hasn’t stopped fans from theorizing about the nature of the ending. Some even bring Cobb’s wedding ring into it - a fan theory that has gained an enormous amount of traction throughout the years. And while it doesn’t really matter if the ending is a dream or reality, the lack of a definitive answer certainly proves a little frustrating.
