The ending seems to be the most impressive part of the movie. It can leave you with a sense of satisfaction or downright put you down. Therefore, it can take months, or even years to prepare for the final scene and directors devote time and money to the process.
In Hollywood, there are many movies boasting of remarkable endings that float our boat. They drive us to watch the movies over and over again. But there are also several movies that give us lackluster or even ridiculous endings. That can tie us up in knots or make us giggle. Some of them even make us want to throw the chair to the screen as they are blatantly unreasonable.
The unstable quality reignited the controversy about Hollywood’s writing ability of final scene endings. In this post, we've enlisted 10 satisfying and 10 horrible movie endings with comments from audiences. Scroll down to explore.
#1 Satisfying: Knives Out (2019)
Source: Lionsgate
Mavmag commented: "Marta looking out over the balcony while taking a sip from the 'my house, my rules, my coffee' mug was such a feel-good ending. It showed how a kind-hearted character made a selfless decision that went on to change her life for the better. The Rolling Stones' 'Sweet Virginia' playing over the looks on the Thrombey family members' faces made that final shot even more gratifying!"
#2 Disappointing: I Am Legend (2007)
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
u/Kosmo_Kramer said: "Using the book's ending would've been fabulous, especially had they not shown the vampires and zombies throughout most of the movie. We're only told by Neville that they were evil, mindless creatures when really, they were just trying to survive and be organized into a society. It's just assumed and hinted that the creatures were monsters and then at the end, it threw everyone for a loop that they weren't."
#3 Satisfying: What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)
Source: Buena Vista Pictures
An account commented: “I fully understand What's Love was a biopic, so you already knew how the ending was going to play out going into the movie, but oh, man — watching it was a completely different experience.
Angela Bassett singing as Tina Turner when she was on top of the world as a solo artist in the '80s, then cutting to the real Tina performing live in concert to hundreds of fans was BRILLIANT. How this movie never won an Academy Award, I'll never know.”
#4 Disappointing: Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Source: Marvel
Aspiring Gay Icon commented: "Tony just wanted everyone to be safe, so for him to make the ultimate sacrifice was out of character. Steve and Thor would’ve made more sense for that sacrifice because that’s within their character arcs. I feel like the writing was ultimately catering to the 'final'
Marvel film for Robert Downey Jr. and
Chris Evans, rather than the characters we spent 10 years growing to love."
#5 Satisfying: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Source: New Line Cinema
"I was a MASSIVE LOTR fan when the movies were coming out, and I couldn’t imagine how the trilogy could be wrapped up nicely. But, Peter Jackson did such a good job; everyone’s stories were wrapped up perfectly. I was sad that Frodo went on the boat and left his friends, but I was satisfied that I knew what happened to him." —christine61390 said about the ending of the movie.
#6 Disappointing: Death Note (2017)
Source: Netflix
u/[deleted] show the disappointment: "The whole movie was bad, but the ending was even worse. Light's plan was to write on the death note that Mia died while the page with his name burned. He survived the fall from the Ferris wheel, another person found the death note, and then used it in order to throw the police off. Almost all of that didn't happen, when it was essentially established in the beginning of the movie. Things had to be physically possible in order for the death note to make them happen, so how could he have survived that fall? You can't make people do stuff that they have no knowledge of, so how did that guy find the death note without knowing where it was? How did Light know there was gonna be a fire nearby for his page to fall in? If there wasn't a fire, the page wouldn't have been able to burn, and he would've died."
#7 Satisfying: Get Out (2017)
Source: Universal Pictures / Monkeypaw Productions
"I absolutely LOVED the final scene in Get Out — when Rose's face sunk when she realized it was Chris's friend in the police car there to save him instead of her? Brilliant." —jaladhihpatel talked about the ending of Get Out.
#8 Disappointing: My Fair Lady (1964)
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
"Eliza Doolittle just ended up with an emotionally abusive boss, and didn't live out her dream of owning a flower shop like he had promised."—u/TigerlilySmith shared the thought of the movie.
—u/[deleted] also commented: "Especially because of the play it's based on (Pygmalion), Eliza recognized her worth and left Higgins to marry Freddy. George Bernard Shaw, the playwright, wrote in his stage directions to the actor playing Eliza in 1920 that the triumph of Eliza (and the most important part of her character) was emancipating herself at the end. I don't know why the film changed it, but the ending made no sense."
#9 Satisfying: The Color Purple (1985)
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
"The Color Purple definitely had a satisfying ending. Shug got redemption and her father's forgiveness, Mister did right by Celie and Nettie, and Celie was finally reunited with Nettie and her children." —leannesfitbit79 shared.
#10 Disappointing: Knowing (2009)
Source: Summit Entertainment
" u/KryoBelly said: “The whole movie is pretty good up until the end where aliens save the world by taking some children (seemingly randomly chosen by them) from Earth and bringing them to a new planet to breed and make a new civilization. They only chose children, and just dropped them off on an empty planet. It was just a really bizarre ending, imo."
#11 Satisfying: La La Land (2016)
Source: Lionsgate
"Whoever didn't like La La Land's ending just didn't get it — the ending was perfect because it was imperfect, making it more relatable. The entire film was honest about what it's like to go after your dreams, and the challenges that come with doing that. Mia and Sebastian worked hard for what they wanted, and they finally found their achievements. They didn't end up together, but that's just the reality of being human. Even if we get what we want, that doesn't mean our lives are going to be perfect — we can't have it all. Mia and Sebastian got what they initially wanted from the beginning of the movie while accepting they couldn't be together. That's what made this ending so perfect — knowing that nothing can ever fully be perfect." — sammachado shared about the ending of La La Land.
#12 Disappointing: Yesterday (2019)
Source: Universal Pictures
mad_about_it commented: "Yesterday was such a letdown — as cliché as it sounds, I would’ve loved some kind of twist where people remembered the Beatles at the end. I thought it would’ve explored the impact of the Beatles, and the meaningfulness of the band to the world. Those songs wouldn't nearly have the impact today if they were just randomly released by some guy, and it’s absurd the movie shows that without the Beatles most of our music today would still exist just as it is? No way — also, Harry Potter not existing at the end was the last straw. Just absolutely not."
#13 Satisfying: Coco (2017)
Source: Disney / Pixar
books_baking_broadway shared: "I loved the final scene of Coco — you could see how far the Rivera family had come. Miguel AND his cousins were playing instruments, the ghosts accepted Héctor, and Mamá Coco got to see her grandchildren and father all together. The visuals were so pretty, and it was such a sweet ending."
#14 Disappointing: The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Source: MGM
"I enjoyed The Wizard of Oz so much as a kid, so the ending never really bothered me back then (but now it does). First off, after Glinda sent Dorothy on a wild goose chase, she later told her: 'You had the power to go home all along by just clapping your ruby slippers together.' Whaaaat? Secondly, Dorothy woke up and realized it was all just a dream — what other movie could normally get away with that kind of plot twist?" —u/anoelr1963 showed his disappointment
u/MontanaIsabella also said "If it helps, originally in the book (if I remember correctly) Dorothy looked at the end of her bed and the ruby slippers were there. Why they cut that out of the film I can't remember, but that was the original ending.”
#15 Satisfying: Little Women (2019)
Source: Sony Pictures Releasing
"Little Women (2019) had a satisfying conclusion, which ended with a shot of Jo clutching her published book to her chest. It was a sweet scene of her life finally coming together and her family being reunited again, and she got to publish her book like she always wanted." —321missmaximoff shared.avasexton64 also commented: "Jo's small smile turning to frown, and the way her hands wrapped around the book — it brings tears to my eyes every time. It was so perfect."
#16 Disappointing: The Golden Compass (2007)
Source: New Line Cinema
u/two__sheds show the disappointment: "The movie ended about one chapter from the end of the book, but the omission of that chapter took the story from 'OMG, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?' to 'Yay, happy
Disney ending!' I was pretty much on board with the movie until the ending."
#17 Satisfying: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Lilyhermionelovegood talked about the movie’s ending: "Definitely Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. The Golden Trio (along with Draco Malfoy) sending their children Albus Severus, Rose, and Scorpius to Hogwarts for the first time was just brilliant. The original music [from the first movie] was a great touch, and there was so much nostalgia."
#18 Disappointing: The Notebook (2004)
Source: New Line Cinema
ollied42f4b7b76 commented: "I think the 'twist' that the old man was Noah and the old woman was Allie was a little too predictable for the emotional gut punch that the film tried to pull off. I wish the old man had turned out to be Lon — Allie never left him to be with Noah, and they lived out their days as husband and wife. During her dementia, knowing that she was never truly happy with him, Lon made the ultimate sacrifice to 'love' and allowed Allie to believe that she married Noah and had the fairy-tale life she always wanted with him."
#19 Satisfying: Crush (2022)
Source: Hulu
“Crush has quickly become one of the best teen, queer rom-coms of our time — it totally combated the "bury your gays" narrative in the most wholesome way possible. Paige declared her love for AJ in front of the whole school through her art, drawing all of the little, romantic moments between them. Who says a queer teen who's caught up in a classic high school love triangle can't get a happy ending?” – an account commented.
#20 Disappointing: Us (2019)
Source: Universal Pictures / Monkeypaw Productions
eclipsecat14 said: "Adelaide knowing the entire time that she was the real Tethered just didn’t make sense to me, given her behavior throughout the movie. I would've had the reveal come not as a flashback but as the audience just going back in time to see what we didn’t get to see before. We know the truth, but it was strongly implied that Adelaide had completely repressed the memory because of trauma, so the characters had no idea who she really was."