For movie lovers, bad endings are incredibly frustrating. Unfortunately, they're also pretty common. Even good movies often have bad endings. We're talking about endings that are anticlimactic, fall flat, seem incomplete or rushed, or are otherwise just disappointing. While a lot of movies that aren't very good overall have bad endings, there seem to be just as many fantastic films that have lackluster endings as well. It's so disappointing to watch a great movie with a terrible ending!
We honestly can't explain why so many movies fail to come to a satisfying conclusion, but one thing we have noticed is that a lot of action thrillers seem to suffer from bad endings (and also quite a few dramas). Perhaps it's because filmmakers are simply trying to pack too much into a single film.
Honestly, it's unbelievable, too, because even films by renowned filmmakers sometimes have terrible endings. Films by well-known and acclaimed directors such as James Cameron and M. Night Shyamalan even make the list, and there also are quite a few with pretty famous actors like Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler. Keep scrolling to see some of the movies with the worst endings of all time.
'Titanic'
There's no way to skirt around this one. As much as we all love Titanic, every single one of us hates the ending. Because of course, we can clearly see that there was room for Jack on that raft! Some have argued that the weight of both Jack and Rose would have prevented it from floating, but from where we're looking, they would have been just fine.
'Birdbox'
The 2018 film Birdbox, starring Sandra Bullock, is undeniably entertaining. It was hugely popular when it came out, but the ending just isn't plausible. First off, she rows herself and the two kids down the river blindfolded (which is pretty outlandish) and somehow manages to get them to safety, ending up at a school for the blind. But then we are given no inkling of what will actually become of them.
'La La Land'
The 2016 film La La Land, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, is so good it won six Oscars, but audiences have been left totally disappointed by it. We buy into the love story, we root for the couple, and then they end up giving up on their love in favor of their careers. We know that's the modern thing to do, but ugh, it's so disappointing.
'War of the Worlds'
Um, so yeah, the 2005 sci-fi flick War of the Worlds, starring Tom Cruise, totally defeats itself. It's an edge-of-your-seat action movie that we realize at the end has absolutely no point — because the planet doesn't need saving because the aliens can't survive even a second on Earth. Oh, and the protagonist's family all survives, so everything's fine after all, guys.
'Lucy'
We love this movie, but we're so disappointed by the ending. Scarlett Johansson can do no wrong in an action flick, so we don't pin it on her at all, but when everything culminates, her character ends up simply disappearing into thin air — but not before sharing all the secrets of the universe. Yeah, bizarre.
'Vanilla Sky'
The 2001 film Vanilla Sky, starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, and Penélope Cruz, deserves a much better ending. It's a pretty entertaining movie about a man whose world is flipped upside down after a car accident, but the end is utterly boring. Hint: It was all a dream. (Talk about a cheap trick.)
'The Village'
We want to really like M. Night Shyamalan's movies, but it's always the endings that do them in. In 2004's The Village, we're led to believe the entire film is set hundreds of years in the past, only to learn at the end that the story is actually present day and everyone is being tricked. Womp womp.
'Splice'
The 2009 film Splice, starring Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley, is a weird one through and through, and the ending of this utterly bizarre film doesn't do it any favors. It concludes with a scientist being impregnated by the mutant she created after it rapes her, and then deciding to keep the baby. What!?
'Signs'
Yup, another alien movie. We remember when Signs, starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix, first came out and we were all really excited to see it. But it's another M. Night Shyamalan movie with an ending that just doesn't work. Believe it or not, it's for the same reason War of the Worlds doesn't work: The solution to getting rid of the aliens is too simple. It's like there was almost no thought put into it.
'Avengers: Infinity War'
Avengers: Infinity War is a beloved and crucial part of the Marvel franchise. It's an excellent movie, but the ending still disappoints fans big time. It has less to do with the movie itself, though, more to do with how Marvel handled announcing subsequent films. An entire slate of movies involving the Avengers — including the final Avengers movie — was announced before Infinity Wars was released, so we already knew that even though many of our favorite characters were turned to dust, they were going to resurface in future films. That knowledge sucked quite a bit of impact out of the movie's final moments.
'Uncut Gems'
At more than two hours long, the 2019 Netflix original Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler and Julia Fox, is an undertaking to watch, but it's largely entertaining. The story is quite an emotional roller coaster, and then after becoming so invested in the main character's situation, he gets robbed and killed anyway. So what exactly is the point?
'Remember Me'
You know what's a cheap and kind of crass way to end a movie about two grieving strangers who fall in love? Having one of them killed in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Seriously?! Not only that, but the plot twist comes completely out of nowhere, so they literally could have ended the story any other way, but went for the easy emotional grab instead.
'Click'
Click, starring Adam Sandler and Kate Beckinsale, is actually a pretty good movie — until the end, that is. They couldn't just leave well enough alone and instead of letting the movie end when Michael dies, at the last second we're led to believe that everything we've just seen was actually a dream. Filmmakers really need to know when to let go of the dream ending trope already!
'Knock Knock'
This movie is really, really messed up. Starring Keanu Reeves, Ana de Armas, and Lorenzo Izzo, it's a sick tale about two young women who plot against a happily married man and end up raping him and then setting it all up to look like he's some sort of degenerate. And in the end, they get away with it! It's so upsetting.
'Savages'
Here we go again! Savages is a crazy movie featuring an all-star cast including Blake Lively, Benicio del Toro, John Travolta, and Salma Hayek. The concept of three slacker pot dealers turning down an offer from a Mexican drug cartel is interesting, but all the intrigue is destroyed by a dream once again. Yup, everything was a dream, and the protagonists all get their unlikely happily ever after.
'The Forgotten'
The Forgotten, a thriller starring Julianne Moore, actually has a really interesting concept. But it gets completely bizarre when everything that happens is attributed to aliens doing a social experiment. Then it gets even weirder when the main character's memory is erased and everything suddenly goes back to normal and the aliens just mysteriously go away. Um, we think they might have left something out.
'The Devil Inside'
The 2012 film The Devil Inside is a fairly standard exorcism horror movie. It's totally acceptable for fans of the genre. The only problem is, it doesn't really have an ending at all. In fact, viewers are directed to a website to find out more about the events that occurred, which are based on a true story. Well, it's more than a decade later, and that website doesn't even exist anymore, so anybody who watches it now will never know.
'Jaws: The Revenge'
Anyone who is a fan of the original Jaws would likely want to watch Jaws: The Revenge, even though the premise is actually kind of ludicrous. The movie is just as wacky as you would imagine a movie about a shark targeting a specific family just to get revenge on them to be. None of it is believable in the least, especially not the ending when the shark roars. Pure cheese.
