A number of popular movies feature head-scratching endings that left audiences confused and arguing with each other over what exactly happened. What do you think these movie endings really mean?

Inception

Ever since Inception came out, audiences argued over the ending. According to the movie, a spinning top that stops means an event happened in reality, but a dream would have an ever-spinning top. In the final scene, Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is reunited with his children back home.

Then the camera pans over to a spinning top.

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Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Fans of the movie have since debated on whether or not Cobb’s reunion with his family was a dream come true or just a dream. Some argue the top wobbles slightly, indicating that it was indeed real. Others think that the top spun for too long, indicating that it was all in Cobb’s head.

The Shining

At the end of The Shining, crazed writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) gets frozen to death after getting lost in a hedge maze during a snowstorm. The final shot of the film is of the photo in the hallway of the Overlook Hotel from 1921, only this time with Jack showcased in the center.

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

What did that photo mean? Is Jack a lost soul stuck in the Overlook Hotel? Has he “always been the caretaker” of the hotel, as Delbert Grady said? Also, what happened to Jack’s wife and child after they escaped? These unanswered questions added to the spookiness and intrigue that made this film last in people’s minds.

The Thing

In John Carpenter’s The Thing, the plot was simple: Who among these people in an Antarctic research station is a shapeshifting monster? After exploding the base, MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Childs (Keith David) sit at a campfire. MacReady offers Childs a nip of scotch, both unsure if the other is a Thing.

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Image via Universal Pictures

Since the film came out, there have been several fan hypotheses. One is that Childs is a Thing and MacReady actually gave him gasoline to drink instead of whiskey to test him. Another theory is MacReady is a Thing because he smirked at the end. Others believe both men are infected, or both are still human.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey inspired so many sci-fi creators even though no one can 100% agree on what’s going on in the movie. While the plot is fairly straightforward for most of the movie, things go nuts when astronaut David Bowman is pulled into an alien monolith.

Image via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

David ages rapidly and appears to die, bedridden and in front of a monolith. David’s body is replaced with a glowing fetus that appears to be heading toward Earth. Among numerous theories, many believe that the monolith is an alien device that progresses human evolution. Others think Baby David’s approach was an upcoming apocalypse.

The Wrestler

Fans of the Darren Aronofsky film The Wrestler get to choose the finish. After a falling out with his loved ones, Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) goes against doctor’s orders to wrestle again. While experiencing chest pains, Randy leaps off the top rope to hit his “Ram Jam” finishing move.

And that’s it.

Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures

Did Randy die in the ring after hitting his finishing move? Did he successfully finish the match and survive? If so, did he quit gracefully to reconcile with his love interest and daughter? Or did he get a major comeback and revival in his career? What do you think?

Black Swan

The entirety of Black Swan has been debated, including the ending. Nina (Natalie Portman) stabs herself with a piece of broken glass and performs the dance of her life on stage. When she finishes, he falls onto a mattress and is heaped with applause while bleeding profusely.

Then the screen goes white.

Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures

Some believe that Nina is alive and the ending represents a full descent into madness. Others think that she died on stage. There are also theories that the entire scenario was made up in her head. Even after several rewatchings, audiences haven't been able to totally solve this ballerina puzzle.

American Psycho

American Psycho’s ending leads to one major question: Did Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) actually kill people? Towards the end of the movie, Bateman leaves a voice message with his lawyer wherein he confesses all of his crimes. Yet the following day, all of his murders were blown off by his lawyer as a joke.

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Image via Lions Gate Films

This left audiences deciding whether Bateman was a bored yuppie with a disturbing imagination, or a serial killer that is able to operate openly without fear of retribution due to his wealth. Regardless of whichever theory you side on, everyone can agree that Patrick Bateman is a creepy man.

The Sopranos

For 86 episodes, fans had been following the trials and triumphs of mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his family. The final episode of the critically-lauded crime drama ends with Tony meeting with his family at a diner. A bell rings from the diner’s doorway and the screen abruptly cuts to black.

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Image via HBO

This controversial ending (or non-ending) sparked debate and anger among fans due to the lack of closure. Some fans thought it was a brilliant choice, seeing the abrupt ending as Tony’s final moments before being shot to death. Others thought it was an open-ended cop-out that allowed the show to stop without committing to anything.

Shutter Island

The twists and turns of Shutter Island are a bit much to recap, but the ending is where the true debate among cinephiles lies. Towards the end, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) finds out the whole investigation he was conducting was actually a roleplay set up by the island’s physicians to address his psychosis.

Image via Paramount Pictures

The doctors claimed that Andrew, Teddy’s supposed real name, is a patient that killed his wife and children. It is presumed that Teddy/Andrew gets a lobotomy at the end. Some viewers believed that Andrew faked his illness, refusing to acknowledge his crimes. Or, was the roleplay reveal itself a trap designed to trick Teddy into doubting himself?

Gone Girl

At the end of the Gone Girl, Amy (Rosamund Pike) clears Nick (Ben Affleck) of her murder, for which she had initially framed him. She then forces Nick to stay with her by artificially inseminating herself with Nick’s sperm. Nick agrees to stay married to Amy, out of obligation to his unborn child.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

This lead to several questions among fans as to what would happen next. Would Nick suffer in silence while raising their child? Would either one of them actually kill the other? Does either one of them have a true endgame or secretly enjoy the drama the other brings to their life? Audiences will have to wait for Gone Girl 2 for answers.

Total Recall

Total Recall is an action-packed sci-fi film that can be as deep or as shallow as you want it to be. After Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) defeats the bad guys and liberates Mars, he is the conquering hero and gets to kiss the girl. For a moment, though, Quaid wonders if this was all a dream.

Was it?

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Image via Tristar Pictures

Since the Rekall company specializes in imaginary vacations, some film theorists believe that everything Quaid experiences upon visiting them are a dream. Although, everything presented could have actually happened, which could explain Quaid’s dreams about life on Mars. The choice is yours.

Pan’s Labyrinth

The ending of the dark fantasy film Pan’s Labyrinth can be tragic or hopeful depending on how you interpret it. At the finale, young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) lays dying in the stone labyrinth. But the film then goes to a scene where she is reborn as Princess Moanna, taking her rightful place at her king father’s side.

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Was this real or fantasy? Did Ofelia give herself a storybook ending as she laid there dying, or were all the tales true? Since she died with a smile on her face, does it even matter if it was real? It is up to the audience to decide.

Interstellar

Interstellar has a lot of different interpretations and plays with various scientific theories throughout its twisty story. Using wormholes and a space “library,” astronaut Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is able to salvage humanity and visit his daughter one last time, just before she dies of old age.

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Image via Paramount Pictures

Most movie audiences wondered if the plan truly paid off. Will humanity be saved and thrive on another planet? Would history repeat itself? What will life be like now that the ability to speak to the past is possible? Like many Christopher Nolan movies, there are more questions than answers.

Taxi Driver

The end of Tax Driver seems happy on the surface level (sort of). Vietnam-vet-turned-cabbie Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is praised as a hero for rescuing a child prostitute during a shootout at a brothel. He even gets a letter from the girl’s parents saying that she is back home and attending school, away from prostitution.

Image via Columbia Pictures

Yet at the very end, after reconciling with his love interest, Bickle sinisterly peers into the rearview window as the sound of a cymbal crash is played in reverse. Is he about to kill again? Or is he dying, and everything that happened after the shootout was just in his head?

That small rearview moment made everyone question the entire finale.

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men won the Oscar for Best Picture, but that doesn’t mean that folks weren’t puzzled at the ending. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) struggles with retirement and recounts two dreams to his wife that seem irrelevant to the film’s plot. Or were they?

Image via Miramax Films

Theorists believe the first dream of Bell misplacing his father’s money reflects Bell’s immunity to greed and his failure to bring order to the world. The other dream, of Bell’s father lighting a fire for Bell, could mean that it is the responsibility of the young to provide light in darker times.

Or, neither interpretation is true, and the dreams are just meant to leave us as confused as Bell feels.

Birdman

Birdman’s ending is either tragic or hopeful depending on your interpretation. At the end of the movie, Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) wakes up in the hospital after intentionally shooting himself onstage. After seeing his plastic surgery, he leaps out of the window, with an ambiguous ending shot.

Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures

His daughter Sam (Emma Stone) looks out the window just after Riggan jumps out, then looks up in awe. Did Riggan fly? Did he fall and die, with this as a happy, lasting memory before death?

The open-ended nature of the film didn't keep it from wining the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture of that year.

In Bruges

The critically acclaimed dark comedy/crime film In Bruges seems a little straightforward if looked at from a surface level. Ray (Colin Farrell) gets shot in the street in Bruges and is being carried onto an ambulance. But did he die? If so, was he already dead?

Image via Universal Studios

Throughout the movie, Ray constantly complains about the discomfort and boredom he feels in Bruges, leading some film theorists to think that Ray is already dead and Bruges is just some form of purgatory. Yet there are those that think Ray will survive but will live the remainder of his life in Bruges as penance for his crimes.

Blade Runner

Blade Runner’s ending was debated for decades, but the ending depended on which cut of the movie you saw. Deckard (Harrison Ford) runs off with Rachael (Sean Young), leaving his apartment together knowing Rachael had a limited life span as a replicant.

Or she didn’t have a shortened life span. Or maybe Deckard was a replicant, too.

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Image via Warner Bros.

Sci-fi superfans would debate about the destinies of Deckard and Rachael for years. Several of them hunted down different cuts of the movie to determine which one had the “true” ending.

It wasn’t until Blade Runner 2049 came out that certain theories about the original's ending were validated (and debunked).

Mulholland Drive

In spite of what some people say, director David Lynch says that his mysterious Mulholland Drive makes sense. At the film’s end, Diane (Naomi Watts) hires a hitman to kill her lover Camilla (Laura Elena Harring) and, after experiencing hallucinations induced by her guilt, takes her own life. But is that really the story?

Image via Universal Pictures

Critics and audiences were left debating whether the film was actually about trying to make it in Hollywood. The first half reflects the hopeful success of Hollywood fame, and the last half is the real nightmare of failure to achieve your dreams. No matter what conclusion you come to, the movie requires a lot for the viewer to unpack.

The Road

At the end of The Road, Viggo Mortensen’s character dies, and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is approached by a family that wants to take him in. Given the feelings of mistrust during this post-apocalypse and that cannibalism is practiced, the boy questions if joining them will be a good idea.

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Image via Dimension Films

The boy agrees to join the family, but the audience decides his fate. Will the boy live a much happier life as a member of a loving family? Will he be betrayed? Even if they all get along, will they be able to survive together safely? The ending is as open as the road itself.

Tree of Life

Tree of Life is another movie that requires audiences to draw their own conclusions, especially for the ending. Jack O’Brien (Sean Penn) walks along the beach and runs into his parents (Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain) and his dead brother. It is unclear whether this is actually happening, or if there are other elements at play.

Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures

Theatergoers have interpreted this scene as Jack’s imaginative reflection of the past, trying to mentally mend ties with his family. Others believe Jack passed on and had entered Heaven with his loved ones. Which interpretation do you side with? Do you have one of your own?

Oldboy

The South Korean thriller Oldboy is full intrigue, extreme action, and shocking revelations, including the film’s bitter end. After Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) gains vengeance over the person who held him captive for 15 years, it is revealed to him that his love interest was actually his daughter.

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Image via Show East

To spare his daughter from this revelation, Dae-su decides to have a hypnotist wipe his memory, so she’ll never know the truth. In the final scene, his daughter declares her love for him and hugs him. Dae-su starts to smile but then a painful look falls on his face. Did the hypnotism work, or is Dae-su stuck with this tragic knowledge?

Life of Pi

Life of Pi is about two different versions of the same event, so it's up to the audience to decide which one is true. Pi (Irrfan Khan) gives his tale of survival on a boat shared with a Bengal tiger. But he also shares a violent alternate story involving the death of his mother, which he feels the insurance agents will believe.

Image via 20th Century Fox

Viewers of the movie are left to wonder which story is true: a fantastical one involving Pi’s survival alongside a tiger, or the grounded version that had Pi get revenge over his mother’s death at the hands of a fellow survivor. Regardless of which one you pick, the film is compelling.

The Grey

At the end of The Grey, John Ottway (Liam Neeson) comes face-to-face and snarl-to-snarl with an alpha wolf. Armed with a knife and broken bottles, Ottoway prepares to fight the wolf just as the film ends. In a brief post-credits scene, the wolf takes its final breaths as Ottway’s head lays prone on the wolf’s body.

Image via Open Road Films

Did Ottway survive, or did he die right alongside the wolf? Will he live on to heal, or did he give himself closure through a combative death against nature? If he did survive, is another wolf waiting to attack? His fate is unclear. If you saw this movie, what do you think happened to Ottway?

Barton Fink

Barton Fink features the titular character’s screenplay being rejected by a film studio before he wanders onto the beach. Still carrying a package he was tasked to watch over, Fink (John Turturro) sits on the sand and sees a woman that looks just one he saw in a picture, hanging in his room at the Hotel Earle.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

The entire film is just as ambiguous and bizarre as this final scene. Some believe that the second half of the movie is a dream sequence, but co-director Joel Coen claims that this isn’t the case. The oddness that follows Fink appears to be a reflection of his deteriorating mental state due to stress.

Your guess is as good as anyone else's.

Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation displayed a nice, budding friendship between an aging movie star (Bill Murray) and a young college grad (Scarlett Johannson) who are both stuck killing time in Tokyo. The film itself is straightforward, but it left audiences with one question:

What did Bill Murray whisper into Scarlett Johannson’s ear in that final shot?

Image by Focus Features

The final scene shows the two new friends part ways for good, but before they say goodbye, Murray whispers something inaudible to Johannson. It was an improvised moment, so there is no script that spells out what Murray had said. What parting words do you think passed between them?

Memento

Memento’s engaging mystery, following a man with recurring amnesia trying to track down his wife's killer, had plenty of big reveals and surprises. The biggest revelation is that Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) had already found and killed he and his wife's assailant, with the help of Teddy (Joe Pantoliano).

But in reality, Shelby's wife survived, and later died due to an insulin overdose that Shelby's amnesia simply won't let him remember.

Image via Newmarket

So what happens after Shelby kills Teddy and burns the evidence revealing the truth? Will he continually hunt other men, still thinking he’s searching for his wife’s killer? Or did Shelby invent his amnesia to deal with the shame of accidentally giving his wife too much insulin? The questions keep piling up.

A Serious Man

The stressful trials of Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) pile on throughout A Serious Man, but then some peace descends. His son does well in Bar Mitzvah, he and his wife are on good terms, and he’s finally about to get tenure.

But then, Larry gets an urgent phone call from his doctor regarding an x-ray, and a tornado descends upon his son’s school.

Image via Focus Features

The movie's ending introduces new challenges in Larry’s life just after things started to improve and then abruptly fades to black. Does Larry have a serious, life-threatening illness? What about his son, standing unprotected in the path of an incoming tornado? The ending felt more like the start of another movie rather than a conclusion.

The Graduate

The 1967 classic The Graduate features one of the most iconic endings of its generation. The sight of Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) interrupting Elaine Robinson’s (Katharine Ross) wedding before the two run off together instilled feelings of love and freedom within the audience. The film ends with the two getting on a bus.

So now what?

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Image via United Artists

As the song “The Sound of Silence” plays, the expressions on the two young lovebirds’ face change from excitement to uncertainty. Do the two move away together and live happily? What about Elaine’s engagement? Will Mrs. Robinson come after them both? What’s next for Braddock? Plastics? Who can say?

The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds proves that sometimes the scariest thing on Earth is quiet uncertainty. After surviving a series of unexplained bird attacks, Melanie (Tippi Hedren) is injured and near-catatonic, forcing Mitch (Rod Taylor) to drive her and others to refuge in San Francisco.

Image via Universal Pictures

As they leave, flocks of birds are perched everywhere, watching menacingly. As they slowly make their escape, the radio chatters about how the attacks are spreading, and that the military is about to be involved.

We are left wondering not only if our heroes will ultimately survive, but also if this is just the beginning of the birds’ complete takeover of Earth.