In movies, most of the time, the heroes end up getting what they want. Maybe they have to fight a great deal to achieve their goals. Maybe they'll have to give up something or suffer some kind of profound loss. Maybe a few good characters won't survive to see the goal they were fighting for be achieved. But the sacrifices usually pay off, and things tend to end on a positive note, and the audience gets to leave the cinema happy and satisfied.
That goes for most movies, not all of them. Every now and again, the heroes don't win, and the villains get what they were after. It can be shocking, but these endings definitely aren't bad when well executed. They can cause strong emotional reactions, drive home the themes of what a downbeat movie was going for, or, in the case of a series, work as a cliffhanger that gets viewers excited to see the heroes fight back in a later film.
This article contains spoilers for all the movies listed.
'Avengers: Infinity War' (2018)
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Containing what might be the most infamously downbeat movie ending of recent years, Avengers: Infinity War properly introduces the most menacing villain the MCU has seen so far in Thanos (Josh Brolin). Throughout the film, he collects all the Infinity Stones he's after, all the while becoming increasingly powerful. He achieves his goal of eradicating half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers.
While the snap disintegrates half the heroes audiences have grown to love, Thanos effectively retires to what looks like his own private planet. He sits down, and right before the credits roll, we see him looking content in the knowledge he's won. While Avengers: Endgame showed the heroes successfully reversing what happened in Infinity War, Thanos' victory still changes the MCU a great deal and proves that even in the most popular film franchise of the current movie landscape, the heroes won't always win.
'The Great Escape' (1963)
The title of The Great Escape isn't dishonest, as the prisoners who spend the film planning how to break out of a heavily guarded prisoner of war camp during WW2 do indeed escape. But as they discover, escaping the prison camp is just the first step, and out of 70-something prisoners who get out of the compound, only three are shown to make it to Germany.
The rest, tragically, are either recaptured or violently executed. As it was based on true events, there was no way to have a happier outcome without being dishonest to the real thing. At least those who survived and were recaptured (Steve McQueen's character included) likely got released the following year and lived to tell the tale, as The Great Escape took place in 1944, and the war was over by 1945.
'The Dark Knight' (2008)
The Dark Knight still stands as arguably the best (and most intense) Batman movie so far. In it, the most famous of all Batman villains, The Joker (expertly portrayed by Heath Ledger), plunges Gotham into chaos to prove his cynical take on humanity as correct, as well as to psychologically break all of its citizens, including Batman (Christian Bale) himself.
The Joker is so cunning and efficient in this film that by the end, he essentially wins. Many of his plans come to fruition; he corrupts the seemingly incorruptible Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), kills many people, terrifies countless thousands, and forces Batman to retreat for several years. He might get caught at the end, but he doesn't seem to care, given his delight at how many things did work out the way he wanted.
'Brazil' (1985)
Brazil is one of Terry Gilliam's best movies and maybe the most famous non-Monty Python film the eccentric director was involved in making. It depicts a bleak future where bureaucracy has gone mad and become even more oppressive and detrimental to society than before and one man's futile attempts to rebel against the system.
Brazil ends with a series of false hopes and surreal sequences that aim to trick the audience into thinking the film will end well for its hero (Jonathan Pryce), but then the rug's pulled out from under them, and it turns out those scenes were hallucinations. The film ends with the main character having lost his mind, with the closest thing to a bright side being that he doesn't seem to realize anything's wrong, as he cheerily hums to himself, alone, before the end credits roll.
'Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back' (1980)
The Empire Strikes Back is usually regarded as one of the best films in the entire Star Wars series, if not the very best. It ramps up the tension from the first movie by depicting the villainous Empire seeking revenge on the Rebels for destroying their Death Star in the original Star Wars. The villains here are so relentless they essentially win.
The impact is lessened by this being the second part of a trilogy, and the heroes do triumph in the following film. They might win the overall war, but The Empire Strikes Back shows them losing a battle, as by the end, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is frozen in carbonite and separated from his allies, Luke (Mark Hamill) loses his hand and almost dies, right after finding out his father is one of the evilest men in the galaxy, Dark Vader (portrayed by David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), and the idea that the Rebels will defeat the Empire is a faint hope at best. It raises the stakes and serves as a powerful ending to the Original Trilogy's second chapter.
'Chinatown' (1974)
As a neo-noir, Chinatown pays homage to the often downbeat endings found in many classic film noirs by having its own brutal and depressing finale. Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) uncovers a great deal of corruption and crime through his private investigator work, but in the end, it's not enough. Through a miserable twist of fate, the woman he swore to help is murdered, and the man behind it (and so much of the film's conflict) gets away with everything.
Chinatown might be one of the most effective depictions of how good intentions don't always lead to good results. Gittes makes it out alive but has to live with knowing he failed and that the film's villain avoided any real comeuppance. All one of his colleagues can offer in support is the film's famous closing line: "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."
'The Wicker Man' (1973)
The Wicker Man involves a police officer (Edward Woodward) traveling to a remote island searching for a missing girl, only to find a strange cult that's up to some very shady things, to say the least. Before he can tell anyone the extent of what he's discovered, though, he's burnt to death in a horrific ritual sacrifice, and then the movie ends.
It's genuinely horrifying stuff. The other horror elements may not be as scary as they once could have been, but the nihilistic way the film concludes still packs a punch. Just make sure you avoid the notorious remake with Nicolas Cage from 2006, as that turns what should be a terrifying finale into an unintentionally hilarious farce, complete with slapstick violence, bees, and plenty of over-the-top screaming.
'Se7en' (1995)
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Se7en is a famously bleak crime-thriller from director David Fincher where two city detectives hunt a serial killer who bases all of his crimes on the seven deadly sins. Surprisingly, the duo manages to catch the killer, but all doesn't end well.
John Doe dies, sure, but he's been killed in cold blood by Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) and will likely be imprisoned for a while because of his actions. Everyone John Doe wanted dead is dead — his MO ends up fulfilled. It's one of the grimmest endings in film history that still features the death of its main villain.