We all love a great feel-good ending, where the hero defeats the villain, wins over the love interest, or achieves another goal they have been striving for. These kinds of endings can put a smile on our faces, a spring in our step, and have us fist-pumping the air as we leave the multiplex. Real life often does not go the way we wanted it to, so the escapism offered by movies is a nice way to take our minds off things at least for a few hours.
Some movies, however, seem intent on making us feel bad. Whether it is by having the good guy fail, or having nobody come out a winner, these movies sometimes end on a disturbing note. Often times these endings are made disturbing by their realism, offering a haunting final scene that could take place in reality, robbing the viewer of their escapism as they are forced to ponder what they just witnessed.
Spoilers follow for the listed movies
'Chinatown' (1974)
One of the best neo-noir movies of all time, Chinatown is a mystery that stars Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes, a private investigator. Hired by Evelyn Mulwray to investigate the husband she suspects is cheating, Gittes soon finds himself in a grander conspiracy involving the water rights in California.
Gittes unmasks the real culprit in the dispute and plans for Evelyn and her daughter to flee the city. But Evelyn cannot help but take one last shot at her abusive father, resulting in the police shooting her dead. Gittes and the audience can only watch on in horror, as u/northborn says it "changed how I thought about movies forever."
Chinatown is available to stream on HBO Max.
'Oldboy' (2003)
Oh Dae-su, a businessman, is abducted and kept in a room for 15 years. Broken from the unimaginable solitude, Dae-su is finally released into a world that he knows nothing about. Seeking revenge, Dae-su follows a trail of clues as he hunts down those responsible for his imprisonment in Oldboy, one of South Korea's best movies.
Full of violence and torture, u/deleted thought the gruesomeness of those scenes was "stomach churning, then the ending happened." Solving the mystery, Dae-su discovers the woman he has been sleeping with is his infant daughter grown up. Consulting a hypnotist, Dae-su has this revelation erased, so the relationship can continue.
'Se7en' (1995)
A fantastic dark mystery thriller, Se7en stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as a pair of detectives hunting down a vicious serial killer. Using the Seven Deadly Sins as the basis for his murders, the culprit stays one step ahead of the investigators as they research each macabre crime scene for clues.
John Doe (Kevin Spacey) eventually turns himself in and leads the officers to his final victims. Seeing nothing but a box, Detective Mills (Pitt) opens it to find the severed head of his pregnant wife. It is a gut punch of an ending, with u/average_british_guy saying "that ending is one of the only times I've shouted at a screen."
Se7en is available to stream on HBO Max.
'Buried' (2010)
Ryan Reynolds breaks free from his Deadpool persona in Buried, playing Paul Conroy, a truck driver working in Iraq. Abducted by terrorists, Paul wakes up inside a coffin buried underground. With nothing but his phone and other assorted items, Paul tries to escape his tomb as the situation grows increasingly desperate.
Buried tricks you into thinking Paul is going to be saved, as rescuers race to find him. The whole thing is misdirection, however, as they arrive at the wrong coffin while Paul suffocates to death. It may not be the most original climax, but u/deleted says "if you get roped in and emotionally invested then it's a pretty rough ending."
Buried is available to stream on Hulu and Tubi.
'Eden Lake' (2008)
A harrowing horror film from the UK, Eden Lake stars Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender as a couple vacationing at a lake for the weekend. Crossing paths with a gang of teenage hoodlums, their pranks soon turn deadly as they torment the out-of-towners through the woods.
Her boyfriend murdered, Jenny (Reilly) eventually finds salvation by reaching a house full of adults. This safety is short-lived, however, when it is revealed the adults are the parents of the youths. u/XInsects says the ending "left a truly nasty aftertaste in my brain" as it closes with Jenny's bloodcurdling screams heard off-screen.
Eden Lake is available to stream on Tubi.
'Funny Games' (1997)
When a married couple and their young son travel to their vacation home, their peaceful weekend is interrupted by two strangers. The new arrivals take the family hostage and torture them by subjecting them to sadistic games, all while Funny Games breaks the fourth wall and brings the audience into the carnage.
Able to manipulate the film at will to achieve the outcome they desire; the two men murder the husband and son. Leaving the wife for last, they tie her up and take her out to sea on a boat, before dropping her into the ocean to drown. u/mrharlo says "this movie could not have a more bleak ending" and it is hard to argue.
Funny Games is available to stream on HBO Max.
'The Mist' (2007)
When a supernatural fog descends on a town in Maine, it becomes overrun by monsters like in a scene from Silent Hill. A large supermarket ends up being a safe haven for survivors, with a group of diverse characters locked inside with each other, in one of the best adaptations of Stephen King's work.
The Mist's hero, David Drayton (Thomas Jane), eventually escapes the market with his son and other survivors. When their car breaks down in the fog, and with monsters closing in, David mercy kills his son and their friends. Out of ammo, David enters the mist ready to die, only for it to clear as the military arrives to rescue him. David is left to scream in anguish as the heartbreaking ending will "stick with you after it's finished" according to u/anaxos.
The Mist is available to stream on Netflix.
'Requiem for a Dream' (2000)
An examination of the devastating effects drug abuse has on someone, Requiem for a Dream will get under your skin. Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans star as the doomed junkies, each with their own problems as they spiral into an unrelenting wave of addiction and misery.
u/deleted states "the last half-hour is really rough" as the situation for each character becomes increasingly dire. The consequences of their addiction cause the characters to be subjected to prison, prostitution, and shock therapy, as each of them curls up in a fetal position and cries for help.
Requiem for a Dream is available to stream on Tubi.
'Martyrs' (2008)
A disturbing movie all round, Martyrs arrived during the height of the New French Extremity movement. Centered on two adult survivors of childhood abuse, Annie and Lucie, the film follows the best friends as a shocking act of violence by Lucie causes the pair to be trapped in a whirlwind of unimaginable abuse.
After her friend commits suicide, Annie is left alone as she is kidnaped and tortured by a cult who seeks the answers of the afterlife. Flaying the young woman alive, Annie whispers what she sees to the cult's leader, who promptly shoots herself. All in all it is "a very sick ending" for a twisted movie, as described by u/Pillefrau.
Martyrs is available to stream on Tubi.
'Don't Look Now' (1972)
A portrait of all-consuming grief, Don't Look Now stars Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland as a married couple struggling with the recent loss of their young daughter. Moving to Venice so John (Sutherland) can work on restoring a church, he begins to witness a figure similar to his dead daughter roaming the streets.
As John's grip on reality begins to slip, he finally corners the figure in a deserted alleyway. He is frozen with fear when the red-cloak wearing girl reveals themselves to be a dwarf, and slices John's throat open with a cleaver. The end result is "the most disturbing and unexpected ending to any film I've ever seen." according to u/drake1990.