The 2010s have seen a lot of memorable, maddening, and mind-blowing film conclusions, but which ones have been the very best movie endings of the decade? As the decade comes to a close, we look back on the greatest movie finales from 2010-2019.
A great ending can elevate an average film to good and a good movie to the realms of greatness. It’s the final impression you leave an audience with, so it needs to make an impact.
Some of the best movie endings leave things on an ambiguous note, while others deliver a much greater sense of finality, and more still - especially in a Hollywood driven by sequels - end with teases of what’s to come. But what the best movie endings have in common are the feelings they elicit, capable of leaving us racing to the internet to discuss what they mean, or simply too stunned (and emotional) to even process what’s just happened. These are the 20 best movie endings of the decade.
20. Call Me By Your Name
Call Me By Your Name's ending such a stirring note to go out on, as Michael Stuhlberg’s Mr Perlman gives a heartfelt, fatherly speech about love and romance. It’s not just a loving, tender moment, but accompanied by the fire-lit shot of a tearful Chalamet, one that succeeds in wrenching at the heart-strings and imprinting itself on your memory.
19. The Social Network
The Social Network finds a real sense of pathos in its ending.
18. Logan
From the very first trailer for Logan's ending a devastating climax to a bleak movie, but crucially tinged with hope.
17. Drive
Throughout Drive's ending finds a way of almost doing that while staying true to itself. As the Driver speeds off, a stab wound in his stomach and having just killed Bernie, we don't know if he'll live or die - or rather, how long he lived for - but we know that regardless, he was able to do the right thing.
16. Ex Machina
Alex Garland announced himself as a visionary director with Ex Machina tells us that we're all going to be replaced. It's not a warning, just a fact, and all the more powerful for it.
15. Annihilation
After Ex Machina, fans might've had an idea of what to expect from Alex Garland, and especially the ending of one of his movies. Then came Annihilation's ending is a daring, dazzling conclusion that boggles the mind, and while the showdown between the two Lenas or the following reunion between Lena and Kane leave no easy answers, it does leave a big impression, and the kind of movie ending you just can't stop thinking about.
14. Toy Story 4
Toy Story 4's ending wraps-up Woody's entire story as a toy to be played with by one owner. It brings his and Buzz's relationship - the real crux of the franchise, rather than Woody and Andy - to a heartfelt close that feels true to who they are. It's open-ended in the sense Woody will go on to have more adventures, but it's also allowing him a sense of closure. He doesn't have a kid to worry about; he can, for the first time, just be free.
13. The Florida Project
The Florida Project strikes an astonishing balance: it finds the humor, the heart, and the horror in America, all in the shadow of The Happiest Place on Earth. It's set up for the ending to be incredibly tragic, with the authorities ready to take Moonee away, but then it flips the switch. This is about how children can stay so strong and happy despite the awful things going on around them, and in two friends running away to Disneyland, it's true to the carefree spirit and strength of childhood.
12. The Dark Knight Rises
conclusion to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy it could hardly be more fitting. Batman gets to save the day one last time, believed to be dead but going out as Gotham's hero. John Blake discovers the Batcave, suggesting a Batman legacy we need to feel, but don't need to see. And for Bruce, he finally gets to rest and live the rest of his life, unburdened by being Batman, knowing Gotham doesn't need him as a hero anymore.
11. Avengers: Infinity War
It was always likely that Avengers: Infinity War's ending you're too shell-shocked to care about that, and it guaranteed fans would be back for more.
