If you’re a movie fan – and we’re guessing you are, given you’ve visited Screen Rant – you’ve come across your fair share of confusing endings. While some films are downright baffling from start to finish, in a lot of cases, things only start to take an unexpected (and often inexplicable) turn during the closing moments.
Sometimes, we can tease out the meaning behind a finale with bit of extra thought (not to mention a cheeky repeated viewing or two). But just as often, even after considerable mental effort and umpteen re-watchings, viewers can still be left scratching their heads.
This can be further aggravated in instances where films end on an ambiguous, open-ended note. Here, the director deliberately refuses to serve up an easy answer to audiences, leaving us to wonder not only how the story ended, but inviting us to speculate over what happened next.
Fortunately, thanks to the wonders of the Internet age, we have a jaw-dropping wealth of information at our finger tips – whether it’s actual commentary by the filmmakers or well-researched theories by fans and critics.
As such, we’ve mined this online knowledge bank to create this list, which covers 20 Insanely Confusing Movie Endings (And What Happened Next) – try to keep up!
20. Arrival
Arrival, about a linguistic specialist hired translating alien communications, ranks as one of the most critically lauded sci-fi movies in recent memory. That said, director Denis Villeneuve managed to bewilder more than a few viewers with the film’s finale.
As Arrival reaches its conclusion, the linguist has developed precognitive abilities from the aliens. It's revealed that we thought were flashbacks of her dead daughter Hannah throughout the movie were actually glimpses of the future.
It also turns out that Louise’s physicist colleague Ian is destined to become her lover and Hannah’s father, who will later leave her when he learns that Louise knew in advance that they would lose their child.
So basically, any time you see a flashback, you’re actually watching a flashforward. At the start of Arrival, Louise isn’t separated and hasn’t yet had a baby – all of that happens after the main story takes place!
What happened next? As discussed earlier, Louise and Ian split over her (ittedly unfair) decision to keep him in the dark over Hannah’s inevitable death. On a more positive note, much further down the track – like 3,000 years later – humanity continues to flourish, and apparently saves the alien race from extinction.
19. Inception
Dream-heist caper film Inception is notorious for its open-ended final shot, which fans are debating to this day.
When lead character Cobb and his team of “extractors” infiltrate the mind of Robert Fisher and successfully push him to break up his family business, Cobb is apparently exonerated of the false murder charge against him as payment.
Everything is looking rosy as the movie draws to a close, with Cobb at last reunited with his children – or is he? We’re left to wonder, as our hero’s spinning top – which continues to rotate indefinitely if he’s in a dream – isn’t shown to stop rotating before the credits roll.
So does Cobb really get his happy ending? Or is he simply dreaming it all? Well, despite some impressive arguments in favor of the latter, there’s enough evidence littered throughout Inception to say pretty conclusive that what we’re watching is really happening.
For starters, the top appears to wobble, and we hear what sounds like it toppling over shortly after. If that’s not enough, Cobb’s also not wearing his wedding ring, a visual clue used by Nolan to indicate non-dream sequences.
What happened next? Cobb gives up his life of sleep-based corporate espionage, and raises his two children for real!
18. Looper
Rian Johnson’s Looper did well both with critics and at the box office back in 2012, but it’s since come under fire from film buffs who take issue with its plot – including its twist ending.
The overall premise behind the finale – which sees hitman Joe commit suicide so that his future self isn’t able to unwittingly set off a chain of events leading to the rise of a brutal crime boss, The Rainmaker – isn’t hard to follow.
It makes sense in an intuitive, causal way: if Young Joe is dead, he can’t go on to become Old Joe, and if Old Joe doesn’t kill the future Rainmaker’s mom in front of him, he’s unlikely to break bad and become a crime boss.
True, if you examine the narrative of Looper more closely, paradoxes and inconsistencies with the time travel mechanic start to crop up – but that’s unavoidable with any story of this kind.
What happened next? There’s no way to know for sure, but it’s strongly suggested that Joe’s sacrifice ensures that Cid is raised in a loving environment and doesn’t wind up as The Rainmaker.
17. No Country For Old Men
The Coen Brothers's Best Pictur-winning No Country For Old Men is a haunting modern day Western based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy. However, plenty of viewers have complained about the film’s rather cryptic ending, which centers around retired sheriff Tom Bell relating two seemingly random dreams.
But are those dreams really that random? Well, no – they’re actually crucial to understanding the underlying themes of the film.
The first dream – where Bell misplaces some money given to him by his father – symbolizes the lack of importance Bell ascribes to cash. This allows him to survive the events of the film, when greedier characters can't. At the same time, Bell subconsciously feels like he has let down his deceased father through his inability to bring order to a violent world.
The second dream involves Bell and his much younger father riding in the mountains. When Bell’s dad goes ahead to light a fire for his elderly son, it illustrates that it’s the role of the young to keep the growing darkness at bay – old guys like Bell are out of their depth by comparison.
What happened next? Bell continues on in retirement, never truly at ease with his failure to comprehend or control the evils of the world – including hitman Anton Chigurh, who lives to kill another day.
16. Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver is a searing snapshot of the rage and disillusionment that characterized post-Vietnam War America – and it could not end on a more ambiguous note.
After troubled cabbie Travis Bickle goes on a shooting spree – ostensibly to rescue child prostitute Iris from her pimp – he is praised by the media (and by Iris’ parents) for his actions. He then appears to reconcile with love interest Betsy, before driving away in his cab, peering into the rear view mirror to the disconcerting sound of a cymbal clash played in reverse.
So what does all this mean? Some fans have taken it all as a fantasy sequence dreamed up by Travis as he lies dying post-gunfight – hence the surprisingly upbeat aftermath of his brutal behaviour.
For his part, Scorsese suggests that the climax does actually happen, and that Bickle’s jumpy movements and the cymbal sound effect hint that the taxi driver could be headed for another blood-soaked breakdown.
What happened next? Bickle’s mental health almost certainly continues to deteriorate and he likely goes on another murder spree, although this time, his choice of targets is unlikely to see him branded a hero…
15. The Matrix Revolutions
The bewildering conclusion to The Matrix Revolutions is a powerful warning about the dangers of valuing subtext over narrative clarity.
The film ends with digital messiah Neo’s death at the hands of Smith, which, for reasons best known to the Wachowskis, results in the evil computer virus being destroyed as well. This ushers in a new era of peace between the human and machine societies, and it’s further implied that Neo survived his apparent demise.
How does it all work? There are a number of theories on Revolutions floating around out there about everything from computer science to world religions, but the simplest (and arguably best) solution boils down to simple mathematics.
Since Neo and Smith combined represent the equation at the heart of the Matrix trying to balance itself, removing one allows the elimination of the other. In essence, Neo’s self-sacrifice made it possible for the machines to run a malware scan and delete all traces of Smith from the simulation.
What happened next? The story was actually continued for a time in the now-defunct The Matrix Online MMORPG video game. However, based on the movies alone, it’s fair to say that the tenuous ceasefire endures, and Neo does ultimately resurface, presumably as some higher form of consciousness.
14. American Psycho
American Psycho is intentionally designed to keep audiences guessing as to whether anything they’ve witnessed is really happening – and this counts doubly for its ending. Viewers are left to ponder whether supposedly murderous investment banker Patrick Bateman is actually a deranged killer, a disturbed fantasist, or something in-between.
As the finale approaches, Bateman is shown engaging in an explosive showdown with police and confesses his crimes via a voice message left for his lawyer. Yet instead of becoming the subject of an extensive manhunt and having his crimes exposed, all traces of the creepy yuppie’s misdeeds seem to vanish, and his ission of guilt is brushed off as a joke!
Did any of it happen? It’s perfectly reasonable to say that it did, and that Bateman has been protected by a vacuous, wealth-obsessed culture that permits monsters like him to operate openly.
On the other hand, it’s equally valid to argue that all of Bateman’s criminal activities were merely hallucinations – the product of an unhealthy (but ultimately impotent) mind.
What happened next? Exempt from the threat of punishment, Bateman continues on his merry way, whether that means murdering people or simply daydreaming about it!
13. Planet Of The Apes
Tim Burton’s Planet Of The Apes remake is a mostly enjoyable affair – until its controversial closing scenes, that is.
Here, astronaut Leo Davidson travels back in time to present day Earth to find it ruled by apes, due to prior meddling with the time stream by simian baddie General Thade.
It’s an undeniably shocking climax and it’s not that hard to piece together, although it doesn’t quite add-up – how was Thade able to make the journey without a spacecraft of his own?
Presumably, this plot hole was intended to be filled in by the planned sequel, but since a follow-up film was subsequently scrapped, audiences will remain understandably confused over this one!
What happened next? Well, technically, nothing (the sequel was canceled, ?), but presumably Leo found a way to alter the timeline yet again, reversing the effects of Thade’s tinkering.
12. The Tree Of Life
Terrence Malik has a reputation for making movies that aren’t easily comprehended, and The Tree Of Life – which contrasts a Texan man’s childhood memories with the dawn of the universe – certainly lives up to that. The film's ending sees protagonist Jack O’Brien on a beach with his parents and dead brother RL. It’s all very dream-like and ethereal, and we’re left to wonder if it’s meant to be taken literally or symbolically.
Is Jack now dead, and is this Heaven? Or are we seeing images from Jack’s imagination, as he attempts to at last find some sense of closure to his relationships with his parents and brother.
Given the poem-like nature of Malik’s filmmaking sensibilities, the smart bet is to opt for a symbolic interpretation – or rather, not to view things in strictly black and white . Really, the most important takeaway here is a sense of reconciliation and transition; obsessing over whether things actually happened or not is kind of missing the point.
What happened next? Maybe Jack has died and is now reunited with his parents in the afterlife, or maybe he's still alive and has found some measure of peace with his departed loved ones – your guess is as good as ours!
11. Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)
Birdman is filled with numerous ambiguous elements, but its finale – which leaves us to wonder whether or not washed-up actor Riggan Thomson has plummeted to his death – takes the cake.
Throughout the movie, Riggan appears to display at least some telekinetic ability. That said, his increasingly fragmented psyche and penchant for only using these powers when alone calls their existence into question.
When Riggan exits his hospital room via the window, and his daughter Sam seems less-than-distraught over his fate, the obvious interpretation is that the one-time big screen superhero has finally learned to fly.
However, this seems like too optimistic an ending for such a pitch-black comedy, and others have suggested – rather plausibly – that what really happens is that Riggan has died, and his daughter has inherited his tenuous grip on reality.
What happened next? Poor, fallible Riggan becomes street pizza, whilst Sam develops a delusional state of mind, unable to distinguish escapist fantasy from reality.
