The thriller Don't Worry Darling was one of the most talked about movies of the year. But with an interesting premise, some were let down by the twist ending to the story. For thrillers to keep audiences on the edge of their seat the entire time, it is important that they are able to stick the landing and not all of them do.
Fans on Reddit have highlighted some notable thrillers that seemed promising for much of the runtime only to fall apart in the final moments. From ridiculous twists to odd choices to dull climaxes, these thrillers left audiences disappointed with their endings.
The Game (1997)
Though not as popular as some of his other movies like Se7en and Fight Club, The Game is another intense thriller from David Fincher with a gripping premise. Michael Douglas stars as Nicholas Van Orton, a man who is gifted an opportunity to participate in an elaborate game. But he soon begins to question if he's still in the game or part of a larger conspiracy.
The end of the movie seems to suggest that everything he went through, including leaping to his death was all part of the game. However, Redditor FallsOfPrat found that too many things had to happen to guarantee it all worked out as planned and the "level of disbelief I'm expected to suspend gets so great that I'm actually PULLED OUT of the movie."
The Departed (2006)
As one of the The Departed earned Martin Scorsese his first Oscar for best director. It stars Matt Damon as Colin Sullivan, a cop working for the mob, and Leonardo DiCaprio plays Billy Costigan, a cop undercover in the mob as they both work to expose the other.
Though Damon's villain character seems to have gotten away with it, he is murdered in the last scene with the final shot showing his dead body and a rat running across the floor. Many fans like Redditor Gummy-Worm-Guy found the inclusion of the rat to be a distracting ending as they suggest it is "not good symbolism if it’s shoved down your throat."
Munich (2005)
Steven Spielberg's Munich is a harrowing and brutal thriller about the response to the Munich Olympic massacre in 1972. Eric Bana stars as Avner Kaufman, the leader of a team of Israeli agents who are tasked with hunting down and killing those responsible for the attacks.
After the mission is over, Avner reunites with his wife, Daphna (Ayelet Zurer). In one of the final scenes, Avner and his wife have sex while the scene is intercut with the murder of the Israeli Olympic team. While the rest of the movie is an effective historical thriller, Redditor A_Lively itted that scene "definitely had me leaving the theater confused about that choice."
Last Night In Soho (2021)
Edgar Wright branched outside his typical comedic style for the thriller nightmarish movie set in a dreamworld follows Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) who rents a room in the city and finds herself transported to the 1960s in her dreams as she follows Sadie (Anya Taylor-Joy), a young woman attempting to make it as a singer in the big city.
The mystery at the center of the story is what happened to this girl all those years ago only for the reveal to be that she is Eloise's landlord (Diana Rigg) who was not killed but is rather a murderer herself. However, not everyone enjoyed the twist as Redditor ScrapMetalDrone found it to be "bad and put me off the whole movie."
Us (2019)
Jordan Peele continues to cement himself as a modern horror master with this year's Nope, but Us remains perhaps his most divisive movie. It follows Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) and her family who go on vacation only to be targeted by a group of doppelgangers known as "the Tethered."
Adelaide succeeds in killing her doppelganger and saving her family only for the final moments of the movie to reveal that Adelaide is actually the doppelganger who switched places with the real Adelaide when they were kids. Redditor TrenterD complained that once the Tethered are explained "it was pretty obvious what the twist was going to be."
No Country For Old Men (2007)
The Coen Brother's Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men is a brutal and intense thriller that follows Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a man who finds a briefcase of drug money and is subsequently hunted by a relentless killer named Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem).
The game of cat-and-mouse is gripping but leads to an unexpected conclusion with Moss being suddenly killed off-screen. The movie then shifts focus to Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), the lawman attempting to save Moss, but Redditor urbanlifedecay6 found it disappointing that the character "just shows up dead after the buildup."
Savages (2012)
The Oliver Stone thriller Savages follows best friends, Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch), who operate a successful marijuana-growing business. However, their operation soon draws the attention of a powerful and ruthless drug cartel that kidnaps their romantic partner O (Blake Lively) to force the others to cooperate.
The movie's climax inevitably results in a shootout with the three friends being wounded and deciding to take their lives together. However, this is a fakeout and revealed to be a scenario O thought might happen only for the reality to be that the police show up and simply arrest everyone. Redditor DeckardIsAnAndroid says they will never forget sitting in the theater and being "stunned when that s***** rewind effect kicked in."
Sunshine (2007)
Danny Boyle's sci-fi thriller Sunshine follows the crew of a spaceship on a desperate mission to save the world. With the sun dying, they seek to reignite it with nuclear weapons only for the mission to run into one catastrophe after another.
While the movie is a fairly human story about these characters battling through the dangers of space, it takes a turn in the finale as a crew member on a broken down ship gets onboard their vessel and begins killing the crew. Redditor igotzquestions expressed disappointment that the movie starts as a compelling sci-fi story and "it ends with a generic run of the mill horror movie."
Argo (2012)
As Argo has been met with considerable acclaim. The thriller deals with the real-life rescue mission of Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis with a CIA agent staging a fake movie shoot as a cover for extracting the stranded people.
The movie does a great job of retelling the stranger-than-fiction story with a lot of tension even though fans already know the outcome. However, the final moments didn't work for everyone as there is an airport chase scene that feels like something out of another movie. Redditor Jerrymoviefan3 found that the "dreadful attempts to add suspense destroyed the movie."
Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Law Abiding Citizen stars Jamie Foxx as a lawyer who is targeted by a man (Gerard Butler) who he blames for helping his family's murderer escape justice. Though he is imprisoned, the man is still able to wreak havoc, killing powerful officials and promising more destruction to come.
However, after some intense build-up, the movie seems to run out of steam in the final act. The mystery about how he is doing this from prison is simply explained that he dug a tunnel and his big plan to end it all was simply planting a bomb. Redditor frech77 called it "one of the worse final acts."
