# Dismalest movie ending (SPOILERS!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 10, 2024, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047 "2024-09-10T06:00:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/1 "2024-09-10T06:00:11Z")
I just caught the last 15 minutes of the movie [Cell](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0775440/), (though I’ve seen it a few times). Dayum, that ending is grim. The film in general is pretty _meh_, but the final scene is a really well done bummer. You think John Cuzack has triumphed and he and his son are on their way to join Samuel L Jackson, only to be presented with an aerial view of the giant, circling horde of the infected. We slowly zoom in on John C., empty eyed and head bobbing in unison with the crowd while the song " You’ll Never Walk Alone" plays. It gets me every time. The only one that I can think of at the moment that is even drearier is **Requiem for a Dream.** It haunted me for many days afterward and is one of the very few films I will never watch again; not because it’s bad but because it’s too painful. Which film’s endings have stayed with you(and not in a good way)? ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/2 "2024-09-10T06:07:11Z")
_The Mist_ stands out as a punch to the gut every time I’ve seen it. It’s probably Frank Darabont’s worst Stephen King adaptation, but damn that ending that did not come from the short story. That and the Donald Sutherland version of _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/3 "2024-09-10T06:26:21Z")
_Arlington Road_. The protagonist we’ve been following the whole movie has almost but not quite figured out the whole plot by the anti-government militia people. He misses just enough, though, to be set up as a patsy for their latest bombing. He dies, his reputation is ruined, and the bad guys get away clean, ready to do it all again. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/4 "2024-09-10T07:24:31Z")
> [@Skunkdog](#): > > _The Mist_ stands out as a punch to the gut every time I’ve seen it. It’s probably Frank Darabont’s worst Stephen King adaptation, but damn that ending that did not come from the short story. That’s the one I was going to mention. It’s been over 15 years since I saw it and it still makes me viscerally angry when I think about it. That ending is the very definition of gratuitous cruelty. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/5 "2024-09-10T09:24:49Z")
Old Yeller. I saw it at a very young age. > **[Old Yeller (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Yeller_(film))** > > Old Yeller is a 1957 American Western drama film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney. It stars Dorothy McGuire and Fess Parker, with Tommy Kirk, and Kevin Corcoran. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The film is based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Fred Gipson. Gipson also co-wrote the screenplay along with William Tunberg. > Old Yeller was released on December 25, 1957, to critical acclaim, and was a commercial success, becoming the fifth high... I need to warn you to avoid this movie: **the Dog Died!** ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/6 "2024-09-10T10:32:39Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > Which film’s endings have stayed with you(and not in a good way)? _Fallen_, the Denzel Washington movie. One that could have, and that certainly did for everyone else I saw it with, was _[Funny Games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funny_Games_(1997_film))_. But it worked for me, I got what Haneke was laying down. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/7 "2024-09-10T10:37:45Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > _Arlington Road_. The protagonist we’ve been following the whole movie has almost but not quite figured out the whole plot by the anti-government militia people. He misses just enough, though, to be set up as a patsy for their latest bombing. He dies, his reputation is ruined, and the bad guys get away clean, ready to do it all again. Which is also more or less the ending of _The Parallax View_. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/8 "2024-09-10T10:39:41Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Old Yeller. I saw it at a very young age. > > [Old Yeller (film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Yeller_(film)) > > I need to warn you to avoid this movie: **the Dog Died!** Uh, spoilers please? Very inconsiderate. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/9 "2024-09-10T10:45:13Z")
_Very Bad Things_ ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/10 "2024-09-10T10:53:10Z")
_They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?_ During the Depression, desperate people compete in a dance marathon hoping to win the prize money. At the end, outside the building, Jane Fonda’s character is talking to Michael Sarrazin’s character, saying, in effect, “The world is such a horrible place, and I’m tired of it and want out.” She has a gun and wants to end it all, but she can’t bring herself to pull the trigger. So she asks him to, and he does. Bleak stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/11 "2024-09-10T11:00:13Z")
One post in this thread reminded me of the Chinese movie _Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl_. I won’t mention the ending in case anyone ever wants to see it, but you can read it in the Wikipedia plot summary. > **[Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiu_Xiu:_The_Sent_Down_Girl)** > > Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (Chinese: 天浴) is a 1998 Chinese drama film directed by Joan Chen in her directorial debut, who co-wrote the screenplay with Geling Yan. Based on Yan's 1981 short story "Celestial Bath", the film is set in the 1970s during the Cultural Revolution's Down to the Countryside Movement in People's Republic of China. The film stars Li Xiaolu as the titular character, with Lopsang also starring. The film premiered at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival and collected We... ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/12 "2024-09-10T11:02:56Z")
I’ve never seen it and don’t intend to, but I have read a plot summary of _A Serbian Film_ and I don’t think I can possibly imagine a story with a darker ending. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/13 "2024-09-10T12:15:29Z")
**The Wages of Fear** has a pretty depressing ending. I found the ending of **Requiem for a Dream** to be so cartoonishly over-the-top that (for me) it was about as gloomy as an anvil falling on Wile E. Coyote’s head. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/14 "2024-09-10T12:31:34Z")
If there is a movie with a more tragic ending than **Das Boot** , I don’t want to know about it. I wandered around in a weepy daze for a week after seeing it. ETA: Years ago, a houseguest told me, “oh, you gotta see this movie, it’s great.” So back in the days of renting video cassettes, we acquired and watched it. I was furious that this movie was presented to me as if it were just an absorbing film, with no emotional preparation for the devastating ending. I got revenge by innocently suggesting we watch “ **Blue Velvet,** ” which is a very different kind of film but sure puts the engaged viewer through the wringer. Hah. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/15 "2024-09-10T12:40:51Z")
**The Vanishing**. The 1988 original movie, not the stupid 1993 Kiefer Sutherland remake with the happy Hollywood ending that completely defangs the plot. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/16 "2024-09-10T13:01:54Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > One that could have, and that certainly did for everyone else I saw it with, was _[Funny Games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funny_Games_(1997_film))_. But it worked for me, I got what Haneke was laying down. Not so much a dismal ending as a whole nervewracking film. _The Arrival of Wang_ is a great short film. Or it would have been had it not been padded out to 80 minutes with a lot of unnecessary material . But the ending is… notable. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/17 "2024-09-10T13:56:08Z")
No one’s mentioned **Brazil** , yet? I don’t care how happy he is in his head, the film has a real downer ending. So does the John Carpenter version of **The Thing** And **Alien: Covenant** , a movie I really hated. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/18 "2024-09-10T14:01:05Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Yep, that’s the one I came to mention. On the other hand, the whole dern movie was so bleak, it seemed like the perfect ending. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/19 "2024-09-10T14:03:25Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Yep, that’s the one I came to mention. On the other hand, the whole dern movie was so bleak, it seemed like the perfect ending. Yeah, pretty much inevitable. Allow yourself time to watch an episode of _Community_ afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047/20 "2024-09-10T14:04:23Z")
Too many horror films to count, but one of the bleakest endings of a drama I can remember is the Bjork film **Dancer in the Dark**. It’s by Lars von Trier so I guess expected but damn. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dismalest-movie-ending-spoilers/1007047.md?page=2)