Easy Rider had a similar “well damn” ending
Some locals in a pickup ride by and shoot the two protagonists. Movie ends
I always think of that one like “The Passion of the Christ” - you KNOW how it’s going to end from very early on. The meat of the story is more in how the ending transpires.
Kind of reminds me of the end of No Country for Old Men, except its the antagonist who prevails over multiple obstacles, only to
Summary
get t-boned by a station wagon.
He doesn’t die, though, just breaks his arm.
That’s one I haven’t thought of in a long time. Who knew he’d grow up to be a murderer?
Vanishing Point hasn’t been mentioned, I think.
I consider “Dirty Mary and Crazy and Crazy Larry” and “Easy Rider” shock endings. Not tragic or bummers.
Biggest bummer ending for me is “Last American Virgin”. Karen gets pregnant by creep. Creep dumps her. Nice guy Gary takes care of her. Thinks his kindness and attention will get rewarded. Thinks they’re going to have a relationship. Buys her a nice present, goes to her birthday party and…
The totally unexpected ending has “…the girls leaving the house and getting run over by the humane society van,” giving this shitty, pointless film a shitty pointless finale. Incredibly, it was officially remade as Knock Knock (2015) with Keanu Reeves and produced by (among others) the female stars of the original.
…and drives until he hits an ocean.
They exist in the same universe as Butch and Sundance or Bonnie and Clyde. Shock ending, but the protagonists are antiheros and we don’t expect them to prevail anyway.
More ambiguous would be Two Lane Blacktop, where I guess the leads discover they’re in a movie?
Another perhaps unique category would be something like The Last Days Of Hitler, where the protagonist is too despicable to even be an antihero and we’re only watching to enjoy seeing his world crumble. Citizen Kane actually had some of that, it almost seems like we’re supposed to be happy Kane didn’t become a great man but there’s really no hero.
For recent films, the ending of The Gal Who Got Rattled certainly qualifies as a bummer ending. It is one of the vignettes in the Coen brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. That ending still bothers me.
For all-around bummer-ness, including a downer ending, nothing beats The Grey Zone IMO.
Surprised nobody mentioned the extended ending of The Descent.
I think the “downer movie ending” is what Penny Marshall was aiming for in the second alternative ending to Big. She nailed it!
Do I take it that the guy in the kitchen is the Creep?
I think the 1974 The Sugarland Express has a downer ending. Not as down as it could have been, but pretty down.
[Sarcasm hat on]
No, the creep was the nerd in the glasses. He was pimping her out.
[/Sarcasm hat off]
Smack! Ow! Runs away…
Several years ago I remember seeing a movie but I can’t remember enough details to find the name. I vaguely remember it took place in Alaska and involved a cop who was completely obsessed with catching a child predator / killer. He set up a situation to catch this killer which worked. This cop was about to be vindicated but the killer died in a car crash while driving to commit the crime. So now this cop looks insane and as I recall he ruined a relationship because of the setup he created to catch the killer. I remember it was a good movie overall - and was set up for a relatively happy ending except for that random car crash that came out of nowhere.
The Pledge, with Jack Nicholson?
Yep! That’s it!
I was really thinking it was “Insomnia” with Al Pacino but when I looked at clips it didn’t fit what I remembered. But the Pledge is exactly it. Thanks!
I was going to say “I think they are conflating Insomnia and The Pledge”
Which I sometimes do as well because I watched them both in the same weekend.
It’s a very specific variant of a dark ending. Where everything appears to be ending well. Bad guys are dead, hero about to ride off into sunset with the girl, and bam it all goes wrong.
There are a few examples but Carlito’s Way possibly the best example.
Don’t think it has a name. Though I’d call it the Carlito’s Way ending.
What would you call the ending of The Postman Always Rings Twice?