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10 most depressing movie endings ever
Martin Anderson
Be warned: spoilers a-plenty lie within, as Martin reveals the movies that leave you feeling completely depressed once the final reel has finished.
One famously mistranslated sign in a Swiss restaurant reads: 'Our wines leave you nothing to hope for'. You'll know how the patrons feel if you walk out of Blockbuster with this little lot....
THERE ARE SO MANY SPOILERS IN THIS ARTICLE THAT IT HURTS. BE WARNED!
10: Soylent Green (1973)
Future cop Chuck Heston has been through hell trying to find out what the big secret at the core of his overcrowded society is, only to find that the Soylent Company that provides food for the starving earth has been processing human bodies and feeding it to the populace. Dragged off by the authorities, the last shot is of desperate Heston's hand crying out for justice as he cries: 'Soylent Green is people!'.
9: The Elephant Man (1980)
David Lynch's classic telling of the fortunes of the deformed but transcendent John Merrick could actually have had a relatively happy ending, with Merrick loved and cared for. Instead Lynch shoots right past this hard-won contentment to create a bittersweet montage of images that pre-figure the beginning of his next film, Dune (1984), showing the ghostly visage of Merrick's possibly imaginary mother floating through space as Merrick peacefully takes his own life. "Nothing will die..."
8: The Descent (2005)
Exactly how depressing you find the ending of Neil Marshall's tale of pot-holing horror depends on how involved you are able to become with his abrasive set of female characters. The re-cuts in the U.S. release leave the film with two possible endings, the bleaker of which finds the surviving character awaking from a psychotic dream of an improbably easy escape, to find herself buried alive in the goblin-strewn labyrinth.
7: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)
Jittery Veronica Cartwright approaches fellow refugee Donald Sutherland, having lost him in the flight from the pod-people Sutherland is standing by some trees looking confused. He spies Cartwright. They've been through hell together. He raises his arm and points at her accusingly, and lets out a ululating cry that will alert all the other pod-people to her presence!
6: The Fly (1986)
Brundlefly, in a last ditch effort to reverse the genetic collision between himself and a house fly, takes one last, unwise trip in his teleportation devise, to emerge as a ghastly fusion of teleporter metal and monster. A horrified Geena Davis watches the thing approach with a shot gun in her hand. Brundlefly's had enough - he gets hold of the end of the barrel and positions it between his own fly eyes. Davies pulls the trigger and breaks out in tears.
5: Dead Ringers (1988)
More vein-opening from David Cronenberg. This bizarre and affecting tale of twin gynaecologist brothers concludes with a touching but miserable suicide pact between the insane siblings.
4: Spider (2002)
Yet more Canadian grimness from Cronenberg, as Ralph Fiennes' oedipal protagonist decides to end the drudgery of his impoverished and schizophrenic life by taking it.
3: Nineteen-Eighty Four (1984)
Dissident Winston Smith realises there's a limit to the power of love, as a nasty run-in with rats in Room 101 turns him into a model Oceanian citizen who renounces his rebel girlfriend and embraces Big Brother.
2: A.I. - Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Having been abandoned by his mum in one of the most disturbing and misery-inducing scenes in contemporary cinema, robot boy Haley Joel Osment stares depressed into space at the bottom of the Hudson River for 2000 years, only to be rescued by itinerant aliens who use science/magic to give him the long lost mum he always wanted - and then take her away from him just before he expires forever.
1: The Mist (2007)
After driving desperately through the blasted, monster-strewn landscape of Frank Darabont's 2007 Stephen King adaptation, Thomas Jane finally runs out of fuel. With only four bullets left, Jane gallantly spares his son, his new love interest and two close friends the horror of being eaten by the nasties, and nobly goes out to face his fate - only to find that the Military have finally come and are mopping up the debris. Another two minutes and everyone in the car would have been saved!
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User's Comments
Re: 10 Most Depressing Movie Endings EverObviously you know very little about movies, or have been watching too many of the wrong ones. Because this list is just plain wrong to any one with a taste of movies. For example your idea that A.I. is the second most depressing film ever could only be true if you mean they ruined a brilliant idea Stanley Kubrick. The movie should have ended with the boy going down into the water. Nothing more. Period. So it depresses me that they couldn't stand it and kept filming crap. Because Spielberg is losing his touch. While I haven't seen The Mist... I know of how it ends... STUPIDLY. They had an idea to venture out on a touch of hope only to end it when things looked like they might just get rough. No way. No one does what that person does that fast. The only two on the list that I would even consider are 1984 and The Elephant Man. To not even mention films like Graveyard of Fireflies, American History X, Of Mice and Men, and many more with better illustrated points included in their "depressing movie endings" makes ME depressed that you are trying to say ever, when you don't even what there is. You need to start watching movies more than writing about them.
I could have written an essay on how I disagree with you... so to cut it short I wrote this.
I hate your choices. | |
Re: 10 Most Depressing Movie Endings EverI'm sorry you didn't like my choices, hermitzero. Might be worth taking both the title and the piece in the context of this site, which is mostly concerned with horror, sci-fi and cult TV and movies. My choices were always going to favour 'geekier' films. - Martin | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everI'm with Martin on lots of these (and can assure you that Mr Anderson has watched more films that he'd ever care to admit!), to be fair.
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Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everOf Mice and Men is a book, not a movie. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everI always find the end of Night Of The Living Dead to be pretty depressing, especially when put in context of the racial climate of America at the time it was filmed. The Crazies has a great downer ending too, although not really "depressing". | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everRon - last time I looked, 1984 was a book too.... | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everI think Takeshi Kitano's Hana-bi wins hands down for me. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everI found this an interesting read, because these days most film companies can't handle a less than upbeat ending even if the original script includes one. I actually get depressed when they're tacked on an implausibly nice ending when the events don't really support that. My fav dark endings would include 'The Long Good Friday', 'Dr. Strangelove', 'Silent Running' and 'The Black Hole' (that one needs the stupid last two minutes hacking off for good measure, and it ending with the 'hell' sequence). Fluffing the ending, by shooting at least three alternatives and then picking the worst one seems to be a common problem for directors/producers these days. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everThank you to whoever it is that pointed out Hana-Bi!
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Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everIncidentally, one of the most depressing movie endings I've ever seen that didn't make this list (due to lack of general geekiness) is Robin Williams' Moscow On The Hudson (1984). | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everRequiem for a goddamn Dream. The end of that movie makes my brain sad. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everOne that was missed out, and is very very depressing is Brazil. Not the nice lovely fun ending the americans got but the depressing and very British ending that Gillian first produced. In another simmilar vein Life of Brian isnt all fun and joy either | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everNot really a geeky one, but I find the end to Germany Year Zero quite depressing. No, scratch that - traumatising. (Sure, it doesn't get that bad due to that awful use of a puppet for a person - watch the movie to find out - but still, in theory...)
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Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everThe Mist is the number one EVER?
You fail so hard. Have you only ever seen 11 movies? | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everHow did the movies "Dancer in the Dark" and "Brazil" not make the list? Or how about "Seven"? | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everUnfortunately one of the pitfalls on being featured on sites like IMDB means you have to put up with hateful comments for tools like 'hermitzero' - it's a film website dude, quell the rage!
Although obviously you missed Dancer In The Dark, Happiness and United 93, which is the oddest mix of joy/pleasure I've ever experienced in the cinema. A rousing ending that ends in complete and total destruction... still makes me feel funny to this day.
Oh yeah, and whoever suggested Requiem For A Dream is spot on. That movie made me feel dirty for weeks. Best anti-drugs advert ever. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everWrite your comment here...
**spoiler**
How about James Woods' sucide at the end of Videodrome? | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everJust for the record, the "aliens" at the end of A.I. are not aliens at all, they are advanced forms of robotic life. Gigolo Joe makes a statement earlier in the film that suggests robots will be all that is left once humans are gone.
For the record, what is wrong with an ending that leaves its main character finally capable of dreaming for the first time and forevermore with hapiness of his one true love, the love of his mother?
Get it off the list. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everIndividual opinion is just that isnt it and we are all entitled to have it!
I agree with AI being on the list - the pinoccio child given emotions , having his mother taken from him and knowing his own fate is to die along with his hopes, dreams and wishes. Its heart wrenching!
The movies spawned by the 9/11 disaster were predictably going to end in total destruction, because of their predictability neither of them came close to the feelings I got from watching the actual events unfold on my TV screen ... or a documentary called 'The Falling Man' that I watched recently. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everHow can you leave out Arlington Road, probably the most depressing ending I've ever seen in a movie and of course American History X. Both great movies, both complete downers. | |
The DescentI got a different idea of the ending of this movie. She doesn't really escape from the cave she ends up living there. She owns the place, she is now the king lion of the jungle. I assume she will eat these creatures for food as she pleases. It's not that depressing since in a way she conquers her own fear but loses her humanity. She could escape if she wants but she wont. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everSome great suggestions in the comments, although they probably miss the list as not being geeky enough. Agree with Arlington Road as having a depressing ending though - very close to Parallax View if memory serves. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everAlso: for anyone else who loves the film of 1984, its director is interviewed here:
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/26067/the_den_of_geek_interview_michael_radford.html | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everGood choices, all, and there are a few I would add to the list, including a number of post-nuclear world films of the 1980s: "Threads," "The Day After," "Testament," and "Miracle Mile". I would also tack on "Eraserhead," "Mulholland Drive" ... OK, just about everything by David Lynch except "The Straight Story". | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everI commend your inclusion of AI. I've been championing this film from the get go and wait for the day when it will join the ranks of Schindler's List and Jaws as one of Spielberg's best. The ending IS hopelessly depressing if only the viewer takes his/her time to think about the drastic implications of what these advanced robots, not aliens, are doing/have done. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everRequiem for a Dream is a strong contender, but my #1 for most depressing is "Johnny got his Gun"
Long story short, Johnny goes off to war, and while fighting he saves the laves of his fellow soldiers by jumping on an explosive. He doesn't die tho, they have him in the hospital-he has no legs, arms, eyes, mouth, nose, etc.
It ends with Johnny in a hospital bed tapping his head in Morse code "SOS...kill me" over and over...ugh, so depressing! | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings evermedrosa1: I was going to say Threads, as I think it's probably the most depressing thing I've ever seen, but it's not really just the ending of Threads that's depressing. It's the whole thing! :) | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everI have various reasons why a number of strong contenders in these comments didn't make it into my list - but I have to admit that Threads should probably have been in there. When The Wind Blows sneaks in on a very similar ticket as well. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everThis has got to be the worst top ten movie list I have ever seen.
Ten better movies with depressing endings.
1. The Bicycle Thief
2. Million Dollar Baby
3. Requiem For a Dream
4. Paths of Glory
5. They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
6. The Ox-Box Incident
7. Johnny Got His Gun
8. The Parallex View
9. Gallolipi
10. Breaker Morant
Martin Anderson needs to see more movies.
The ending of the orignal Fly where the fly-man is eaten by the spider, which is then crushed by the rock is better than the remake.
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Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everHouse of Shadows and Fog is another excellent film with a very depressing ending
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Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everMorant? did you just make a new word there!
I agree about the original The Fly but would put it at around number 15 out of 20 rather than in my personal top ten... but hey lets celebrate diversity of opinion yeah. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everResponding to Robmac:
Actually, the "happy" ending to BRAZIL was only ever shown on television. The US theatrical cut contains the downer ending, albeit with some clouds superimposed and a more upbeat "samba" version of the song.
It's a weird thing but I don't actually recall a suicide at the end of SPIDER- it's a downer ending in other ways, of course, but doesn't he just get carted off again? | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everMy choice would be The Virgin Suicides.
I watched it on a nice warm sunny summer afternoon---but it still made the rest of my day gloomy and depressing after viewing.
But yes, I agree that The Mist would be in my top 10 too. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everNot sci-fi or geeky but it borders on horror - how about "Sophie's Choice"? OH MY GOD I can get depressed just thinking about it and I only saw it one time about 20 years ago! | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everEvanWaters - Spider's closing scene after finding out he had killed his own mother and transferred his affections to a curious psychological jumble of his mother, the woman who replaced her and (finally) his low-rent landlady, reads as imminent suicide to me, and Cronenberg agrees, as that is the ending in the Patrick McGrath novel, as well as Cronenberg's avowed intention. - Martin | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everTo Soupie:
The number 10 film on my list is Breaker Morant. It's a 1980 film, based on a true incident that occured during the Boer War in which 3 Austrailian soldiers are put on trial on trumped up charges in order to make political gain. 2 of the soldiers are shot, and the 3rd goes to prison.
Other excellent depressing ending films are:
All Quiet on the Western Front
Match Point
A Farewell to Arms
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
On the Beach
Tucker, the Man and His Dream
Ace in the Hole
I totally agree with other posters that Threads is an excellent WWIII nuclear war film with a very depressing ending and it's even more depressing that it's almost impossible to find on video. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everNothing beats the depression after the ending of Vittorio De Sica's "The bicycle thieves", when Dad and Son are left poor and afoot in the streets of post war Rome | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everIt seems I'm not the only one who was inspired by THE MIST to create a list like this. I did my own Top 15 Bleakest Film Endings list (http://thereeladdict.com/reel-list-the-top-15-bleakest-film-endings-part-one/), though the only overlap here is THE DESCENT and THE MIST. The thing is, as depressing as THE MIST is, to declare it the most depressing ever? Then again, my choice was CHINATOWN, which I imagine would get a fair amount of flak too.
theREELaddict | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everAs other posters have also mentioned, let's not forget about the ending of Requiem for a Dream (2000). Great film, but a TOTAL downer!! (No drug pun intended here!) | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everHow about Seven, To Live and Die in LA and Will Penny. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everThanks Benst . I did google it afters as I hadnt heard of Breaker Morant, though I cant find it on any catalogue listings to purchase either! Another bleak ending has passed me by then...... | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everDidnt see Requim all the way to the end, I found it depressing enough half an hour in when the obvious drug dependence kicked in ! Chapter 27 (another Leto film) is depressing from beginning to predictible end, very slow and dark... I struggled to the end purely through being a staunch die hard Lennon fan! Full credit to Jared though , his whole body frame alters between the two movies that hes almost unrecognisable as Mark Chapman. The twist to this was they got an actor called Mark Chapman to play the part of Lennon! begorrah | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everTHE BICYCLE THIEF. Jeez, what is it with Italian neo-realism? | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everProbably the most depressing film I've ever seen would be graveyard of the fireflies, nothing good happens throughout the whole movie and it's an anime which is so contradictory to the feelgoodness of the animation itself | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everWhat about Requiem for a dream?
every single major character in that movie has had his/her lives completely destroyed by the end of the film. There's nothing even coming close to a happy ending, it's by far one of the most depressing movies i've ever seen (but still one of the best!). | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everI'm surprised no one mentioned the ending of "The Last American Virgin" What i went to see many years ago was what I thought was your typical teen aged hiigh school T&A comedy. The ending with the main character driving away and the credits seriosly depressed me for days afterwards. | |
Re: 10 most depressing movie endings everThe Vanishing. (original, foreign version)
A woman is abducted from a gas station which leads her husband on a manhunt for over a year. He then meets the man who abducted her and is told to take a pill to discover her fate. The man takes the pill and awakes to find himself in a coffin buried below the abductor's country home.
How's that for depressing? | |
CorrectionsThe country in 1984 is Oceania, not Eurasia. Eurasia is the one the Party is fighting against.
@Benst1: I think you mean "House of Sand and Fog"
@RonHogan: Of Mice and Men was adapted into a movie. Twice, I believe.
@hermitzero: Chill out. |
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