10 Movies That Explained Way Too Much

10. The Ring (2002)

The fact that the Ring over-explains itself a bit is not a surprise. Its source material, a much lesser-known Japanese novel, is less of a mystical horror-fantasy narrative and more of a pandemic narrative, where figuring out exactly how the pandemic will spread is part of the point (it also has far less likeable characters who have luckily been altered or removed entirely from the film adaptation).

Though the film is much more of a straight horror story than its pandemic-focused source material, an emphasis on explanation does survive The Ring’s slight generic readjustment.

On some level, having well-defined rules works in this movie. The whole central conceit of dying seven days after watching a cursed video tape is an interesting one. It leaves a ticking clock hanging over the events of the film, increasing tension and scares as the film progresses.

However, certain explanations take away from that same tension.

For example, it is discovered that the ghostly antagonist of the film, Samara, was killed after being enclosed in a well. How long can one survive in a well? Seven days, states the protagonist of the film.

It all comes across as a bit silly. A ghost gives you 7 days to die after watching a video tape because… it took her seven days to starve or die of thirst in a well? Aside from that logic being specious at best, it also robs the central conceit of the movie of its mystique. Instead of being this almost random, ticking clock, one that embodies a vague fear generated by the growing prevalence of in-home media consumption, we learn that it all actually due to a girl surviving a very particular amount of time in a well somewhere.

Now, giving answers to the viewer is basically a necessity in a film like this: an investigative horror movie that’s as much detective fiction as horror fiction. However, trying to tie up all loose ends inevitably ends in some silliness that will undercut the more impactful horror moments of the film, as is the case here.