10 Movies That Totally Surprised You When They Ended

10. Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction is a textbook example of a movie where, unless you're clock-watching on an initial viewing, you probably have no damn idea when it's going to wrap up.

The narrative is presented as something of a jigsaw puzzle with sequences playing out of order: the diner scene which famously bookends the movie actually unfolds in the story's chronological middle.

And so, when the film abruptly cuts to black after Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) leave the diner with Marsellus Wallace's (Ving Rhames) briefcase, it provides a genuine jolt to the unsuspecting viewer.

Given that Vincent hasn't died at this point in time yet, we're expecting some sort of wraparound epilogue to tie everything together, but Tarantino instead leaves it all jumbled for the viewer to figure out for themselves.

It's a brilliant flourish, of course, and one of the film's most distinctive elements, as was so shamelessly ripped off by a glut of Tarantino imitators in the years that followed.