10 Movies That Tricked You Into Thinking They Were Over

By T.J. Barnard /

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Because we spend so much of our lives in the company of movies, we've all become super-aware of the techniques that filmmakers use to manipulate us: we know everything about narrative grammar and act structure without even realising that we do. You know that a fade out means that time is passing, for instance - nobody told you that, of course. You just pick it up, because there are rules that movies have to follow to make sense. You get to know the beats, so to speak.

But nine times out ten, you know when a movie is about to end, don't you? You can feel it. Personally speaking, I've always liked to make a game out of guessing exactly when: "Aaaand the credits will start rolling.... now!" I'll say in my head, because you wouldn't want to say that out loud. Will the movie cut to black? Will the credits roll up over the screen? Hey, when you watch as many movies as I do, it's the little things that count. Please reserve judgement. As good as we are at sensing when a movie is about to end, though, there are some filmmakers who have occasionally exploited our built-in radar to get us thinking that things are all tied up and done with. Here's 10 movies that tricked you into thinking that they were over, only for them to keep going on for far longer than we expected, shock us with sudden plot changes or new developments, or drive us insane with a series of drawn-out false endings...