10 "Ambiguous" Movie Endings (That Totally Aren't)
1. Charlie Dies In The Final Scene - The Whale
Because audiences apparently need everything entirely spelled out for them, there's of course been the predictable year-long discourse about whether or not Charlie (Brendan Fraser) died at the end of The Whale.
In the final scene, Charlie stands up and begins to walk towards his estranged daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink), and as they smile at one another, he suddenly begins floating off the ground before becoming engulfed in a brilliant white light.
For starters, the man is in the late stages of heart failure and just managed to stand up without assistance - a considerable physical exertion for someone in his condition.
He got to finally make peace with his daughter, followed by some of the most bluntly obvious "this person died" imagery imaginable - floating and looking upward into a bright light.
If that's not proof enough, the film's editor Andrew Weisblum said in its press notes, "the power of that final scene is that we know Charlie is facing the end."