10 Crazy Movie Endings You Didn't Believe

Wait, did that REALLY just happen?!

Switchblade Romance
EuropaCorp

In theory, a movie should go from strength-to-strength across its run time, powering forward to a conclusion that provides a brilliant, fitting ending to the tale audiences have spent the last couple of hours investing in.

Of course, the concept of a worthwhile final act can often prove to be easier said than done.

Across the history of cinema, there have been so many movies that have spluttered to a disappointing or formulaic end that has taken away from an otherwise enjoyable or impactful picture. And then, elsewhere, there are those finales that were just so unthinkable, so unbelievable, and so outright crazy that audiences struggled to make sense of what they'd just seen take place.

Despite seeing something happen on screen, these are the movie moments that had you pausing for a second to take stock of whether you really did see what you thought you just saw - and more often than not, yes, you were correct in your initial assumption that you've just seen something absolutely nuts unravel before your watching eyes.

Here then, are ten of the most crazy movie endings in cinema history.

10. Remember Me

Switchblade Romance
Summit Entertainment

A coming-of-age romance picture concluding with the atrocities of 9/11? Yep, that was the jarring ending of Allen Coulter's Remember Me.

So out of left-field were the closing moments of this 2010 movie, it felt as if the ending of a different film had been tacked onto this Robert Pattinson-starrer - with those final minutes serving as a complete turn-off for anyone who had spent nearly two hours investing in the complex emotions of Remember Me.

With strained relationships aplenty, the third act of Remember Me finds R-Patz's Tyler deciding to head to his father's office to let him know about his warm and fuzzy feelings for Emilie de Ravin's Ally.

At the same time, we see Tyler's old man - Pierce Brosnan as Charles - dropping the youngest member of the family off at school... only for a quick classroom scene to reveal that this is all happening on September 11, 2001, while we then get the reveal that Tyler is stood in his father's office on the 101st floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Using the horrors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks here just felt like a soulless, classless move designed to add a sense of shock and impact to Remember Me. And while it did indeed serve to give the movie a memorable climax, it was a climax that had audiences wincing in bafflement at what they were watching.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.