10 Film Directors Who Used The Same Ending Twice
8. The "Hero" Is An Unwilling Accomplice To The Villain - David Fincher
The Original
David Fincher's Se7en wraps up with an all-timer downer ending, as Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) receives a present from killer John Doe (Kevin Spacey): the decapitated head of his own wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) in a box.
And so, despite the protests of Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman), Mills angrily executes Doe with a bullet to the head, in turn carrying out the final kill of Doe's deathly homage to the seven deadly sins: wrath.
Understandably unable to contain his rage, Mills inadvertently played directly into Doe's hand and gave him exactly what he wanted.
The Repeat
Gone Girl meanwhile sees the villain of the piece rope the "hero" into their plot by similarly exploiting their emotions.
The film ends with suspected murderer Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) let off the hook after his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) turns up alive, having staged her own disappearance as revenge for Nick's marital misdeeds.
Cleared of murder, Nick intends to leave Amy, only for her to reveal that she's pregnant, having inseminated herself with his sperm.
Nick is furious, but out of responsibility to his unborn child agrees to stay with Amy, much to his sister Margo's (Carrie Coon) frustration - not to mention our own.
And so, Nick plays the part of the doting, loving husband on TV as they announce the pregnancy, trapped in a web he sees no conceivable way out, given that the media would crucify him if he left.