10 Harsh Realities That Completely Ruin Classic Film Happy Endings

3. Groundhog Day €“ Suicide

The Happy Ending

Having spent a massive amount of time stuck in a perpetual loop, reliving a single day in Punxsutawney, Phil Connors realises that selflessness is the root of a happy life, and goes about creating the perfect day. In the process, he unlocks the key to escape his prison, and wakes up with the woman of his dreams by his side, and the opportunity to leave.

The Harsh Reality

He might get the girl, but happiness and freedom isn't all it's cut out to be for Phil Connors. Phil will be institutionalized by the time he escapes the loop, and even worse, he will be once more faced with the awful inevitability of his own mortality, having been an immortal God during his time in Punxsutawney.

Even worse, Phil will have lost traditional human qualities like perseverance and the need to bounce back from defeat, because he has been reconditioned to see failure as a temporary thing, that is naturally overcome when the day resets.

Depression will inevitably set in, particularly as he watches his body age and decay in front of his eyes after years of preservation, and faced with the awful truth, Phil will once more turn to suicide, having already shown his willingness to give up.