10 Movie Characters Who Actually Knew When To Quit

We've all been watching a movie and wanted to scream in frustration at the screen when a character doesn't do the obvious thing and just get the hell out of there.

It's maddening watching a character fail to demonstrate even the most basic sense of self-preservation, typically because the filmmakers couldn't think of a better reason to organically have them stick around for what follows.

And predictably, this often results in said character, whether hero or villain, meeting an horrific end.

But every so often, screenwriters are canny enough to appreciate how much this irritates viewers, who would prefer to watch characters acutely aware of their own mortality.

And so, it's always a pleasant surprise when a movie character makes the incredibly smart decision to just dip the hell out of there when things start getting dangerous.

These 10 movie characters, from outright villains to heroes to more ambiguous anti-heroes, all saw the writing on the wall and decided the sensible choice was to exit the situation they found themselves in.

It may not have been a supreme act of bravery, but it sure was smart, and in the world of film that's supremely refreshing...

In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino's deliciously revisionist take on the Tate-LaBianca murders - Maya Hawke plays a member of the Manson Family named "Flowerchild."

She's based on actual Manson Family member Linda Kasabian, who didn't directly participate in the murders and ultimately testified against those who did, in turn receiving immunity from prosecution.

And in the movie's third act, when the Family have an altercation with Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and decide to kill him instead of Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), Flowerchild makes the very wise decision to nope out of the whole situation.

She tells fellow Family member Tex (Austin Butler) that she left her knife in their car, and when Tex throws her the keys to unlock it, she decides to straight-up drive off, leaving the three remaining assailants without transportation.

Not that it matters, given that they're all brutally murdered by Rick and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) in the moments that follow, so Flowerchild was smart to follow her gut on this one.