10 Movie Endings That Left You Speechless
You could hear a pin drop once these movies ended.
As much as first impressions count for a lot, ending a movie strong is arguably even more important, because it's going to define what the audience feels when they head home from the cinema.
A great ending can leave viewers on a fist-pumping high, but if the filmmaker gets it wrong, they risk tainting the entire experience with last-minute disappointment.
And then there are movies that left us neither pumped-up nor angry: we were simply lost for words and unable to say anything.
In some cases the movie did something so shocking in its final moments that we had to just solemnly file out of the cinema and quietly process our thoughts, while in others the finale was so gut-wrenchingly intense that it quite literally took our breath away.
From Oscar-winning dramas to iconic superhero movies and even niche indie films, these 10 movie endings left us all scrambling to make sense of what we just saw, settling for silence as these moments burned themselves deep into our minds forever more.
Love or hate these movies and their endings, you'll never, ever forget how they wrapped things up...
10. BlacKkKlansman
BlacKkKlansman is a typically confronting piece of work from the great Spike Lee, yet even those highly acquainted with Lee's politically incisive filmography were likely taken aback by this film's brutal final gut-punch.
When the main story of the movie is concluded, protagonist Ron (John David Washington) and his comrade Patrice (Laura Harrier) hear a knock at the door, and as they investigate we're suddenly transported through a window to a Ku Klux Klan cross burning on a hillside.
That's just the start, though. Lee then cuts to footage of the infamous 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, lingering on footage of racists marching and clashing with anti-racist protestors.
The ensuing montage includes clips of then-President Donald Trump refusing to denounce the white supremacists, KKK honcho David Duke (played in the film by Topher Grace) appearing at the rally, and finally the car attack which killed protestor Heather Heyer and injured dozens more.
Following a title card paying tribute to Heyer, Lee ends the film on an upside down American flag, which is generally accepted to a be a sign of the nation in distress.
At the end of an oddly entertaining movie about the stupidity of the KKK, this was a sobering return to reality - an upsetting reminder that their bigoted spirit lives on and continues to take lives.
It's one of those endings that just might ruin your day, and will certainly leave you wanting to take a long walk around the block afterwards.