10 Movie Endings Way Darker Than You Realise
7. Truman Never Gets Any Peace - The Truman Show
The Truman Show ends with Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) finally learning that his entire life has been a TV show, of which he has unknowingly been the star.
Upon discovering this, Truman exits the studio to the jubilation of viewers worldwide, all while his love interest Sylvia (Natascha McElhone) races to meet him.
We don't see what happens to Truman next, though the implication is that he's now happily free to start a new life with Sylvia, and that's that.
It's a nice idea, but realistically what sort of life would Truman actually have in the "real world?"
Even if he received a settlement from the network and never had to work again, the film makes it abundantly clear that Truman is basically the most famous person alive.
Anywhere he goes he'll be pestered by the press and people wanting to talk to him, some of whom may have a dangerous parasocial fixation with him due to the Truman Show's 24/7 format.
Beyond that, Truman's damn-near guaranteed to be traumatised by acclimating to a whole new reality, while having crushing trust issues for the rest of his life.
And let's be honest, the state of the world being what it is today, Truman might even end up missing the sanitised, hermetically sealed world of Seahaven Island.
It's tough to imagine a potential future where Truman emerges a genuinely happy, well-adjusted human being, sadly.