10 Shocking Movie Character Deaths That Came Out Of Nowhere

Scorsese isn’t new to the art of deploying an unexpected death scene in order to leave the multiplex reeling, and the cinematic master has punctuated his back catalogue with brutal surprise demises in order to keep viewers tense and uncertain for decades (sorry, Samuel L Jackson in Goodfellas and Joe Pesci in… well, everything before The Irishman).

But his starry 2006 remake of Hong Kong cop thriller Internal Affairs took things to another level, offing most of the principal cast before the credits rolled. In the film’s slew of surprise killings, though, one stands out, and anyone who has seen the flick will be able to guess the one we mean.

Yes, after over two torturous hours of watching Leonardo DiCaprio’s Billy Costigan attempt to hide his secret identity, the protagonist is unceremoniously offed as he hops out of an elevator and meets a bullet to the forehead just minutes after finally nabbing Matt Damon’s villainous mole. Damon and his collaborators eventually get their just desserts, but nothing could take the sting out of this shocking death.