10 Most Unexpectedly Tragic Endings To Otherwise Fun Movies

7. Breathless (1960)

Jean Luc Godard's most famous movie has such a legacy attached to it that it's sometimes difficult to see this movie for what it truly is: For all its form-busting technique and style, then, Breathless is a love story. And watching our central characters (and lovers), Michel and Patricia, as they wander around Paris, evading the police after Michel shoots one dead in the movie's first scenes, is incredibly romantic. Despite the thickness Breathless mostly feels like a "hangout movie." The seriousness of the situation is somewhat underplayed. That is, until Patricia learns what Michel has done, and turns him in. Here, the movie, which felt as freewheeling as a Bob Dylan album cover in the scenes leading up to last, sends its central character to the grave, and the results - though warranted - feel surprisingly tragic. Yes, Michel has clearly resigned himself to a life in prison, and clearly he expected to be caught eventually... but as it succumbs from a bullet wound on the street. Due to various translations, it's unclear whether - in his dying breath - he condemns or praises Patricia, but it certainly serves as an unexpected coda to this incredibly innovate classic.