12 Movies That Made You Work Out The Answer Yourself

6. The Thing

The Question: At the end of the film, who is infected by the extraterrestrial lifeform: MacReady (Kurt Russell) or Childs (Keith David)?

John Carpenter's ferocious sci-fi horror film ends on an all-time classic cliffhanger, reinforcing the movie's overarching theme of paranoia by having the two remaining men committed to freezing to death, to ensure the alien doesn't escape out into the world.

Most of the prominent fan theories seem to point towards Childs probably being the Thing, as his breath isn't visible in the low temperatures, which could suggest he's not human.

Also, a more adventurous suggestion is that MacReady placed gasoline in the bottle of alcohol, and when Childs drank it without spitting it out, it indicated he was indeed the Thing, which wouldn't know the difference in taste between the two. Some believe this is why MacReady laughs after Childs takes a sip, as he finally knows the truth.

The mutually assured destruction on the basis of distrust is pivotal to the ending's bleak power, though, so while it's fun to try and figure it out, the lack of a concrete answer is the entire point.