25 Greatest Film Deaths This Century

Writer-director Derek Cianfrance pulls a blinder in his crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines by killing off his main character during the film’s second act, and not since Psycho has this worked so well.

Opening in the state of New York in the '90s, the picture finds us in the company of motorcycle stunt rider Luke (Ryan Gosling) turned auto mechanic, who is knee-deep in a life of crime to supplement his income and support his baby mama Romina (Eva Mendes) and their child Jason. Unfortunately, one of his armed jobs goes terribly wrong and he comes face-to-face with Avery (Bradley Cooper), a young, ambitious cop who shoots him dead.

Knowing he is cornered, Luke calls Romina, asking her not to tell Jason about him. Then he is shot, falls from an upstairs window, his body breaks and bleeds on the ground below, and he promptly exits the narrative. Just like that. It catches us off guard, given not only the star calibre of Gosling but his character’s central position in The Place Beyond the Pines, and wrongfoots us for the next act, sending the story in a totally different direction. But this small, considered death leaves a lasting impression on us and the film itself, causing profound reverberations that continue to influence the lives of Avery, Romina, and their sons in the coming decades.