8 Stephen King Movie Fan Theories That Will Blow Your Mind
3. The Mist HAD To Have That Horrible Ending
Interestingly, Stephen King's written version of The Mist doesn't actually have the heart-rending ending that appears in the movie. Of course, in the screen version, desperate father David mercy kills his son and three friends at their request with the last four bullets in his gun - intending to commit suicide by offering himself up to the creatures of the mist afterwards. As he leaves the car however, he finds a military force able to beak through the clouds that spells hope for humanity.
It's bleak AF, and one of the best endings to a horror movie ever due to the sheer, painful irony of killing everyone only to see his salvation.
However - in a much more positive spin, there's a theory that suggests that the death of David's son is the only way the military stood a chance of fighting back. Throughout the film, we're shown the ramblings of uber-religious zealot Mrs Carmody, who time and again is proven actually right in her faith, managing to survive a monstrous insect attack whilst she stands still and prays for her safety.
She's the one that suggests a human sacrifice must be made to appease the mist and bring balance back to the world - and low and behold, when David's son is killed, the very boy she demanded blood from initially, the terrors of the outside world finally begin to abate.
Strange coincidence? Or prophet of the armageddon? She did call it, after all...