A cliffhanger ending can serve a few dramatic purposes.
Its much more discomforting to get no closure whatsoever inan ambiguous ending likeThe ShiningorThe Birds.
Some of the best horror movies end on a hair-raising cliffhanger.
Siennas younger cousin Gabbie falls into the portal and takes Siennas magical sword with her.
Before the end credits roll, Sienna vows to find her and save her.
This cliffhanger sets up an awesome story forthe upcomingTerrifier 4.
Their benevolent android, Walter, clashes with David, the malicious A.I.
fromPrometheuswho wants to wipe out humanity.
But just as theyre drifting off, they realize its not really Walter its David.
He swapped places with Walter as part of his diabolical plan.
This set up a chilling storyline fora thirdAlienprequel that, sadly, never got made.
Based on that smile alone, the audience figures out the ruse just as the surviving crew members do.
This is an incredibly bleak and depressing ending.
When they get to France and find that the virus has reached continental Europe, that hope is crushed.
Theres no escaping this virus.
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This could be a totally innocuous ending.
Like the cliffhanger endings ofTerrifier 3andAlien: Covenant, this one was intended to set up a sequel.
The lack of any kind of explanation in this cliffhanger ending makes it all the more unsettling.
They made it away from the zombie-infested mall, but theyre low on fuel and their fate is uncertain.
The original ending is much more ominous.
But it turns out this was all an extended hallucination.
Suffice to say, its not easy to sleep after watching this movie.
2The Shining
Theres an apparent sense of closure atthe end of Stanley KubricksThe Shining.
Wendy and Danny manage to avoid Jacks wrath and escape on the snowcat.
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It seems to be a happy ending in which the heroes get away and the villain is punished.
This calls the entire movie into question.
But as they settle down, they realize the futility of their situation.
They have no way of knowing if either of them have already been assimilated by the entity.
And even if neither of them got assimilated, theyll likely freeze to death before being rescued.
So, they decide to just split a bottle of Scotch whisky and wait to die.
The Thingis a quintessentially nihilistic movie about how quickly humanity could be completely doomed.
