19 Movies With The Worst Endings Which Are Actually A Smack In The Faces Of Viewers

These films ruined their chances of being considered masterpieces.

Maryjane

• Published in Film & TV
• June 14, 2022

Some films end with a bang, leaving you with a lot of unanswered questions and assumptions about what happened next. Sometimes they end in ways that make you cry or break your heart.

On the other hand, some films may have been good throughout but fail to keep us the good work towards the end. By having such bad endings, such films have ruined their chances of being considered masterpieces.

Obviously, great stories require great conclusions. Thus, the final few minutes of a film decide whether audiences will leave in high spirits and recommend it to others or lament the hours they just squandered.

These endings are mostly regarded as bad because they make no sense in the context of the larger plot or are extremely confusing. On the other hand, a film may not be good from the start.

As a result, the bad ending feels completely appropriate. In any case, a bad ending to a movie, whether the movie was good or bad before the ending, qualifies it for inclusion on our list.

They all left a bad taste in our mouths, no matter how much we enjoyed the rest of the movie. The debate over which movies have the worst endings can involve dozens of films, but only a few have been identified as the biggest letdowns.

We've compiled a list of them for you to view.

1. The movie, Sucker Punch (2011)

"It’s bad enough that the movie and its subject matter were totally different than what audiences were led to believe in the trailer, but then to have only ONE of the girls survive the ordeal intact — and it’s not the main character? The one we were rooting for the whole movie? Ridiculous."

—josephaloysiusc

2. The movie, Seven Pounds (2008)

"Loooord, this movie. I am not usually into those kind of dramas, but I thought the movie was lovely — BUT A JELLYFISH?"

—michellef61

3. Wonder Woman (2017)

"Making Ares a literal character instead of an abstract concept was a bad move, in my opinion. There was so much potential to tell a story about how humans have the capacity to exert god-like power over each other, both for good (like Chris Pine sacrificing himself to save everyone) and for bad (like, you know, a world war). Having Ares be a literal force of evil operating on earth ruined that arc for both Diana and the audience."

—razmatini

4. Part 2 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2011)

"Voldemort becoming dust was beyond stupid, but that's not what upset me. We jump from Harry fighting in a war to him shipping off his stupidly named kids — that was awful. What happened to the rest of the Death Eaters? We're supposed to believe everything was automatically perfect after the war? It was a boring ending."

—seriously24

5. Interstellar (2014)

"A fantastic two-hour movie that went on 45 minutes too long. Tapping out the secrets to time travel on a watch hand? Seriously?"

—mikeb

6. The Departed (2007)

"You get no closure in the end 'cause everyone's fucking dead! I know that was the point to some extent, but still."

—larazie13

7. Krampus (2015)

"I don't know if a lot of people actually saw this movie, but it was a really good horror-comedy (better than it really should've been) — but the ending was confusing and just dumb."

—michaeldavid

8. Soul (2020)

"I felt like the entire movie was rushed, but that ending was unforgivable. They just kind of left it open so that they could easily make a sequel. Make a sequel all you wish, but at least wrap up the first story!"

—jdjinxed

9. Baby Driver (2017)

"The ending was rushed!"

—dreamgirl456

10. Uncut Gems (2019)

"The movie was so frustrating to watch and it was dragging on because the main character kept making bad choice after bad choice. Then they killed him and robbed his store — they could've just done that from the beginning and saved me an hour of being bored and irritated."

—justchillman

11. War of the Worlds (2005)

"How the hell did Tom Cruise’s son survive?!"

—erikd4efb15b99

12. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

"Maybe I'm cynical, but they go through all this drama of losing the money and then the resolution is everyone just donates money to save the day? And there's no consequences whatsoever for the guy who stole the original cash?"

—pks0

13. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

"That movie was a mess to begin with, but the ending was such garbage. Queenie's completely out of character 180-degree turn made no sense (her entire character was butchered) and the revelation that Credence was a Dumbledore is one of dumbest and worst-executed twists I've ever seen."

—femkat

14. Identity (2003)

"I know what it meant symbolically, and I get that he’s running with (and through) the mind of a middle-aged serial killer, but actually seeing an 11-year-old make it across states by himself, after rigging a car bomb to fake his own death, in order to kill a woman felt really dumb. It felt like a cheap way to end a mystery."

—shaniasanchez014

15. Pay it Forward (2000)

"Everyone kept telling me what a wonderful movie it was, but I was so pissed off when he died at the end. What kind of movie tries to get the message of being nice across by killing off a kid for doing exactly that?"

—ferociouskitten

16. Remember Me (2010)

"The movie could’ve ended in any of a hundred different ways, but to have the main character die in 9/11? I guess it brings awareness to the horribleness of the day — but it just felt wrong."

—lilyobert1

17. Click (2006)

"There was a big emotional climax and it felt like a good resolution to the movie — then it turned out to all be a dream. I saw this in the theater and when it was revealed, the entire audience let out a disappointed sigh."

—melllvar

18. The Circle (2017)

"The whole second half of the movie was so rushed and, simply put, bad. I was really looking forward to it based on the actors and the trailer, but they focused so much on the beginning and tried to slap together a subpar ending. The idea was there, but it wasn't well executed."

—pearlmiller

19. Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker (2019)

"This movie's ending was the worst of all time for me. The movie itself was shockingly bad, but the fact that a 40+-year, nine-film saga was concluded in such a hollow, condescending way was unforgivable."

—mybrainisflypaper

We’ve seen that for every great film ending that leaves us feeling amazed, enthralled, and happy, there are literally dozens upon dozens of stinkers out there with denouements that end up leaving us feeling duped, confused, and perhaps even angry. Which movie ending on our list is the most horrible?

Maryjane