The TV Addict 

Though bleak endings have long had their occasional place in cinema, it seems like lately a fair amount of film endings are taking a turn for the darker. So to “celebrate” that fact, I tapped into my inner nihilist, dusted away the cobwebs in my film memory, and tried to recall the movie endings that knocked the happiness right out of me, leaving me emotionally gutted and staring dumb-founded and in complete disbelief at the screen as the credits rolled.

Needless to say, there is a degree of subjectivity in terms of what one finds depressing and bleak, so inevitably you may think there are better choices, or a different order required, or even films not listed here that I haven’t seen but deserve a spot. So, as always, feel free to post your own lists or additions below and let me know what y’all think.

Of course, HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD (!!!!!), so if you haven’t seen any of these films, you should do your best to look away if you don’t want their endings ruined.

15. Layer Cake
As will become clear throughout most of the list, a lot of times the quickest way to achieve a bleak film ending is to simply kill or severely wound one or several main characters. In the case of LAYER CAKE, this approach works so well because as our hero is walking down the steps of a swanky country club, grinning at his own cleverness and perseverance (and we’re grinning right with him), he gets unexpectedly shot in the stomach. As he lies bleeding on the stairs, his eyes turn towards us, almost asking us the question we’re asking ourselves but can’t answer: will he live or die?

14. The Wicker Man (1973)
After an entire film spent following around Sergeant Neil Howie attempting to find a missing girl on a Scottish island full of pagans, we’re met with the sudden shock that the only reason our hero was called to the island in the first place was to serve as a sacrifice. As Howie begins to burn alive, we hear the franticness , desperation, and finally the futility of his prayers until eerily his voice disappears, and all that is left is the creepy pagans swaying, smiling, and singing. Creepy, creepy, pagans.

13. American History X
Danny’s death at the end of AMERICAN HISTORY X just leaves you speechless in the face of the sad, perpetual cycle of violence that hatred can promote. It even makes you wonder if his death is some horrible case of karmic vengeance, a re-balancing of the universe to right his older brother’s monstrous earlier crime, or the final catalyst to make Derek truly realize the consequences our actions sometimes have. W hat ever you decide the ending means, it’s a tragic case of watching two characters finally make their way towards the light, only to watch one of them snuffed out before it even got really burning.

12. Seven
Nobody wins at the end of SEVEN. Gwyneth Paltrow dies, reduced to a decapitated head in a box. Yes, the villain dies, but he ultimately prevails because in cajoling Brad Pitt to kill him, the seven sins are completed. Pitt loses his wife, his integrity, his career – essentially, his life. The only glimmer we have is the suggestion that Morgan Freeman won’t retire after all, but after what we’ve seen, it’s hard to muster enough confidence that, in the face of such evil in the world, one can really do anything about it.

11. Arlington Road
It’s not that just Jeff Bridges dies in the end. It’s not just that he was right, and his neighbors really were planning a terrorist attack. It’s that while in other films the hero would usually stop the terrorists just in the nick of time, here the hero not only is unable to save the day, he becomes the tool of destruction, and we – the audience – have to helplessly watch as he becomes the villain. We’re left being the only ones who know the sad truth, and that inevitably – in the universe of the film – all of this will happen again.

Check out Part Two (10-6) here.
Check out Part Three (5-1) here.