The 101 Greatest Endings in Movies History
Created by Igor_Brynner.
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Not every great movie has a great ending. The reverse is also true: We’ve all had that experience of watching a ho-hum flick that became instantly unforgettable thanks to an awesome conclusion (famously, or more recently). It is, arguably, the most important part of any film — how a filmmaker wants you to feel when the lights go up is often the key to what that picture was really about.
In compiling a list of the greatest endings in movie history, we had many arguments over many months about this very dynamic, and found ourselves drawn to certain types we deemed successful more than others: Ambiguous, dark endings; endings that purported to explain something but secretly did not; endings that denied us (and the characters) closure; endings that featured people dancing, but not always in joyous, triumphant fashion. Maybe that was a reflection of the times we were living. (Dark, uncertain, marked by a significant amount of human flailing.) Sometimes, we did go for the cathartic, bring-happy-tears-to-your-face finale, but we frequently found ourselves opining the sorts of stories that lack that release. The unendings.
Our goal from the jump was never to determine a set formula for the Great Movie Ending. We began with an absolute morass of nominations, hundreds of finales that stuck in at least one Vulture staff member’s maw. The idiosyncrasies piled up; if the key to a good ending was a feeling, we’d surrender to impulse. Still, we did set ourselves some rules. Most significantly, we only considered one movie (feature length) per director, in part so Billy Wilder and Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock titles didn’t swallow up the whole list. We prioritized a diversity of tone, origin, authorship, subject matter, and genre. And we were a bit flexible on what constituted an actual “ending”: a final shot, a final passage; it just had to come at the end of the film. (You’d be amazed at how many scenes are remembered as being great endings that came well before the movie in question went to credits.) Still, there was no escaping our own unbound tastes and biases. You’ll see some classic endings on this list. You’ll also wonder (probably angrily) where some of the more iconic ones are. And you’ll hopefully see a few you’ve never heard of. (This is as good a time as any to remind you that this list contains many, many spoilers.) The thread that pulls all of these choices together is that after rewatching them, we felt that tough-to-articulate sensation when the lights went up (metaphorically, because of course we’re holed up at home just like you): The key to the story was more often a notion, not an answer.
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1 new
Beau travail
1999, in 15 top lists Check -
2 new
The Third Man
1949, in 37 top lists Check -
3 new
Madeo
2009 — a.k.a. Mother, in 9 top lists Check -
4 new
Big Night
1996, in 1 top list Check -
5 new
Some Like It Hot
1959, in 35 top lists Check -
6 new
Phoenix
2014, in 4 top lists Check -
7 new
8½
1963, in 35 top lists Check -
8 new
Eyes Wide Shut
1999, in 11 top lists Check -
9 new
In a Lonely Place
1950, in 19 top lists Check -
10 new
Portrait de la jeune fille en feu
2019 — a.k.a. Portrait of a Lady on Fire, in 12 top lists -
11 new
Mulholland Dr.
2001 — a.k.a. Mulholland Drive, in 26 top lists Check -
12 new
The Thing
1982, in 20 top lists Check -
13 new
The Act of Killing
2012, in 9 top lists Check -
14 new
Zire darakhatan zeyton
1994 — a.k.a. Through the Olive Trees, in 9 top lists Check -
15 new
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080...
1975, in 12 top lists Check -
16 new
Heat
1995, in 23 top lists Check -
17 new
Before Sunset
2004, in 18 top lists Check -
18 new
Point Break
1991, in 9 top lists Check -
19 new
My Best Friend's Wedding
1997, in 3 top lists Check -
20 new
The Last Temptation of Christ
1988, in 7 top lists Check -
21 new
Now, Voyager
1942, in 13 top lists Check -
22 new
Fa yeung nin wah
2000 — a.k.a. In the Mood for Love, in 30 top lists Check -
23 new
Brief Encounter
1945, in 22 top lists Check -
24 new
The Godfather Part III
1990, in 7 top lists Check -
25 new
25th Hour
2002, in 7 top lists Check
Last updated on Mar 5, 2021; source