It is now so difficult to surprise a sophisticated viewer that directors take literally all imaginable and unimaginable steps. But some, it would seem, completely new tricks that scriptwriters have been sweating for years, cause modern moviegoers only to indifferent laughter and eloquent yawns.
Films with an unpredictable end or war for spectator attention
Each movie genre has its own principles of gaining and retaining an audience, but many of them agree on one thing - the unexpected ending intrigues the viewer best. However, it is thanks to the popularity of this technique that films with an unpredictable ending have already taken root too much. An experienced film fan will always be able to determine the presence of such an ending in advance, only by looking at the first fifteen minutes of timing, as he develops a strong immunity to everything “unexpected” and “surprising”. There are apogeees that delight even experienced moviegoers, and there are those that spoil the great idea of the film in just a few seconds.
Talented movie is talented in everything
First of all, it is worth considering films in which the plot itself is good, and the ending in the style of “Oh, what a twist!” justified and logical.
In general, films with an unpredictable ending are, by and large, horrors and thrillers, in which there is an element of forcing the atmosphere, after which the viewer is “finished off” with a plot twist at the end. A good example is Thailand’s inseparable horror movie. The Americans were so impressed with it that two years later they released a remake, calling it "Uninvited". The creators of the film “Pandorum” agree with them: the ending, although not particularly explained logically, but makes the hair on the head slightly stir. Along with them, it is worth mentioning the classic film “Others” with Nicole Kidman in the title role, the final scenes of which force to rethink the entire film. One of the most popular examples of the “turning” ending is the first part of the film “Saw”. Surely no one expected that a cold corpse, all the time lying motionless, would suddenly rise and turn out to be the main villain. There are lesser-known films with unpredictable endings, such as, for example, Highway, Primal Fear, Devil, and Statics.
Do you spoil the butter porridge?
However, a good movie with such endings is easy to spoil. Seeing this, the viewer, slapping his eyes for a couple of seconds, will slap a fat "deuce" into the film and complain that a good original idea was shamelessly corrupted. A very good example is the recent premiere of Trans with James McAvoy in the title role. Declaring himself as an intellectual and thoughtful movie, at the very end of the film slides into perfect chaos. An identical situation is observed in the picture “Hell”. Movies with an unpredictable end will not save even a good cast if the creators use the technique of "intrigue for the sake of intrigue." The same mistake was made in the film "Prestige". In just a couple of minutes, a mystical and a bit historical film turned into children's science fiction, evoking a wide but sympathetic smile among many viewers.
A similar situation occurred with the film "I am a legend", based on the novel of the same name by Richard Mateson. The original ending is distorted, and this greatly distorts the main idea of the work and its morality.
Movies to watch from the end
The list of films with an unpredictable ending is quite significant, and it would be logical to mention those films that were successful due to the use of this technique. For starters, you can recall the passing picture "Nimble Hands." Despite the brilliant Stuart Townsend, who played the vampire Lestat in The Queen of the Damned, the movie is very boring and measured. Fans of stories about major gambling scams and winnings may even watch this movie to the end, and only in this case they will not be disappointed. A very similar problem is observed with the tape "Phantoms", a remake of the Thai "Shutter". As mentioned above, films with the most unexpected endings are most often horrors, and Phantoms is announced in this particular movie genre. However, only the ending is capable of scaring the viewer in this movie. The film "Child of Darkness" suffers from the same syndrome.
The film itself is not particularly interesting to watch, the plot is sagging, and the dialogue seemed to be invented by five-year-old children. But the final shots eliminate the sense of wasted time and even allow you to call the film "a strong middle peasant."
The plot twist as a guarantee of spectator frustration
The best films with an unpredictable ending can cause the viewer a feeling of irritation or injustice, and some of them almost make you howl with anger. The creators of such a movie, however, and expect to cause precisely such emotions among film enthusiasts. Spectators, aware of the possibility of such an ending and worried about the main character, almost pray that their assumptions turn out to be erroneous.
This state of affairs is observed in the loud thriller "Lake of Paradise." The heroine fights for survival for an hour and a half, but in the end, thanks to the plot twist, she still gets the worst outcome. Many are familiar with the movie "Seven", showing the mental suffering of Gwyneth Paltrow,
Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. For two and a half hours, the viewer becomes attached to the hero of Pitt, so this denouement causes him utter frustration and sometimes even a slight shock and refusal to believe what happened. Another exciting film with an unexpected ending is Sinister. Although his last minutes are classics of the horror genre, the viewer still feels as if he had taken candy from under his nose.
Ambiguity and existentialism
Sometimes the reception of an unexpected ending leaves the viewer a field of thought, giving the film the so-called “open ending”. The "25th hour" with Edward Norton in the title role allows filmmakers to independently think up the further development of events. Given that the “25th hour” is a rather measured and slightly sad life drama, such an ending is a kind of allegory. The creators show the viewer that in life there is always a choice, on which fate depends. However, there are thrillers with an unexpected ending, the list of which is headed by the British film Heartless.
It is impossible to interpret the final of this movie somehow, therefore the viewer feels hope and bright faith in a better future for the hero. Also in this list it would be logical to see the picture "Triangle". The film itself is very ambiguous, and its ending is exactly the same.
“It all started so well!”
But it is such a frenzied popularity of accepting an unexpected ending that is guilty of the fact that not too talented directors use it with might and main, sometimes without justifying it at all. Most often, the creators of horror films do this. For example, “My Bloody Valentine 3D” is a generally good movie with an unexpected ending, which is not explained in any way.
Perhaps the fact is that the main role is Jensen Ackles, and the director relied on his green eyes, and not on the thoughtfulness and logic of the script. In any case, the ending is very predictable and looks too far-fetched. The exact same thing can be said for Midnight Express, the
2008 horror film starring Bradley Cooper. It seems to be a successful picture with a masterfully pumped atmosphere and interesting characters terribly spoiled by an unsuccessful and supposedly unexpected outcome. It would be much more logical to show the development of the plot sequentially or to give the viewer some hints of a similar ending, but to take it from nowhere is too ill-conceived a move.
Do not know how - do not handle
Some unsuccessful films are not saved even by an unexpected and intriguing ending. Most often, in similar films about a similar outcome of events, the viewer can guess even at the initial credits.
A vivid example is the painting “The Chamber” with the beautiful
Amber Heard. Logical failures in the plot, poor acting and strange lighting already do not create the best impression, so the “unexpected” ending does its best to surprise a disappointed viewer. But the finale flies into tartarars along with all the timing, being no less disastrous. The same can be said of Soul Eater, the script of which, it seems, was written under the influence of someone's unhealthy sleep. Sometimes the filmmakers think that the more they confuse the viewer and the more incomprehensible words they say, the more interesting the film will seem to him. However, everything works exactly the opposite. The unexpected ending just did not stretch the failed films "Forbidden Zone", "Astral" and "Apollon 18", although the calculation was clearly on it.
Good movie - a needle in a haystack
Why it is now so popular to leave the final film in limbo or to “award” a picture with no motivated plot twist at the end, it is difficult to answer. Most likely, the modern film market is so full of completely different products that there is simply nothing for directors and scriptwriters to offer potential consumers. But this does not make real moviegoers discouraged, because the more they remove the obscenities, the higher they value a truly talented movie.