Films with MASSIVE downer endings.

Post Reply New Topic

A.I. had a bittersweet ending rather than a downer ending.

The ending of the movie Big Bad Wolf was a downer

Pan's Labyrinth also had a bittersweet ending.

Forrest Gump had a bittersweet ending so did the movie old yeller

Thank you!! ! That was it.

Deep Impact - The whole movie was just depressing from start to finish. Other end of the world movies, even the bad ones had a little more to it. Armageddon (which I've never seen) had that awesome song by Aerosmith and Independence Day had Will Smith. I like to cry at a sad movie sometimes (I know that sounds kinda fruti) but with a little happiness to it like the end of Toy Story 3 or The Iron Giant.

I was originally going to mention that but it has more of a bittersweet ending than an outright downer, at least according to TV Tropes.

The movie logans run was a downer so was bladerunner

I remember seeing The Departed when it came out a few years ago, and coming out of the theater so shaken and depressed by the ending that I found it difficult to concentrate on driving home.

Another one is Network. Classic black comedy, so so prophetic and ahead of its time. The ending was obviously intended to push the premise as far as it could go for the sake of comedic exaggeration. But there's a lot of darkness to it, just below the surface-- probably because there's more truth in it (particularly these days) than we'd like to admit. In the 36 years since the movie was released, our obsessive consumption of sensationalist media has grown exponentially stronger.

"Chinatown" has one of the best classic downer endings. The woman Jake is trying to keep from getting hurt, gets hurt and all anyone can say is "Forget it Jake. It's Chinatown."

"In The Mood For Love" By Wong Kar Wai. More bittersweet than a downer, but still, the sadness and regret of never being able to be with someone you love because of societal norms is rather sad.

"Songs From the Second Floor" by Roy Andersson. The closest thing to a main character in the film bemoans how he is being persecuted by the ghosts of all the people he took advantage of. Like many people, he is completely unaware that he is actually the bad guy in the story.

"Dr Strangelove" While immediate disaster is averted, the film ends with the implication that it's only a matter of time before we all blow ourselves to bits.

"Oldboy" An enigmatic ending. Things definitely didn't work out as planned.

"Another Year" by Mike Leigh.

"Naked" by Mike Leigh

"Miller's Crossing" by the Coen Brothers. Tom Regan cannot keep following the foolish decisions of his one true friend and ultimately must part ways.

"Do The Right Thing" by Spike Lee. Nobody does the right thing.

"Dog Day Afternoon" By Sydney Lumet. Things go from bad to worse and then it goes downhill from there.

"A Serious Man" Again, an enigmatic ending, but it's not looking good.

"Fat Girl" You can tell she ain't gonna have a happy life.

"Unforgiven" Even the heroes turn out to be bad guys.

"Monster" Nobody comes out okay in this one.

"Seven" Pretty much the mother of all downer endings.

"Taxi Driver" More disturbing than a downer, but when you think about it, you know something real bad is going to happen after the film ends.

Boys Don't Cry was moody all the way through but the end was just grim and negative.

I always thought the end of Empire Strikes Back was a bit of a downer.

One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest depressed me at the end.

The Terminator had a very ominous ending which I felt was a bit of a downer.

Robdemanc wrote

Yeah, well they had follow ups. We call those cliffhangers. I hate those, sometimes.

Also at first I was a little dissapointed at the end of Thor but it didn't take me long to ajust.

-Requiem for a Dream
-Artificial Intelligence
-White Oleander
-Thelma and Louise
-The Time Traveler's Wife
-The Reader
-Life is Beautiful
-Revolutionary Road
-Carrie
-Atonement
-Remember Me
-Edward Scissorhands
-E.T
-Stepmom

Andy Milligan had a couple; "Fleshpot on 42nd Street" immediately comes to mind.

The Orphanage.

I didn't know it was a horror movie when I watched it. I don't watch that genre. But it's SO sad. It made me cry for hours.

Adam