Top 10 Movie Endings of the Year (So Far)

  • 3 months ago
These are the movie endings audiences couldn't stop thinking about after leaving the theatre in the first half of 2024. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most shocking, rousing, and impactful movie endings of 2024 so far.
Transcript
00:00I need a quote.
00:03Don't let him, don't let him kill me.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most shocking,
00:08rousing, and impactful movie endings of 2024 so far.
00:12We're including 2023 films that didn't receive a general release until this year.
00:16Spoilers are a given here.
00:18Why does he take such risks?
00:21Muad'Dib leads the way.
00:25Number 10, Owen looks inside.
00:27I saw the TV glow.
00:29He needs to help me!
00:36I'm dying right now!
00:39This surreal film leaves much to interpret,
00:41although most would agree that it's about identity.
00:44Owen's identity is largely defined by the supernatural teen drama The Pink Opaque.
00:48Upon realizing the show hasn't held up,
00:50Owen feels emptier than ever,
00:52seemingly destined to go through life feeling trapped.
00:55That is, until the final scene, when a middle-aged Owen rips into his chest,
00:58seeing the TV glow.
01:12Director Jane Schoenbrun described this as,
01:14quote,
01:15the moment when, as a queer or trans person,
01:17you understand that you aren't yourself,
01:19and you need to become something else to conjure that magic
01:21that was maybe there in childhood.
01:23What remains unclear is whether Owen will finally embrace what's inside,
01:27or if he'll continue to repress the magic.
01:35Number 9, a crash course in tragic irony,
01:38Kinds of Kindness.
01:39Nothing's spelled out for you, and it makes you think,
01:41and the best art does that.
01:43His role seems minor,
01:44but RMF provides a common link throughout this anthology.
01:47After dying in the first story,
01:49RMF is brought back to life in the third.
01:51Emma Stone's Emily pulls this off
01:53with the reluctant help of Margaret Qualley's Ruth,
01:55who possesses resurrection powers.
01:57Having been expelled from her cult,
01:59Emily believes Ruth is her ticket back in.
02:01Listen.
02:02Emily?
02:03Here's Ruth's card.
02:04On the back is my address and phone number.
02:07If you met her, you'd know exactly what I'm talking about.
02:10Emily ecstatically drives off with an incapacitated Ruth in her car.
02:14As we've seen throughout this segment, though,
02:16Emily is a more reckless driver than Cruella de Vil.
02:19This pays off with a car crash that accidentally kills Ruth
02:22and shatters Emily's world to pieces.
02:24It's poetic whiplash,
02:25but at least RMF feels well enough to eat a sandwich?
02:29I love you.
02:32This isn't love.
02:34Number eight.
02:35A new legend is born.
02:36Monkey Man.
02:45The final act of Dev Patel's directorial debut
02:47is pure adrenaline as our hero, known as Kid,
02:50storms through a horde of baddies to the final boss,
02:53Baba Shakti.
02:54Kid is so distracted by Baba's monologuing,
02:56he doesn't see a blade coming.
02:58Potentially fatal stab wounds aren't going to stop our hero.
03:01Just as Baba appears convinced he's won,
03:03Kid turns his weapons against him.
03:16The spiritual guru's death will have ripple effects
03:18across politics and religion.
03:20For Kid, it's personal,
03:21with his mother finally avenged.
03:23As Kid remembers his mother,
03:24he also thinks about the Hindu deity Hanuman,
03:27who resembles the masked monkey he portrayed in The Ring.
03:30Whether or not Kid survives,
03:31he's created another legendary symbol in Monkey Man.
03:46Number seven.
03:47Evolution.
03:48Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
03:51Ape and human live together.
03:56Three centuries after Caesar's death,
03:58apes have become the dominant species.
04:00With the arrival of Freya Allen's May,
04:02humans may be on the verge of a comeback.
04:04May is not only smarter than she appears,
04:06but more cunning and ruthless as well.
04:08As she parts with Noah,
04:10we aren't sure if May is a friend or foe.
04:12May's true nature becomes even blurrier
04:14as she returns home to a satellite base.
04:17Hello?
04:19Is anyone there?
04:22Do you hear me?
04:27Hello?
04:28We're in Indiana.
04:29We read you.
04:30May is far from the only intelligent human,
04:33and they have more advanced technology than the apes.
04:35May has acquired a shiny new toy
04:37that'll give humans the edge if war comes.
04:40As Noah and Suna gaze through a telescope
04:42into the vast unknown,
04:43we're left to wonder what new conflicts will befall them.
04:51Dune Part 2
04:56Number 6.
04:57Chani Stands Alone.
04:58Dune Part 2.
05:00You found Paul Atreides.
05:08When people first read Dune in the 60s,
05:10some saw Paul Atreides as a hero.
05:12Author Frank Herbert felt the character was more complex,
05:15making Paul's flaws a focal point of Dune Messiah.
05:18It would have been easy to end Dune Part 2
05:20on a triumphant note as Paul defeats Faye Rotha.
05:23From Chani's perspective, though,
05:24the man she fell in love with is unrecognizable.
05:35Aside from proposing marriage to Princess Irulan,
05:37Paul commences a holy war,
05:39committing to his Messiah persona.
05:41While many have accepted Paul as their savior,
05:43Chani doesn't believe in the prophecy.
05:45She won't bow before the ascending Paul,
05:47striking out on her own.
05:49Although this ending slightly deviates from the source material,
05:52it understands what Herbert was always trying to say.
06:03Number 5.
06:04Making It Epic.
06:05Furiosa.
06:06A Mad Max Saga.
06:19Sometimes, the less you know about a character, the better.
06:21We thought that might be the case with Furiosa,
06:24but George Miller pulls off an extraordinary feat in this prequel.
06:27Despite exploring virtually everything about Furiosa's past,
06:30the film still requires the audience to read much between the lines.
06:34Nowhere is this more apparent than in the ending
06:36as Furiosa faces off against Dementus.
06:38With her enemy finally defeated,
06:40Furiosa contemplates how she'll take revenge.
06:50They claim that she ended him in ways more fitting.
06:54We're given multiple possible outcomes,
06:56but the narrator claims that Furiosa fertilized Dementus,
06:59finding a place for her mother's peach pit to grow.
07:02Even then, we're not sure how reliable the narrator is.
07:04Either way, the name Furiosa has become the stuff of legend,
07:07and her story isn't over yet.
07:11This is our first fruit,
07:13but it's not for you and me.
07:16Each of us, in our own way, will vanish from this earth.
07:19Number four, tying up loose ends.
07:21Love Lies Bleeding.
07:23They're coming. Just finish it.
07:31Following a bonkers climax,
07:33complete with a giant bodybuilding woman,
07:35Lou and Jackie drive off into the sunset.
07:38As the sun rises, a little problem resurfaces.
07:41Earlier in the film, Jackie shot Daisy,
07:43a stalker blackmailing Lou.
07:45The audience forgets about Daisy
07:47until a noise is heard from the back of Lou's truck.
07:54Daisy isn't quite dead yet,
07:56but Lou doesn't hesitate to finish the job
07:58as Jackie slumbers and the credits roll.
08:01Although Lou and Jackie have found their way back to each other,
08:03they still have blood on their hands.
08:05If this humorously grim ending is any indication,
08:08their problems won't simply go away.
08:10Nevertheless, Lou is willing to fight for their relationship
08:13with the road ahead uncertain.
08:25Number three, the money shot, Civil War.
08:28I'm here to talk.
08:30Take it. Flood it.
08:34The finale of Alex Garland's film
08:36only seems to grow more relevant.
08:38Accompanied by soldiers,
08:40war photographers make their way through the White House,
08:42where the corrupt president has been backed into a corner.
08:45When rookie photojournalist Jessie
08:47prioritizes a shot over her safety,
08:49her mentor Lee intervenes and meets a sudden end.
09:00Immortalizing Lee's death on camera,
09:02Jessie appears almost nonchalant.
09:04She's even less empathetic toward the president,
09:06whose pleas for mercy go down as his dying quote.
09:09Jessie previously hesitated to take a photo
09:11of a man and his victims.
09:13As she photographs the soldiers with the president,
09:15we see how much Jessie has changed,
09:17reflecting America's desensitization to violence.
09:20She's fulfilled her dream of being like Lee,
09:22but at what cost?
09:30Number two, A Doll's House, Long Legs.
09:37FBI agent Lee Harker suspected
09:40that serial killer Long Legs had an accomplice,
09:42but she never imagined it was her mother, Ruth.
09:45To spare Lee's life years earlier,
09:47Ruth vowed loyalty to Long Legs and Satan.
09:49Long Legs made Satanic dolls
09:51that Ruth delivered to families,
09:53influencing them to commit deadly sins.
09:55He'll kill, and kill again.
09:59I know you're not afraid of a little bit of dark.
10:04Because you are the dark.
10:07Rushing to her boss's daughter's birthday party,
10:09Lee finds a doll already working its dark magic.
10:12Killing her boss and mother,
10:14Lee seemingly saves young Ruby.
10:16Yet, as Lee stares at the doll out of bullets,
10:18it appears she may become another puppet
10:20for Satan to work through.
10:22Director Osgood Perkins also suggested that,
10:24at this moment, Lee confronts the reality
10:26that she shot her mother.
10:28Even if Lee isn't possessed, it feels like Satan won.
10:31And all in the sign of one word.
10:33Long Legs.
10:35Before we unveil our top pick,
10:37here are a few honorable mentions.
10:39Riley Smiles, Inside Out 2.
10:41An ambiguous, yet joyful conclusion.
10:43I got this.
10:44Uh, Joy, I'm just curious.
10:46Maybe, um, I could help?
10:47Thank you, not now.
10:48Yeah, yeah!
10:49Hi!
10:50That's not gonna haunt us for the rest of our lives at all.
10:52Death Returns, Tuesday.
10:54Zora's life is given new purpose.
10:56There is no God.
11:02Not in any human way.
11:06The Last Dance, Fancy Dance.
11:08Whatever happens next,
11:10Jax and Rocky will be there for each other.
11:26Feeling Good, A Quiet Place, Day 1.
11:28Sam can now die fulfilled.
11:31Sam can now die fulfilled.
11:40The Logan Who Came to Dinner, Deadpool and Wolverine.
11:43The end of an era, and the beginning of a new one.
11:45Back in civilian life, I wear a toupee.
11:49But nobody knows.
11:52Everybody knows.
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12:09Number 1, Good Game, Challengers.
12:25So far, the most intense climax of the year isn't a CGI battle or a fight to the death.
12:30It's a tennis match between two friends turned rivals.
12:33As Art and Patrick square off in a tiebreaker, the audience isn't sure who to root for.
12:38We find it doesn't matter who wins, as the sweat-soaked match nears its conclusion.
12:49Lunging toward each other over the net, a heart-pumping showdown turns into a friendly embrace.
12:53The whole crowd goes wild, including Zendaya's Tashi, who's romantically entangled with both men.
12:59This unexpected turn does little to determine which man Tashi will go with.
13:04Come on!
13:10When all's said and done, though, Tashi's first love will always be tennis,
13:14and she just witnessed one of the best games ever.
13:17Which movie left you on the highest note this year so far? Let us know in the comments.
13:21What can I say? It was love at first sight.
13:25She ended up making a new man out of me.
13:27Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
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