Some movies ensure that they live long in the memory by delivering powerful emotional blows right at the end. Whether they are dark dramas or more approachable comedies, a tragic ending can reframe any movie. The best movie endings manage to leave audiences feeling satisfied, tying up the main plot threads and creating lasting images. However, a good ending doesn’t have to be a happy ending.
A heartbreaking movie ending doesn’t necessarily have to be overwhelmingly tragic. A failed romance can feel just as sad as a death, depending on what it represents in the story and how the movie delivers the final scenes. If a movie does enough to make audiences feel a deep connection to the characters, it can deliver an emotionally devastating finale where the pain is all too relatable.
Through their visuals, great character development, sound design, and choice lines, these movies are guaranteed to evoke tears from viewers.
10The Graduate (1967)
Benjamin And Elaine’s Ending Is Filled With False Hope
*Availability in USDirectorMike NicholsRelease DateDecember 21, 1967CastDustin Hoffman , Katharine Ross , Murray Hamilton , Anne Bancroft , William Daniels
The Graduate is a brilliant coming-of-age comedy about a young man who graduates from college and doesn’t know what to do with the rest of his life. Feeling the pressure from his parents and society at large to either apply for graduate school or get a job, Benjamin Braddock instead retreats into his own fantasies, and he becomes obsessed with the ideals of romantic relationships.
The couple initially giggle like teenagers during their escape, but as they sit in the back of a bus, the reality sets in.
The Graduate‘s iconic ending shows Benjamin crashing Elaine’s wedding and whisking her away from a potentially unhappy marriage. The couple initially giggle like teenagers during their escape, but as they sit in the back of a bus, the reality sets in. Benjamin is no closer to finding any purpose in life, and his romantic pursuit of Elaine was all folly, meant to distract him but never meant to end.
9Toy Story 3 (2010)
The Toys Say Goodbye To Andy
*Availability in USDirectorLee UnkrichRelease DateJune 18, 2010CastJodi Benson , Ned Beatty , Tim Allen , Tom Hanks , Joan Cusack
Pixar has plenty of emotional moments, but movies like Up and Finding Nemo deliver their most devastating moments at the beginning. This makes Toy Story 3‘s heartbreaking finale all the more surprising. As Andy gets ready to go to college, he realizes that he should give his old toys away to someone who will appreciate them more. The toys say an emotional farewell to Andy as he drives off, never to see them again.
Woody’s goodbye also symbolizes the franchise parting ways with the audiences who grew up watching Toy Story.
Toy Story 3 delivers the perfect ending to the trilogy, at a time when another movie seemed unlikely. In that context, the ending is even more tragic, as Woody’s goodbye also symbolizes the franchise parting ways with the audiences who grew up watching Toy Story. Just as Andy has to grow up and leave his youth behind, fans of the Toy Story movies are forced to accept that their 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥hoods can’t last forever.
8Seven (1995)
Mills Becomes A Pawn In John Doe’s Game
*Availability in USDirectorDavid FincherRelease DateSeptember 22, 1995CastBrad Pitt , Gwyneth Paltrow , John C. McGinley , Morgan Freeman , Kevin Spacey
David Fincher’s crime thriller Seven follows the police investigation into a sadistic serial 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁er who chooses his victims based on the seven deadly sins. Ultimately, when Mills and Somerset think they have captured John Doe and put the case to rest, the 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁er reveals his final move. Mills receives a package containing the head of his wife, enraging him to the point that he shoots John Doe in cold blood.
The ending of Seven is so devastating because it provides a false dawn before John Doe’s final reveal.
The ending of Seven is so devastating because it provides a false dawn before John Doe’s final reveal. In his twisted game, he needs two more murders to complete the set: envy and wrath. He recognizes his own envy of Mills’ idyllic family life, and he urges the detective to give into his wrath and shoot him.After the final act of rage, Mills is left with nothing. Somerset is helpless to stop him, and he can only watch as he sees a good man corrupted by evil.
7La La Land (2016)
Seb And Mia Don’t Get Their Happy Ending
*Availability in USDirectorDamien ChazelleRelease DateDecember 9, 2016CastHemky Madera , meagen fay , J. K. Simmons , Sonoya Mizuno , Rosemarie DeWitt , John Legend , Ryan Gosling , Finn Wittrock , Ashley Caple , Josh Pence , Emma Stone , Jason Fuchs
La La Land tells the tumultuous love story of Seb and Mia, two people who try to balance their career aspirations in show business with their commitment to one another. From the beginning, Seb says that he wants to open his own jazz bar, and Mia has aspirations of making it big as an actor. Ultimately,they get what they both wanted, but it comes at the cost of them being able to share it together.
The dream sequence showing their idealized love story is an impossible illusion.
When Mia stumbles into Seb’s bar, they lock eyes before he plays one last song for her. There are no splashy theatrics and choreographed dancers in this final scene, just the dim blue light that washes over the room. The ending of La La Land shows that Seb and Mia have sacrificed everything for their dreams, even each other. The dream sequence showing their idealized love story is an impossible illusion.
6Grave Of The Fireflies (1988)
Seito Joins His Sister In The Afterlife
DirectorIsao TakahataRelease DateApril 16, 1988CastTsutomu Tatsumi , Ayano Shiraishi , Akemi Yamaguchi , Yoshiko Shinohara
Grave of the Fireflies opens with the scene of Seito’s death. Somehow, the knowledge that it’s coming doesn’t make the ending any less heartbreaking. In fact, watching Seito’s struggles to stay alive and care for his younger sister deepens the tragedy of his death. The historical context also makes the callousness of the people walking past him in the train station more alarming.
Somehow, the knowledge that Seito’s death is coming doesn’t make the ending any less heartbreaking.
Many war movies end with an emotional bombshell. Paths of Glory and All Quiet On the Western Front press home their anti-war messages with scenes of senseless death and violence, but Grave of the Fireflies may be the most upsetting of all war movies. The sweetness of the animation highlights the dire circumstances of Japan as World War II dragged to a close, and Seito’s story is deeply personal.
5Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (2019)
Marianne Watches Héloïse From A Distance
*Availability in USDirectorCéline SciammaRelease DateSeptember 18, 2019CastAdèle Haenel , Noemie Merlant , Valeria Golino
Marianne first meets Héloïse when she is sent to secretly paint her portrait. This means that she spends long hours during the day watching her carefully, trying to commit her face and body to memory so that she can paint in the privacy of her room. In the ending of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Marianne watches Héloïse for one last time from across a concert hall. She knows that they can never be together in peace the way they were on the island.
Héloïse may not be allowed to experience passion for herself, so she clings to the fabricated catharsis of the music.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire uses music very infrequently, and always with intent. It’s very powerful when there is any music to punctuate the dreamlike stillness of the time Marianne and Héloïse spend together. The tremulous strings in the final scene provide an outburst of emotion, even while Héloïse tries to remain calm amid the stuffy confines of high society. She may not be allowed to experience passion for herself, so she clings to the fabricated catharsis of the music.
4Chinatown (1974)
Evelyn Dies And Noah Cross Takes Her Daughter
*Availability in USDirectorRoman PolanskiRelease DateJune 20, 1974CastJack Nicholson , Faye Dunaway , John Huston , Perry Lopez , John Hillerman , Darrell Zwerling
Chinatown is a masterpiece of film noir, partly thanks to a career-defining performance from Jack Nicholson as private investigator Jake Gittes. It takes Jake a while to untangle the water conspiracy that causes the deaths of Hollis Mulwray and Ida Sessions, but he tries to help Evelyn and her daughter when he does eventually figure things out. Ultimately, Noah Cross stands in his way.
Jake realizes he may not be able to fight Cross’ corruption, but he thinks that he can at least help two people who need him. Chinatown ‘s devastating ending proves that he can’t even have that much.
Jake realizes he may not be able to fight Cross’ corruption, but he thinks that he can at least help two people who need him. Chinatown‘s devastating ending proves that he can’t even have that much. The wealthy business executive wins once more, as Evelyn is gunned down by the police and Cross takes custody of her daughter, despite his many crimes. The famous final line “Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown” sums up the futility of the whole affair.
3The Green Mile (1999)
John Coffey Accepts His Fate
*Availability in USDirectorFrank DarabontRelease DateDecember 10, 1999CastTom Hanks , Michael Clarke Duncan , David Morse , Bonnie Hunt , James Cromwell , Michael Jeter , Graham Greene , Doug Hutchison
The Green Mile tells the story of a falsely-accused death row inmate and the prison guard who strikes up an unlikely friendship with him. The ending has ensured that The Green Mile holds a place in the conversation of the best Stephen King movie adaptations, alongside the likes of Carrie and The Shining. It’s just as intensely emotional as The Shawshank Redemption, but it has a supernatural element like most of King’s books.
Although he spends a long time protesting his innocence and fearing his death, John Coffey approaches the electric chair with an air of serenity.
Although he spends a long time protesting his innocence and fearing his death, John Coffey approaches the electric chair with an air of serenity. He knows that he will finally have his freedom from a world that has been unfair and cruel to him. Coffey accepts his fate with the knowledge that he has passed on some of his powers to Paul Edgecomb. His death is senseless, but he can at least control how he acts in his final moments.
2Sophie’s Choice (1982)
Sophie And Nathan Take Their Own Lives
*Availability in USDirectorAlan J. PakulaRelease DateMarch 4, 1983CastMeryl Streep , Kevin Kline , Peter MacNicol , Rita Karin , Stephen D. Newman , Greta Turken , Josh Mostel , Marcell Rosenblatt
Meryl Streep’s Oscar-winning performance is the beating heart of Sophie’s Choice, constantly providing a link between the industrial scale cruelty of the holocaust and the human element of the survivors. Sophie carries her trauma around with her throughout her life, but the third act of Sophie’s Choice also reveals the immense burden of guilt that she also has to deal with.
Sophie’s Choice ends with the grim reminder that the holocaust’s effects lasted well beyond 1945, as many survivors had their lives destroyed.
Sophie finds some solace in her fledgling relationship with Stingo, but she feels that she doesn’t deserve any happiness after making the choice to sacrifice her daughter to the gas chambers. She remains in her abusive relationship with Nathan as a form of penance. Sophie’s Choice ends with the grim reminder that the holocaust’s effects lasted well beyond 1945, as many survivors had their lives destroyed.
1Kes (1969)
Jud Kills Kes
Set in an English town dominated by the coal mining industry, Kes follows a teenager without any direction in life as he finds a passion for falconry. Billy’s relationship with Kes is the only thing that provides him with any glimmer of hope in his otherwise dreary circumstances. Although he struggles in school and has a troubled home life, he finds that he can apply himself when learning about falconry, and Kes is the best friend he could ask for.
Kes’ ending is so powerful because Billy starts and ends the movie with nothing, but he is given just enough hope to believe that his life can be something more.
After Billy ignores his brother’s request to put some money on a horse race, Jud reacts by 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing Kes. It’s a petty act of retaliation, but it’s also a brutal way for Jud to assert his dominance and snuff out the one thing that brings Billy joy. Kes’ ending is so powerful because Billy starts and ends the movie with nothing, but he is given just enough hope to believe that his life can be something more.
