this one moment, and if the writer doesn’t deliver, the movie could be doomed. Audiences

love finality in movies, and prefer it if they understand what happened in a film. But

sometimes, the conclusion throws them for a loop, and they’re more concerned about

figuring out those last moments than anything else. Here are Screen Rant’s 10 confusing

movie endings finally explained.

Inception

One of the most famous movie images this decade is Cobb’s top spinning on the table before

Inception cuts hard to black. This launched countless theories debating whether Cobb was

in a dream or reality. But audiences were missing the point. An interpretation Christopher

Nolan agrees with suggests the point of the scene isn’t to tell where Cobb is. It represents

an arc in his mindset. After concerning himself with the “dream or reality” query, Cobb

simply didn’t care after seeing his kids and walked away from the top. No matter where

the hero is, he got the happy ending he deserved.

American Psycho

This is another case where audiences are left wondering if the events actually happened

or all took place in the main character’s head. When he confesses his grisly crimes,

Patrick Bateman is simply ignored by those he tells, hinting that it was all a hallucination.

The author of the source novel says if that were the case, the entire point of the book

would be moot. American Psycho is a satire tale poking fun at the shallow mindset of

yuppie culture. The reaction to Bateman’s confession shows that even when a serial killer

owns up, nobody cares since it doesn’t effect them directly.

No Country for Old Men

After failing to capture notorious killer Anton Chigurh, retiring sheriff Ed Tom Bell

recalls a dream he had about seeing his father riding past, going somewhere to set a fire.

The movie fades to black when he’s done telling his story, so many were left wondering

what just happened. Bell is reflecting upon his life and realizes that it’s time for

him to move on and join his father wherever he went to light that fire. Viewers were so

invested in the Llewelyn vs. Chigurh pursuit that they missed the main theme of the film.

It’s all there in the title.

Interstellar

In this space epic’s third act, Cooper drops himself into a black hole and lands in a fifth

dimensional tesseract placed by future humans. He uses his love for his daughter Murph to

communicate back to Earth and save mankind. How did the tesseract get there? One explanation

is that the movie deals with alternate realities and universes, making a non-linear timeline

possible. The “present day” humans were in dire times during Interstellar, so it’s

unlikely they became the same “future” humans depicted. Beings from another dimension

were reaching out to lend a helping hand. For what? We’ll leave that up to you.

The Wrestler

The final image of Darren Aronofksy’s sports drama is protagonist Randy jumping off the

ropes and then cutting to the end credits. His fate is left up to the viewer, but there’s

strong evidence that he dies in the match. Randy has a serious heart condition and is

told by doctors continuing wrestling could kill him. But Randy has damaged all relationships

he has and goes back to the ring where he can feel alive. Aronofsky even agrees with

this interpretation, saying in an interview “if not now, when?” in regards to Randy’s

death.

Shutter Island

Leo DiCaprio sure likes to keep viewers guessing. In Shutter Island, his Teddy Daniels is in

for a rude awakening when he learns he’s actually a patient at the Ashecliffe Institute,

following the trauma he suffered when his wife murdered herself and their children.

At long last, his doctors think his illness is cured, but Teddy appears to relapse, leading

to a haunting lobotomy. But Teddy’s last words are a major clue. In his mind, living

as the monster who killed his family would be worse than dying as the good man who came

to terms with it all.

Total Recall

When Quaid’s adventure plays out a little too close to the description offered by the

Rekall officials, many are wondering if the events were all just a dream. It was intentionally

left ambiguous, but director Paul Verhoeven believes it all took place in the hero’s

head. This could happen by Quaid’s mind having a violent reaction to the implant process

and incorporating things from real life to populate the dream. The name of the program

is even Blue Skies on Mars, and love interest Melinda is a fantasy girl that Quaid chose

himself before the implant. Things are just a tad coincidental for it to all be real.

2001: A Space Odyssey

The floating star child that’s featured in 2001’s final shot is a part of cinematic

history, but what does it all mean? Stanley Kubrick himself tried to provide some answers.

The entire film serves as a metaphor for mankind’s evolution, beginning with the apes billions

of years ago and working up to futuristic intergalactic travel. The main astronaut Bowman

is reborn as an enhanced being and returns to Earth to take the next big step for the

species. In a way, that’s inspiring, since it portrays everything as hopeful and always

looking ahead to better ourselves.

Birdman

When recovering from his self-inflicted gunshot wound in the hospital, actor Riggan Thomson

opens the window of his room and we never see him again. The last shot is his daughter

Sam looking out that same window, smiling at something in the sky. One possible theory

is that Riggan committed suicide by jumping out the window, at peace with himself after

he starred in an acclaimed Broadway play. What Sam sees is her father’s free spirit

floating up to the heavens for eternity, and she’s happy for him. It’s dark, but it

gives Birdman a poignant finale that taps into strong emotions.

Memento

We’re not done with you, Chris Nolan. In the director’s breakout hit, he takes viewers

on a non-linear journey that shows how Teddy became Leonard’s John G. Teddy reveals that

Leonard killed the “real” John G. a while back, and has been hunting others so Teddy

can get rid of some bad guys and keep Leonard happy. There’s a photograph of Leonard that

suggests Teddy’s telling the truth, and Leonard even admits he lies to himself sometimes.

If he’s willing to bend the truth to fit his needs, it’s not out of the question

he would change his target to Teddy.

These are our best explanations for the most confusing endings in popular films. Are there

any we missed? Which ones left you scratching your head? Let us know in the comments section

below and be sure to subscribe to our channel for more fun videos like this one!