Random Movies You Never Realized Have Super Bleak Endings (15 items)

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  (#8) Metropolis

  • Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Fritz Rasp, Theodor Loos, Erwin Biswanger, Heinrich George, Olaf Storm, Hanns Leo Reich, Heinrich Gotho, Margarete Lanner, Fritz Alberti

  Fritz Lang's sci-fi masterpiece Metropolis ends with what is essentially a gentleman's agreement between rebellious workers demanding better working conditions and the rank capitalists who were mistreating them. It seems like everything works out well for both parties, because the capitalists learn to have a conscious and the lives of the workers will most certainly improve in light of the agreement. 

  Okay, sure. Except the capitalists are in no way beholden to helping the workers at all. There is no legal agreement, no oversight. No third party keeping tabs on things. In fact, you might argue, as does Siegfried Kracauer in his book From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film, the workers are worse off than they were before. To quote Goethe, "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
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  (#15) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

  • Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Wolf Kahler, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott, Anthony Higgins, Alfred Molina

  Raiders of the Lost Ark takes place in the 1930s. So the Nazis don't get the Ark of the Covenant. But guess what? World War II still happens, and so does the Holocaust. Great. Thanks Indiana. You really saved the world there. 
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  (#11) Toy Story 3

  • Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Jodi Benson, Emily Hahn, Laurie Metcalf, Blake Clark, Teddy Newton, Bud Luckey, Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin, Bonnie Hunt, Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Angel, R. Lee Ermey

  This sequel ends with Woody and Co. surviving a dumpster fire and getting a lovely new owner (Bonnie). Toy Story 3 gives audiences a happy out. Except one thing: the toys will never see Andy again. Once you hand off your old toys to a random little girl, it's a little tricky to stop by and visit them. 

  As Woody says "So long partner." You'll be crying Old Yeller level tears. Toy Story 3 leaves audiences with a lot of tough existential questions. If the toys are man, and Andy is god, are we all meaningless pieces of plastic given off to some other cruel deity when our maker has outgrown us?
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  (#14) Dumb and Dumber

  • Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, Teri Garr, Karen Duffy, Mike Starr, Charles Rocket, Victoria Rowell, Cam Neely, Felton Perry

  The depth of Harry and Lloyd's stupidity is seldom more apparent than the final few minutes of Dumb and Dumber, proving even the broadest of comedies can leave a bruise on the audience (even before anyone was subjected to the prequel or sequel).

  Sure, it seems silly on the surface, but think about the ending of Dumb and Dumber for a second. As Harry (Jeff Daniels) says, he and Lloyd are out of money and their vehicle. They're in the middle of the desert, with no food, walking away from the closest town, wearing the thinnest of layers. If they don't freeze to death or die of dehydration, it's possible they'll be eaten by coyotes or bitten by a rattlesnake. 

  Even if Harry and Lloyd make it through the night, they're thousands of miles from home with no money, and they're dumber than a box of rocks. Things do not bode well. 
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  (#5) The Devil's Backbone

  • Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve, Irene Visedo, Iñigo Garcés, José Manuel Lorenzo, Paco Maestre

  In The Devil's Backbone, Guillermo Del Toro's haunting tale of an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War, things seem to work out for young protagonist Carlos and friends. At the end, the boys lure evil Jacinto into the basement, stab him repeatedly (boys will be boys), and drown him with the help of a vengeful ghost.   

  Carlos and his gang then escape the orphanage, alive, with some gold, to boot. Seems like the kids are alright. But The Devil's Backbone is the definitive example of out of the frying pan, into the fire. The future is bleak indeed for Carlos and friends. Even if they make it out of Spain, which is ravaged by sectarian violence and will be ruled by fascist dictator General Franco for decades to come, it's 1939 in Europe. The Nazi have just, or will soon, annex Poland, and all hell will break lose. 
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  (#3) Taxi Driver

  • Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Victor Argo, Peter Boyle, Albert Brooks, Leonard Harris, Norman Matlock, Harry E. Northup, Peter Savage

  You probably have some friends who think those scene tacked on the end of Taxi Driver ruin the movie. That it should've ended with Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) pointing his hand at his head like a gun, covered in blood. But that wouldn't be nearly bleak enough. 

  So what really happens at the end? Travis Bickle heals, is deemed a hero by society for rescuing a young girl (Jodie Foster) from prostitution, and goes back to driving his cab. The fact that he's lauded as a hero is a cynical comment on America's obsession with violence, vigilantism, and cowboys. This man isn't better, he isn't healed, he isn't more well integrated into society. He's still violent psychopath out driving taxis, only now everyone thinks he's a hero.  

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