Famous movie critic Roger Ebertalways said cinema was a perfect empathy machine. The medium allows viewers to experience emotions and feelings through several kinds of situations that they otherwise couldn’t. Movies allow everyone and arouse absolutely all viewers to turn into their favorite heroes and overcome dramatic conflicts, unlike any other medium. Of course, they vary in how effective they are, but if you’re able to connect with a film, then chances are that a filmmaker’s work is complete.
One dramatic resource that films have always had is the ability to leave viewers with absolute expectations. Sometimes, the scene is edited to jump from doubt to resolution in a microsecond when the victim is saved. But sometimes, the director doesn’t answer the question. Theuse of cliffhangerswas first seen in serials shown in movie theaters before a feature presentation, and in those cases, you literally had to wait a whole week to see if the hero survived the fall or if someone saved them. When cliffhangers transitioned to cinema, the empathy was more… aggressive. The white-knuckle techniques were streamlined into genre cinema, and suddenly they were everywhere. Why? Because they were designed to bring viewers back.
Only sometimes coming back isn’t quite fruitful. It isn’t even possible, as films sometimes comply with the dramatic turn point of cliffhangers, and they are never solved. Empathy towards the audience? It seems nonexistent at this point, at least from a traditional point of view, as they’re left with more questions and the eternal concern of their hero’s well-being. Did they make it? We will never know.
The following is a compilation of such moments. Theresolutions that were left openand never solved in the eyes of viewers who were left mouth-agape and tearful because they never knew and never will. These are the cliffhangers that were never resolved and most likely never will be.
The following list contains major spoilers.
2028 Weeks Later (2007)
28 Weeks Later
28 Weeks Later, the sequel to28 Days Later, takes us to a Great Britain ravaged by the epidemic that has turned most of the population into maniacal zombies. Two siblings reunited with their father are now in the custody of the military, but they break protocol and actually leave the safe zone to look for their mother.
When they find her and scientists realize she may have the key to a cure, there’s a glimmer of hope. But all hell breaks loose when she attacks her husband. The kids are now on the run, and military personnel protect them as they could be genetically linked to their mother’s importance in findinga cure for the virus.
A Standalone Sequel with a Resolution Based on Anything but Hope
The third act in28 Weeks Lateris realistically based on chaos. Tammy and Andy, Don’s children and lead characters, are in the custody of Doyle, who helps them escape and even sacrifices himself so that they can live. Tammy and Andy are able to escape with Scarlet and use the subway system, but then Don, who has turned into a killing machine, attacks them. He kills Scarlet and bites his own son. Tammy kills whatever’s left of her father and helps Andy get into a chopper that will take them to freedom.
However, director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo doesn’t end things there. The real ending takes viewers 28 days after their escape. The abandoned chopper shows no remains of the survivors, and we simply hear a radio. Seconds later, shaky cam footageshows the infected runningtowards the Eiffel Tower, which means that the epidemic has broken through all of Europe.Stream on Hulu.
19Take Shelter (2011)
Take Shelter
In Jeff Nichols’Take Shelter, Curtis LaForche (played flawlessly by Michael Shannon) starts having apocalyptic nightmares. His visions are invasive and too frequent, and he starts seeking counsel for what he believes is a mental condition. His wife and his daughter witness the man’s decline, but ultimately fall under the idea that there may be something to his lunacy.Take Shelterisone of the best obscure thrillersyou’ve probably never seen.
The Mind Is All too Powerful
In the film’s ending, the family heads over to Myrtle Beach for a well-deserved vacation. Curtis' visions are only that and his apocalyptic delusions only exist in his mind. But when the couple’s daughter points out that a storm may be coming, Curtis and Samantha realize a tsunami is coming while oily rain falls on them. Samantha acknowledges Curtis may have been right after all, but Nichols is pretty clever and cuts to black before we find out if this exists in their minds as hysteria or is something real.Stream on Prime Video.
18Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
In the Western buddy adventure film from 1969,Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, two outlaws are on the run after a botched train robbery leaves them on their own without their usual gang. Now with a posse on their heels, they will have to find a way to escape through Wyoming in the late 1800s, but eventually, they decide South America will be their final destination. The problem is that such an adventure won’t be an easy one.
One of the Great American Films of the 1960s
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kidis agreat Western from 1969, led by two very compelling characters played by icons of their era. It was eventually turned into a franchise with a made-for-TV sequel and a TV show, but the original film ended on a cliffhanger that was never resolved.
The duo is surrounded by Bolivia’s local police and military. When they decide they can’t stay and must continue if they want to live, they charge. They run out of the building and just when gunfire is raining on them, the director decides to end the film with a freeze-frame shot that never confirms if they actually made it. Only sound is heard, but not even this will help you guess.You can rentButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kidon Prime Video.
Related:20 Horror Movies With More Than One Ending
17Thelma & Louise (1991)
Thelma & Louise
Ridley Scott’sThelma & Louisetells the story of two friends, Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer, who go on a road trip to escape their mundane and boring lives. But the trip takes them to a roadhouse bar, where an unfortunate event turns them into fugitives from the law. The friends become the target of FBI agents, who go on the run to capture them and get justice for the crime they committed.
It Was Inevitable
The third act inThelma & Louiseis acat-and-mouse chasethrough a wasteland. Their crimes, murder and robbery, are now in the open, and everyone’s chasing them. When law enforcement finally catches them, they don’t leave their Ford Thunderbird convertible. They simply hold hands and decide not to surrender.
Close to the edge of the Grand Canyon, Thelma asks Louise to keep going; the car speeds and goes over the cliff, and the credits roll. While it’s pretty clear what happens to them, the lack of answers just works as a fair conclusion.Rent on Apple TV.
16La Haine (1995)
The 1995 French film by Mathieu Kassovitz,La Haine(Hatred), is the story of three friends who try to make a living and survive in the suburbs of Paris. They’re very poor and live in a neighborhood dominated by immigrants, hatred for others, and violence. It’s a depiction of 24 hours in the lives of the survivors of a riot. The three leads are played by Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, and Saïd Taghmaoui in an early role inone of the most important foreign filmsof the ’90s.
Hatred Breeds Hatred
In the film’s climactic ending, Saïd and Vinz are found by the police, while Hubert goes to defend his friends. Before Hubert decides to act, a cop accidentally shoots Vinz in the head. Hubert points a gun at the officer’s head, and the officer points at Hubert, all while Saïd looks desperate beside the car.
A clock ticks, and a close-up shot focuses on Saïd while he speaks in voice-over. The screen fades to black, and a gunshot is heard, but it’s not confirmed who shot who or who actually lived to tell the tale.you’re able to streamLa Haineon The Criterion Channel.
15Us (2019)
InJordan Peele’s solid horror filmUs, the Wilsons have gone on a beach trip. They encounter their friends in their beach town and prepare for a fun weekend. The problem is that the family of four finds doppelgängers of themselves outside their rental that same night. They wear red jumpsuits and communicate in everything but a spoken language.
When the Wilsons fight back and escape, they realize they’re not the only ones suffering the attack, as everyone in the United States seems to have a double that has decided to emerge and take over violently.
The One We’ll Never Know, and it’s for the Best
The Wilsons have managed to defeat their doubles, especially Adelaide, who has fought against the Tethered’s leader, Red. While they’re in their car, Adelaide has a memory flashback while her son watches. She realizes that when she was kidnapped as a child, the real Adelaide was left underground, and her doppelgänger took over.
This means she has always been the intruder. Her son suspects her and looks at her with a severe lack of trust. The truck is shown on the road, while an aerial shot confirms that thousands of doppelgängers are holding hands all across America. We’ll never know if the Wilsons found out Adelaide’s true identity.Stream on Fubo TV.
14Inception (2010)
Christopher Nolan’s epic action sci-fi film,Inception, is an astonishing film about a band of high-tech bandits who use technology to commit other kinds of crimes. Using a machine that allows them to navigate the dreams of their victims, they plant ideas and extract whatever information they need. When they’re assigned a high-profile gig that will allow them to retire, the leader, Dom Cobb, will face demons from his past, and this makes the mission crumble.
A Dispute That’s Still Going on
The film’s conclusion is pretty clear. Cobb’s team has implanted the idea deep inside Fischer’s mind, and the objectives have been met. Now a free man, Cobb is able to reconnect with his daughters, whom he hugs and kisses in a very sweet encounter. But there’s doubt. Cobb takes out his totem (the device that confirms whether he’s dreaming or not) and spins it.
The camera closes in, and Nolan makes a very divisive decision. He cuts before the audience can see if it’s all a dream by Cobb. People are still discussing this, butNolan has provided some insight, allowing you to draw your own conclusions. But is he being honest, or is it all a ploy?Stream on Hulu.
13The Thing (1982)
In John Carpenter’sThe Thing, a group of researchers in Antarctica face the improbable. A parasitic alien has the ability to imitate human and animal life forms, and bodies are dropping by the minute. The group decides to test themselves, and while they find out who may be disguising the monster, all hell breaks loose, and a pilot by the name of R.J. MacReady decides he’s on his own on his quest for survival.
Paranoia Is the Monster
Inthe film’s final scene, MacReady sits hopelessly in the snow, waiting for a miracle, as everyone in the group has perished. Then the mechanic, Childs, arrives and asks MacReady a bunch of questions, trying to solve the riddle. MacReady does the same. They could each be the Thing, and no one would know.
Childs drops the gun and sits beside MacReady; the flames trickle, and they surrender to the idea that they won’t make it. It’s too cold, and the fire will die out at some point. They decide to wait and see what happens. Childs has a drink, MacReady grins, and Carpenter rolls credits.Rent on Apple TV.
122001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey is one of Stanley Kubrick’s most well-known films. A science-fiction epic, the film tells the story of the journey of Discovery One, a spacecraft operated by a group of scientists, astronauts, and a sentient computer, on a mission to Jupiter to investigate a mysterious monolith. Considered one of the greatest films ever made, Kubrick combines sparse dialogue with the heavy use of scoring and ambiguous imagery to create something that eschews conventional filmmaking.
Stanley Kubrick’s massive sci-fi epic2001: A Space Odysseytells the story of humankind dealing with superb intelligence that comes from every spectrum. Monoliths appear in weird places, and artificial intelligence has found a way to rebel against man. In the center, a naive astronaut tries his best to survive, but finds evolution has a different structure in this futuristic setting that’smuch scarier than everyone thinks.
Ending it All With a Question Mark
Dr. David Bowman has managed to defeat HAL, the robot that has already killed his partner after finding out the astronauts were going to disconnect his capacity for running the mission. He leaves the ship in a pod in order to investigate another monolith, but he goes through what can only be defined as something resembling a black hole.
Dr. Bowman finds himself staring at various versions of himself in a room, and ultimately, he sees himself dying. When another monolith appears in the room and Dave tries to touch it, he’s turned into a “star baby” and ends up floating as a fetus above Earth. Yeah, not exactly a cliffhanger, but an unresolved enigma that we’ll never get answers to.Stream on Max.
Related:20 Celebrated Movies that Roger Ebert Didn’t Particularly Love
11The Italian Job (1969)
The 1969car-chase comedyThe Italian Jobtells the story of a thief by the name of Charlie Croker who plans a hit just as he’s released from prison. Forming a whole new gang, Croker decides to steal a big bundle of gold that is being transported through Turin, Italy. How will he do it? With a non-traditional scheme of accomplishing a traffic jam that will deviate all attention from him and allow them to complete the mission.
A Risky Way to End it All
The gang has escaped and is now celebrating. They are dumping the cars all around, getting rid of the evidence that will connect them to the hit. When the bus carrying them breaks through the barriers on the road and swerves over the cliff, they are left balancing. The gold is too heavy, and Croker slowly moves, realizing they will have to do something if they want to survive.
But the loot is too heavy. Croker looks back and tells them, “Hang on a minute, lads. I’ve got a great idea.” Then the bus is shown over the cliff, and credits roll.You can streamThe Italian Jobon Kanopy.
