Thrillers can have a variety of endings and mix well with a variety of genres. Some of these movies will end happily, or at the very least leave the audience with a feel-good feeling. But, thrillers are often better without the 'happily ever after' endings.
The best thrillers end in tragedy and can even leave the viewer wondering about what they had just watched. These thrillers have some of the most disastrous endings in the genre.
The Mist (2007)
The Mist is a film based on a Stephen King novel, that is filled with Lovecraft-esque horrors, and shows what happens when humanity is forced to face extreme disaster. David Drayton (Thomas Jane) and his son travel to their town after a storm causes damage to their home. Upon arrival at the grocery store, a mysterious mist overtakes the area, concealing strange and terrifying creatures. The survivors become trapped, and the tensions rise.
Ultimately, David and a small group of survivors force their way out of the grocery store and into the mist. Once they are out, the group quickly realizes that this is the end for them as the vehicle they are using runs out of gas, and decides that dying is the best option. After everyone takes their lives, David attempts to take his own life next, but it fails, so he offers himself to the monsters. The moment he steps out of the car, he is met with rescue, leaving him to scream in misery after having to kill his own son.
Vivarium (2019)
The film Vivarium is a confusing roller coaster of emotions throughout. It stars Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg as Gemma and Tom, a couple searching for a new home together. They stumble upon a strange real estate agency, leading them to a town where everything is a carbon copy of the same house. This eventually leads to them becoming trapped in the strange neighborhood alone. After several days, a box suddenly arrives in the street, which contains an infant that they have no choice but to raise. Eventually, the stress of being held prisoner causes Tom to break, and he starts to dig a hole in order to escape.
Vivarium gives off a consistent feeling of helplessness throughout the film, and the ending is no different. The infant that they are forced to raise grows at an accelerated rate and quickly becomes a man. Tom continues to work on his hole but is suffering from an illness, from which he eventually succumbs to and dies. The boy places Tom into an airtight bag and puts him into the very own hole he had created. Gemma attacks the boy, and he runs from her; she chases him, seeing what the world they were in was truly like. But, it is all for nothing, as eventually, Gemma is placed in a body bag alive and thrown into the hole with Tom. The boy leaves, only to repeat the story with a new family.
The Road (2009)
In a post-apocalyptic world, The Road follows a father (Viggo Mortensen) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) duo as they live through a mass extinction event. The pair is traveling across the country attempting to survive a harsh by world searching for food, shelter, and the coast for a better chance at life. The film's gloomy color scheme adds to the desperation that comes with fighting the cold and hiding from cannibalistic survivors.
Slowly, the father's health declines, forcing him to show the son how to survive without him. They arrive at the southern coast, which is just as desolate as the rest of the world around them. After being shot with an arrow, he deteriorates significantly and dies, while his son begs him to let him die too. The son does have a bitter-sweet ending when a family who had been following the father-son duo arrives and offers to take him with them. The Road is a film with a constant downward trajectory into tragedy, lending itself well to loss, desperation, and starvation.
Threads (1984)
In the late '80s, the fear of nuclear war was in its prime among people around the world, and Threads does a fantastic job of showcasing the reality of those fears. In fact, it was the first of its kind to show a realistic vision of the fallout of nuclear war, making it one of the most terrifying thrillers of all time. In the town of Sheffield, Ruth Beckett (Karen Meagher) and Jimmy Kemp (Reece Dinsdale) were preparing for an unexpected pregnancy. Meanwhile, a stalemate between the United States and the Soviet Union is escalating quickly. However, the conflict is ignored by the characters, who are so deeply focused on their lives. Then everything changes on a dime, as the Soviets drop their nuclear bomb, throwing Sheffield, England, into devastation.
Jimmy dies, leaving Ruth alone to survive in the terror of the post-nuclear war. Humanity learns to live a primitive lifestyle, and Ruth has her daughter she raises. In the end, 13 years later, Ruth dies, withered and blind, leaving her daughter Jane (Victoria O'Keefe) alone. In a final tragic scene, Jane has her own baby, and upon witnessing its deformities, she screams in terror, ending the film.
Black Book
Black Book is a Dutch thriller set in Nazi-occupied Netherlands where a Jewish singer, Rachel Stein (Carice van Houten) infiltrates the Gestapo to aid the Dutch resistance. Our main character goes undercover as Ellis de Vries in order to hide her Jewish heritage as she collects information for the Resistance. She attempts to seduce the Gestapo officer and is successful, but in time she slowly falls in love with the man. Eventually, both sides consider her a traitor, and eventually, she and her love interest must escape.
At first, the finale seems to be joyful, bringing you to Rachel after all the events of the past. She meets her husband and has children with a man she loves, they live in a kibbutz in Israel. The quiet life she is living is changed once again as bombs are heard in the distance and Israeli soldiers prepare for an attack at the front of the kibbutz, revealing more trouble to come for her.
REC (2007)
![Manuela Velasco in [REC] (2007)](https://static1.moviewebimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/manuela-velasco-in-rec-2007.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=1500&dpr=1.5)
REC is a Spanish found footage horror-thriller about reporter Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) and her camera operator, Pablo (Pablo Rosso) who go on a ride along with a group of firefighters. The night seems to be fairly quiet until a call comes in about an elderly woman who may have fallen and is trapped in her apartment. The old woman bites a police officer and a firefighter, almost killing them. When they attempt to get the two men some help, they discover that the police have sealed off the apartment building, trapping everyone inside with the elderly and dangerous woman. Quickly, things take a turn for the worse when it is discovered the aggressive nature of the old woman is transferred like a disease through saliva.
As it is slowly made obvious that everyone was becoming infected and going insane, Angela and Pablo are herded into an eerie, abandoned apartment. Once inside, they discover they aren't alone, as a lanky humanoid creature is spotted in the dark. It is clear that they are doomed as the creature attacks Pablo, and, finally, Angela, making it clear that no one was going to escape the apartment building that night.
Sinister
Sinister stars Ethan Hawke as a true crime writer, Ellison Oswalt, trying to regain his 15 minutes of fame and moves into the home where the family he is writing about was killed. Ellison eventually finds a box in the attic containing videos showing the deaths of the family that lived in the home, as well as several families being murdered. It isn't until the very end that we understand the connection between the families.
Ellison moves his family out of the home after strange supernatural things start to occur. The connection between the families is made clear, as each family is killed after moving from the house the previous family was murdered in. His daughter becomes controlled by the spirit of Stephanie Stevenson, the last family's daughter, and kills her parents in order to appease the pagan god Bughuul.
Thirteen Ghosts (2001)
Matt Lillard co-stars in Thirteen Ghosts as a ghost hunter Dennis, who is unknowingly helping an eccentric rich man named Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham) trap 12 ghosts in order to run a machine designed by the devil himself. Cyrus dies on the final excursion and leaves his home to his nephew Arthur Kriticos (Tony Shalhoub), who had recently lost his wife in a fire and became financially unstable. Dennis meets Arthur and his family at the new home, where he discovers the ghosts in the basement, including Arthur's dead wife.
The ending is bittersweet, as Dennis is killed, but as a spirit helps Arthur save his children from a terrible fate. This movie's ending is less tragic than the others on this list, but the final goodbyes the children and Arthur make as his wife's spirit is freed are emotional and heartfelt.
The Wicker Man (1973)
The Wicker Man is a folk-horror classic that was inspired by the novel Ritual by David Pinner. Set on the island of Summerisle in Scotland, where police officer Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) is trying to locate a missing child named Rowan Morrison (Geraldine Cowper). As he goes through the village, he is quickly shocked by the town's rejection of Christianity and its perpetual belief in ancient Celtic paganism. To make matters worse, the village is actively attempting to obstruct justice by pretending Rowan had never existed. Howie soon discovers that the town will sacrifice Rowan due to a poor harvest.
Later, it is revealed that Rowan isn't the true sacrifice. It is actually Howie who will be sacrificed to the gods. He is forced into a giant wicker man with other farm animal sacrifices that then is lit on fire. The soundtrack in the film is a strong contender for what helps the build-up to the tragic end of the sergeant and continues to play, even after the wicker man collapses and Howie dies.
Pet Sematary (1989)
Another Stephen King novel-turned-film, Pet Sematary is the ultimate in sad endings. It follows a family that moves to a small town where the father, Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff) will be the new town doctor. When they move in, it is evident that the road in front of their house was dangerous, as large trucks would rush through without slowing down. When their cat is killed by a truck, their neighbor Judd (Fred Gwynne) teaches Louis the town secret of the pet cemetery. The cat comes back to life, but isn't the same.
The movie is filled with foreshadowing for the ending when Gage (Miko Hughes), their toddler son is also killed by an oncoming truck. In his grief, Louis buries the baby in the cursed soil of the cemetery. Again, Gage does not come back as he was. The child kills Judd and his own mother. At first, the ending seems that Louis would be alright after he puts down Gage, however, Louis refuses to learn his lesson. He buries another body in the cemetery, his wife's, and she comes back to kill him.
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