Over 100 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of 16 Ambiguous Movie Endings That We're Still Debating
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Films hold the ability to be open to interpretation, and many filmmakers love nothing more than to provide ambiguous movie endings that stimulate discussion. After all, if people are talking about a film, it keeps it alive long after the credits roll. A few directors and creators may disagree with audiences who have made their own minds up, but there are others who stoke the fire intentionally.
From the reality of the spinning top in Inception to the debate if Deckard is a replicant or not in Blade Runner, let's take a look at the most debated and ambiguous movie endings of all time, which provide just as much fun from arguing over the various interpretations as they do from viewing the films themselves.
What's ambiguous: In Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic The Shining, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) and his family head off to the Overlook Hotel where Jack serves as the off-season caretaker. As the story develops and the hotel's ghoulish past reveals itself, Jack starts to lose his mind and become possessed by the hotel's evil spirit, trying to murder his wife, Wendy (Shelly Duvall), and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd). In the end, Wendy and Danny escape the hotel, while Jack freezes to death in the maze. However, the final shot of the movie lingers on a black-and-white photograph of the hotel's ballroom from 1921, with Jack in the picture.
Why we're still debating: It's an ambiguous ending as it leaves the audience wondering if Jack has been "absorbed" by the hotel like another of its ghosts, or if there's another special meaning here. In an past interview, Kubrick suggested the ending could mean there is a cycle of reincarnation that takes place with evil entities, meaning Jack may have always been a part of the Overlook Hotel from the beginning. Though this ending is definitely sinister, the exact nature of its implications are very much up to the viewer, which adds to the horror.
What's ambiguous: In Mary Harron's 2000 film American Psycho, investment banker Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) lives a hidden life away from the pomp and circumstance of his haughty appearance. Bateman commits a laundry list of crimes, including murder and torture. After he murders fellow banker Paul Allen (Jared Leto), Bateman confesses his crimes to his lawyer, who laughs it off, explaining how he had dinner with Paul in London. Bateman's monologue in the end makes the viewer wonder how many - if any - of his actions are real, or how many may have been entirely in his head.
Why we're still debating: Regardless if Bateman is an unreliable narrator who is perhaps lying or hallucinating, there's something seriously wrong with him if he even thinks about doing half the things he does. However, Harron admitted she regretted how the ending of American Psycho led many to believe it was “all in his head,” as it was originally intended to be more distinctly ambiguous and imply Bateman could get away with his crimes because of his high-society status. In a way, this is perhaps an ending that ought to be debated more than it is.
What's ambiguous: Christopher Nolan's Inception introduces the concept of dream infiltration where someone hops into another's subconsciousness to extract or plant info. As revealed in the movie, William Cobb's (Leonardo DiCaprio) wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), lost touch with reality after spending too much time in this dream world, so she utilized a spinning top as a totem. If it stops spinning after a while, she knows she's awake - if not, she's still in the dream. At the end of Inception, Cobb returns home to his children, and spins the top, wondering if he is still dreaming or not. However, he walks away, choosing not to see the outcome. The screen cuts to black, preventing the audience from knowing the truth as well.
Why we're still debating: For Cobb, the moment is symbolic since it shows he's happy to live a lie as long as he is with his kids - but what's the truth here? Some people are certain that they see the top wobble, but others point out it's impossible to know since we don't see it fall. Another popular theory suggests that the top was Mal's totem, but Cobb had a different totem which indicates he's not dreaming at the end. For his part, Nolan believes it doesn't matter, telling WIRED: "There is a nihilistic view of that ending, right? But also, he's moved on and is with his kids. The ambiguity is not an emotional ambiguity. It's an intellectual one for the audience."
What's ambiguous: John Carpenter's 1982 seminal sci-fi horror The Thing sees a team of researchers in Antarctica encounter a shape-shifting alien creature. Since it's able to imitate other forms, including dogs, trust fractures between the team as no one knows if their colleague may be this Thing. The ending of the film doesn't make it clear if the creature is truly exterminated after a massive explosion. The two remaining crew members, Childs (Keith David) and MacReady (Kurt Russell), can only sit together in the freezing cold and wait. In their hopeless situation, they recognize their distrust means nothing since they are about to die anyway, so they share a bottle of Scotch.
Why we're still debating: No one can be sure if the Thing harbors inside of Childs or MacReady here - or, if it is somehow defeated. The natural suspect is Childs since he disappears for an extended period of time before suddenly returning. However, MacReady has had extremely close encounters with the Thing, too. This is another case where several different theories are equally valid, but none truly changes the outcome in the end, since the men are likely doomed to die in the cold whether or not the Thing is disguised as one of them.
What's ambiguous: Keeping true to its title, John Patrick Shanley's Doubt keeps the audience guessing throughout the runtime. The story centers around Father Brendan Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who is accused of getting too close to student Donald Miller (Joseph Foster). An investigation takes place, as certain moments indicate guilt before a sudden turn suggests Father Flynn's innocence. Eventually, he is forced to resign by the school's principal Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) who says she has evidence of previous wrongdoing by Father Flynn at his last parish. In the end, though, she reveals it all to be a bluff and she had no discernible proof of any wrongdoing - in fact, she also has doubts.
Why we're still debating: Everyone is well aware of the scandals and unforgivable acts committed by many Catholic priests on school children hence it makes it easier to believe in Father Flynn's guilt here. Sister Aloysius herself justifies her actions with the logic that if Flynn hadn't done anything wrong, he wouldn't have given in to her bluff about blackmailing him. However, the facts that no proof is ever shown and there are reasonable explanations for events do cause the viewer to ponder if he may be an innocent man, as well as question the morality of Sister Aloysius's actions regardless of Flynn's guilt or innocence.
What's ambiguous: Ridley Scott's Blade Runner asks the pertinent question: What does it mean to be alive? The story sees Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a bounty hunter who chases after rogue androids known as replicants, uncover how impossible it is to tell the difference between a replicant and a human. At the end of the film, Deckard finds an origami unicorn on the floor and remembers Officer Gaff's (Edward James Olmos) statement about who truly is alive, making him take a pause and question himself.
Why we're still debating: There are multiple versions of Blade Runner which helps stoke the continued debate if Deckard is human or not, since it is never explicitly revealed. The director's cut contains a scene that was missing from the theatrical cut, a sequence wherein Deckard dreams about a unicorn, is seen by many as supporting the conclusion that he is a replicant (suggesting that Gaff knew about this implanted memory of Deckard's and thus left the unicorn figure for him). For what it's worth, Scott and Ford also disagree about it to this day - with Scott stating Deckard is a replicant, while Ford believes he's human.
