A good ending can't save a bad movie, but an excellent ending can make a good movie legendary. The primary function of any movie ending is to sufficiently close the story. However, if the ending leaves certain questions unanswered, or it presents a shocking twist, it can stay in the audience's memory for quite some time.
As such, the viewers can continue to debate the ending for many years, and still not arrive at a definite conclusion. The history of cinema offers multiple examples of movie endings that people are still debating today, simply because the endings were so surprising, complex, or made the audience think.
5 The Shining (1980)
Stephen King sometimes made it difficult to recognize what was the truth and what not in his extensive literary work. The Shining, which many fans consider one of the best movie adaptations of King's work, does the same. It centers on Jack Nicholson's Jack Torrance character, who travels to the Overlook hotel with his family to work as the caretaker there in the winter.
However, the final scene shows a photo from 1921 in which Jack Torrance is seen, hinting at the fact that he's been in the hotel for much longer, and could be one of the souls haunting it. The theory that everything that happens in the hotel is Jack's imagination would explain some strange plot twists, but it doesn't quite solve the problem of what it means for Jack's wife Wendy, and his son Danny.
4 Titanic (1997)
Titanic is one of the most popular and successful movies of all time. Not only did it earn over a billion dollars at the box office, but it also won a record-breaking 11 Oscars. Director James Cameron proved once again after his Terminator movies that he knew how to engage the audience and make them think about what they just saw. The movie also led to the creation of multiple theories. For example, one of the more bizarre theories claims that Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack Dawson wasn't real and that Kate Winslet's Rose just made him up.
However, the most debated part of the movie is the ending. The camera pans to sleeping Rose's face and a scene follows in which Rose reunites with Jack onboard the Titanic. Some fans believe it was all a dream, others think that Rose died in her sleep and met her lost love in the afterlife, just like Jack predicted she would. The instrumental song that plays during the scene is called 'The Dream' but even that isn't enough proof for fans.
3 Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
The line between reality and fantasy is fine, and it's easy to cross it, at least in the movie. Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro is set during World War Two and centers on a young girl Ofelia (Ivana Baquero). After a strange meeting, Ofelia starts to believe she's a lost princess and has to fulfill several tasks before she can return to her kingdom. Because she lives in dangerous times, Ofelia is hurt in the movie's finale and dies.
While there's no doubt she's dead, what remains open is whether she was indeed able to return to the kingdom or whether it was a part of her imagination. The bittersweet movie offers many hints that suggest both options are valid, so it's up to each viewer to decide whether they prefer the sad (Ofelia dies for good) or the hopeful (Ofelia is reborn and joins her father, the king, in the kingdom) ending.
2 Inception (2010)
The British director Christopher Nolan is known for making movies that create mysteries and leave questions unanswered. Of all his work, the ending of Inception best fits this tone of storytelling. Leonardo DiCaprio's Don Cobb spins the totem to make sure he isn't in a dream. He lets it spin, and he goes to reunite with his children whom he's been longing to see.
The totem is shown spinning, and the movie doesn't reveal whether it stopped (proving that this is really happening) or continued spinning (so Cobb is in a dream). Both interpretations are valid. Cobb could very easily let himself be trapped in the dream world if it meant he would get to be with his children. Alternatively, he simply realized this was real, so he didn't bother to stop and wait for the totem to stop spinning. Each version is possible, and that forms a part of the movie's charm.
1 Black Swan (2010)
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2010 offered multiple movies with endings that caused live debates among the audience. Darren Aronofsky captures the path of an ambitious ballerina Nina (Natalie Portman) who wants to take on the leading role in the show Black Swan. In order to convincingly portray the sensual Black Swan, Nina puts more and more pressure on herself. It doesn't end well as she stabs herself during the final performance, and, after she finishes dancing, she falls down and doesn't get up.
Similar to Titanic, Black Swan doesn't show whether Nina survived or succumbed to her injury. Another possibility is that the entire performance happened in her head and wasn't real. Regardless of how many times fans watched the movie, they still weren't able to figure out which option is true and continue to discuss it to this day.