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Requiem For A Dream (2000)
The Unhappy Ending: The primary cast all succumb to the overpowering misery of their lives by collapsing into the fetal position. Not so much of a sucker punch as some on this list, but rather the naturally bleak continuation of all that has gone before.
Bleak Implications: Things are not going to get better. All of their lives have been ruined.
Reasons To Be Cheerful: Ellen Burstyn’s fantasy is quite heartwarming if you can look past the fact that it isn’t really happening.
American History X (1998)
The Unhappy Ending: Having renounced the neo-Nazism that cast a dark cloud over his elder-brother’s life, Danny Vinyward goes to school full of optimism that his life can change for the better. Sadly he is mistaken as a young black student he’d quarrelled with the previous day shoots him dead in the bathroom.
Bleak Implications: One man’s epiphany does not mean an end to racial hatred, and nobody gets away clean. Derek Vinyard has a life of gut-wrenching guilt to look forward to, and Venice Beach’s deep-seated racial problems look set to rumble on long after the credits roll.
Reasons To Be Cheerful: Both Derek and Danny had at least turned their backs on fascism. And a happy ending was always pretty unlikely, wasn’t it?
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The Unhappy Ending: Darth Vader, the biggest shit in the galaxy, is revealed to be Luke’s old man. Which kind of changes everything…
Bleak Implications: Our hero, the blue-eyed poster-boy for the revolution, is actually the fruit of the Dark Lord’s loins. Oh, and Han has been kidnapped as well! Bummer.
Reasons To Be Cheerful: Luke stands firm against his dastardly pa, opting to chuck himself down an air shaft rather than join his crooked Empire. What a guy!
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
The Unhappy Ending: Whilst the theatrical cut has Ashton Kutcher deliberately sabotaging his relationship with Amy Smart as a child, the director’s cut takes things even further, with Kutcher returning to the womb in order to throttle himself with his umbilical cord. Jesus…
Bleak Implications: “Everyone would be better off without me, so I may as well kill myself” is quite a strong message for a film to give out. It becomes even bleaker when you consider the fact that Kutcher’s character is described as a “miracle baby”, born after a number of stillbirths. Did all his siblings kill themselves too?
Reasons To Be Cheerful: Everyone else turns out alright in a Kutcher-free universe. Job done then! Kind of…
Titanic (1997)
The Unhappy Ending: Unashamed slushfest it might be, but there’s no denying that Titanic ’s conclusion is a bona fide tearjerker. As Rose clings to the wall-panel that will prove to be her salvation, poor Jack dies of hypothermia in the freezing water. Tissues please!
Bleak Implications: True love cannot conquer all. A massive iceberg on the other hand, can.
Reasons To Be Cheerful: At least Rose survives. Her heart will indeed go on.
Withnail & I (1987)
The Unhappy Ending: As Marwood heads off to a life in the theatre, Withnail is left standing in Regent’s Park, soaked to the skin by the pissing rain, grimly reciting Hamlet to himself. Get that man a drink!
Bleak Implications: Whilst Marwood has dragged himself out of the mire, the future does not look bright for the charismatic Withnail. Will he ever play The Dane? It seems unlikely.
Reasons To Be Cheerful: At least it’s a bit cheerier than Bruce Robinson’s original ending which saw Withnail blow his brains out upon returning home!
Revolutionary Road (2008)
The Unhappy Ending: Having had her dreams of a new life in Paris dashed by her unambitious husband, April Wheeler gives up on life altogether, performing a self-administrated abortion to her unborn child which turns out to be fatal. Unsurprisingly, husband Frank is left a broken man.
Bleak Implications: The shot of Frank despondently slumped on a park bench leaves us in no doubt that the man’s life has been utterly shattered.
Reasons To Be Cheerful: Frank dedicates himself to the children following April’s death. At least there’s some hope they might turn out alright…
Do The Right Thing (1989)
The Unhappy Ending: A confusing proposition in that it isn’t really a clear-cut happy or unhappy ending. Whilst the death of Radio Raheem is undoubtedly tragic, Mookie’s decision to chuck a dustbin through the window of Sal’s restaurant arguably saves his employer’s life. It’s the lack of easy answers and sense that a lot has still to change that lends this one its downbeat flavour.
Bleak Implications: Sal and Mookie’s reconciliation is tentative at best, and the neighbourhood is left a seething maelstrom of resentment and bitterness.
Reasons To Be Cheerful: There is a reconciliation of sorts, and both Sal and Mookie do live to see the credits roll. It’s not exactly a cheery ending though, nor should it be.
When The Wind Blows (1986)
The Unhappy Ending: The denouement of Raymond Briggs’ gloomy, paranoid drama sees cuddly couple Hilda and Jim praying quietly as they wait for death amid the fallout of a nuclear attack.
Bleak Implications: Humanity is so hell-bent on destroying itself that not even the twinkliest of pensioners are safe. Shame on all of us.
Reasons To Be Cheerful: Radiation sickness might be one of the nastiest ways to go, but at least they die in each other’s arms.
Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers (1978)
The Unhappy Ending: Survivor Veronica Cartwright spots what she believes to be an ally in the form of hero Donald Sutherland. But before the audience has time to punch the air, the rug is swiftly whisked away as Sutherland emits the ear-piercing shriek that is the mark of a pod-person. They got him too? Noooooooo!
Bleak Implications: The hero of the piece has been taken…it’s time to abandon all hope for humanity. The disconcerting silence that accompanies the end credits leaves you in no doubt as to how you should feel at the end of this one.
Reasons To Be Cheerful: Maybe he was doing it for a laugh?
