There were quite a few good movies in 2019, and many of those films had great endings. Overall, 2019 was an eventful year that saw iconic sagas come to an end, countless properties being rebooted and remade, and streaming sites continuing their rise to prominence within the cinematic landscape.
When it comes to creating a memorable film, the ending is key. A bad ending can make or break a movie. However, if done right, a movie's ending can elicit intense emotions from viewers and leave them amazed at what they just witnessed. They could even prompt audiences to return for repeat viewings. An excellent ending will stick with viewers long after they leave the theater, even if they can't remember everything that came before.
2019 had plenty of films with amazing (and in some cases, controversial) endings. But above them all, these are the best movie endings of 2019.
10. Booksmart
Olivia Wilde's raunchy and hilarious Booksmart depicts the beautiful friendship between Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) as they reach the end of their high school careers and prepare to move on to college. Over the course of the last night before graduation, their relationship hits several ups and downs, from the two girls accidentally taking drugs to having their worst fight ever in the middle of a party. Despite everything, though, their friendship is rock-solid, and they end the movie on a poignant note. Molly drives Amy to the airport so she can head to Botswana for the summer, forcing the girls to say goodbye sooner than they had hoped. As Molly pulls away from the curb, already beginning to cry, Amy surprises her by rushing back and suggesting they go out for pancakes before her flight. Booksmart's ending is a sweet one that promises the girls will stay close no matter what happens.
9. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
The John Wick franchise has the distinction of being the rare series that seems to get better as it goes on, and that continued to be true with John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. Following John's (Keanu Reeves) wild journey after being dubbed "excommunicado" from the High Table, he finally seems to win his freedom after holding his ground against the High Table's forces. He meets with the High Table's Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) and his trusted ally Winston (Ian McShane) on the Continental Hotel's roof to broker a deal. However, things go sideways quickly when Winston shoots John and sends him toppling down to the street below.
John is presumed dead by Winston and the Adjudicator, but in reality he is rescued and brought to the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), who is also thought to be dead. Fed up with the High Table's rules and actions, the two agree to team up to take it down. Winston's actions left John's head spinning, as well as the audience's. This sets up a thrilling concept for John Wick 4, which is already set for release in 2021.
8. Spider-Man: Far From Home
Spider-Man: Far From Home's biggest twist technically isn't part of the actual movie; it comes during the first end-credits scene, right when audiences think Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has emerged from his latest adventure unscathed. Having saved the day and gotten the girl, Peter has just wrapped up a quick date with his new girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) when news breaks that Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) revealed Spider-Man's true identity before he died. Now the world knows that Peter is Spider-Man. Even worse, footage of Mysterio's death has been edited to look like Peter was the real villain all along.
The scene is made all the better by featuring a cameo from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films: J.K. Simmons returns as J. Jonah Jameson, and the Daily Bugle makes its first MCU appearance. While it's technically an end-credits scene, it serves as an extension of the movie's ending. There's also another end-credits scene featuring Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and, amusingly, Captain Marvel's Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), but the first is the one that leaves viewers desperate for the next installment.
7. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
When Quentin Tarantino's ninth feature Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was announced, controversy struck up as the plot details were revealed. Tarantino wanted to look back on 1960s Hollywood and the Manson Murders, something that became abundantly clear when Margot Robbie was cast as Sharon Tate. Some people took issue with Tarantino using the murder of Tate as a backdrop for a story centered on two men (Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt).
However, it turns out Tarantino didn't intend to depict Tate's death at all. At the end of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Manson's cult of followers turn up at Cielo Drive with the intention to murder Tate and her friends. Tate's next door neighbor, Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), notices the would-be murderers lingering outside and engages them in conversation. This then leads to an extremely violent all-out brawl between Rick, his best friend Cliff (Pitt), and the Manson followers. Rick and Cliff kill all of the cultists, and the film ends with Tate inviting Rick over to hang out. It's a twist on history that instead keeps one of Hollywood's most vibrant actresses at the time alive.
6. Joker
The best part about Joker's ending is that much of it is left to the viewer's interpretation. As Gotham City descends into anarchy following Arthur Fleck's (Joaquin Phoenix) on-air murder of talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), Arthur is seen as a hero by protesters. Joker ends with Arthur in Arkham Asylum, just having told his story to a psychiatrist. He laughs to himself, and when the psychiatrist asks him what's so funny, he replies, "You wouldn't get it." Moments later, Arthur is seen walking down the hall, leaving bloody footprints in his wake and implying he killed the psychiatrist. As the film comes to a close, audiences are left wondering if everything they just watched was real, or all in Arthur's head.
5. Toy Story 4
The Toy Story films are always guaranteed to serve up some heavy emotions, and the fourth installment is no exception. While Toy Story 3 kept the beloved toys together as they moved from one owner to another, Toy Story 4 splits them up. Following his adventure with old friend and flame Bo Peep (Annie Potts), Woody (Tom Hanks) has the chance to return with his friends and reunite with Bonnie (Madeline McGraw). However, Woody instead opts to stay with Bo Peep out in the world, having decided his time as one person's toy has come to an end. It's a shocking decision from the cowboy who always believed in being there for kids, but it is also a fitting end to his journey. His goodbye with best friend Buzz (Tim Allen) ensures there isn't a dry eye in the house.
4. Midsommar
Audiences had an idea of what they were getting into when it came to Ari Aster's Midsommar thanks to the director's previous film Hereditary. And yet, even with that in mind, viewers were still treated to a mind-blowingly bonkers, terrifying experience throughout Midsommar, all the way until its jaw-dropping ending. After spending all of the movie being treated poorly by her boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor), Dani (Florence Pugh) gets the last laugh (literally) when, having been crowned May Queen by the community she's been visiting, selects Christian for a ritual sacrifice. All of the heartbreak and betrayal Dani experienced has led up to the moment where Christian is sewn into a bear carcass and burned alive. Dani watches on, at first in horror, but then in joy, as a sick smile spreads across her face.
3. Knives Out
Rian Johnson's Knives Out has so many twists and turns, but the best one comes at the end. Having spent most of the film telling viewers kindly nurse Marta (Ana de Armas) was responsible for the death of famed crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) after she injected him with the wrong drug, Johnson pulls the rug out from under everyone by revealing that Marta isn't to blame at all. In reality, Harlan's playboy grandson, Ransom (Chris Evans), switched the labels on the drugs so Marta would give Harlan the wrong dosage.
As Ransom is escorted out of the house in handcuffs, the rest of the Thrombey family gathers outside the house they all believed they were entitled to. Harlan's will gave the house to Marta instead of anyone in the family, and the film ends with Marta stepping out onto the balcony, looking down on the ousted Thrombeys. Marta sips from a mug that says, "My house, my rules," thus indicating there's been a massive shift of power between her and the privileged family through an immensely satisfying final shot.
2. Us
Jordan Peele's original horror film Us is a nail-biting experience from start to finish. It starts with the simple premise of a family vacation gone wrong and only gets crazier from there. Just when the film starts to wrap up, and the audience begins to relax, thinking they've got everything worked out, Peele throws in one last shock to leave everyone reeling.
Throughout Us, audiences have been rooting for Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) and her family as they fight against distorted versions of themselves known as the "Tethered". However, it is revealed in the final moments of the film that the Adelaide viewers have been following the whole time is actually one of the Tethered herself. When she was a child, she switched places with the real Adelaide and forced her to take her place among the Tethered. It alters everything that came before and makes audiences wonder if they've been rooting for the wrong person all along. What makes the reveal even more unsettling is no one else knows the truth except for Adelaide's son, Jason (Evan Alex), who now must cope with the realization that the woman who raised him is not who he thought she was.
1. Avengers: Endgame
Avengers: Endgame marked the end of the MCU's Infinity Saga and brought several beloved characters' stories to an end. Fans already knew ahead of time that it would send off Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Chris Evans' Steve Rogers, but no one knew exactly how it would all end. Only one thing was certain: Not everyone would make it out of the film alive. While Tony and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) sadly gave their lives to defeat the Mad Titan Thanos, Steve survived and got his perfect ending.
After returning all of the Infinity Stones to their proper times, Steve decided to return to the 1940s so he could live out his life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). He made a reappearance in the present to give his Captain America shield to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) while hinting at the wonderful life he got to live. Endgame closes out on a shot of Steve and Peggy earning their long-anticipated dance. This ending was controversial for some, since the rules of Endgame's time travel are murky and leave a lot of questions. However, it's a fitting end for the super soldier out of time who was willing to lay down his life to save millions.