Not everyone has the patience to sit through a 2+ hour film, with films such as Avengers: Endgame possibly being the exception due to the constant action unfolding. Many slow-burn films tend to be more artistic than the standard Hollywood blockbuster. The quality of the films primarily comes from the cinematography and secondarily the plot.
However, the plot is not neglected in slow-burn films. Rather, the plot is slowed down to build up to an intense climax, providing a stark contrast between it and the story beats. The contrast pays off, as it makes the ending more satisfying. Here are 10 slow-burn films whose endings make viewing them worthwhile.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Donnie Darko is a cult-classic thriller following the titular character and the visions he has of a rabbit named Frank leading up to the end of the world. Donnie's family and therapist believe his visions to be part of his schizophrenia. These visions of Frank are how Donnie learns of the impending end of the world.
Between his first vision and the end of the world, Donnie deals with an airplane motor crashing through the roof of his house, the vices of the seemingly perfect people around him, and the prospect of time travel and alternate dimensions. These things play a key role in the film's ending, which first-time viewers will not see coming and leave a lingering impression with them that makes watching the film worthwhile.
Black Swan (2010)
Black Swan tells the story of Nina Sayers, a ballerina vying for the dual role of The White Swan and The Black Swan in her company's production of Swan Lake. Like Donnie in Donnie Darko, Nina suffers from mental health issues and hallucinations causing her to have difficulty separating them from reality.
Her mental health issues and the pressure both she and her mom put on her affect her ability to dance and act as hurtles toward her casting goals. The ending shows Nina and viewers that everything comes with a price and ends on a cliffhanger that viewers likely would not forget soon after viewing.
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Rosemary's Baby is a psychological horror film about Rosemary and her husband Guy, a struggling actor, and their ultimately successful attempts to conceive a baby, and the difficult pregnancy that results from the conception.
The film has been out long enough for most people to know that the baby is revealed to be the AntiChrist. However, the ending of the film is still gripping, as the reasons why and how Rosemary was chosen to fulfill such a role are revealed, and Rosemary is presented with a choice that will affect her and her baby's lives.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project is a found footage film that set off a trend that lasted over a decade. It is a horror film, but the buildup to the horror is slow. It starts out with strange noises and odd rock piles and bundles of sticks appearing outside Heather, Mike, and Josh's tent but continues to escalate and take a psychological toll on the main characters.
The ending shows the remaining characters at their most vulnerable and most of the action occurs off-screen, leaving audiences to speculate what happened while also feeling disturbed.
A Quiet Place (2018)
A Quiet Place depicts a post-apocalyptic world in which is overrun by creatures who attack and kill things that make sounds. The film follows the Abbott family as they deal with the death of a loved one and try to survive in a world of monsters.
The film deals with family dynamics and sacrifices that people make for those that they love. Like other films on this list, the twist ending is emotional. The lack of sound in the film also keeps the audience engaged since it adds suspense to an otherwise slow plot.
Wait Until Dark (1967)
Wait Until Dark is a thriller in which the main character Susy Hendrix's husband inadvertently brings home a doll that was used to smuggle heroin. The doll disappears unbeknownst to the people looking for it, who embark on a home invasion in search of it when Susy, who is blind, is home alone.
The ending depicts Susy coming into her own and defending herself against those who invaded her home, using her blindness to her advantage. There is a twist toward the end as well, putting audiences on their toes after a slow buildup.
The Revenant (2015)
The Revenant is the story of Hugh Glass and his fight for survival in the wilderness in the winter after being injured by a bear and abandoned by the company with which he was traveling. The film utilizes many tropes of the western genre including conflict between white settlers and Native American tribes and man versus nature but is not very action-packed in spite of such conflicts.
The ending of the film provides closure for Glass, and, by extension, the audience, for the ways in which he was wronged which is an aspect explored throughout the film primarily through flashbacks.
Arrival (2016)
Arrival is a science fiction film whose plot plays around with time. The plot takes place in two different time periods, each of which follows the main character, Louise Banks. In the primary time period and plot, Louise is recruited by the military to attempt to communicate with aliens that landed on Earth.
After establishing communication, Louise, like Rosemary in Rosemary's Baby, is left to make a choice in spite of knowing how it will affect her in the future, which is unlike Rosemary. The end of the film shows the two timelines coming together in a way the audience does not expect.
Midsommar (2019)
Midsommar is Ari Aster's latest horror film following Dani, her boyfriend Christian, and his friends as they travel to Sweden to participate in a midsummer festival. There, they are exposed to pagan rituals that do not sit well with them. These rituals and some mysterious disappearances do not depict much action but give the film an eery tone that is maintained throughout the film.
The end of the film shows Dani and the aftereffects of experiences she had before and during the festival. The highest points of action actually occur at the very beginning and the very end of the film with the middle slowly building back up to the heightened action, allowing the film's plot to come full circle, in an indirect way.
The Witch (2015)
Robert Eggers's The Witch depicts a Puritan family living in New England near a woods where there are strange and supernatural occurrences. Per the nature of the time period, the family believes the occurrences to be results of witchcraft and point fingers at the eldest daughter, Thomasin, believing her to be the witch.
Most of the action occurs at the end of the film during the climax which provides a number of twists. The climax is followed by a resolution that is equal parts creepy and beautiful because of the cinematography and the storytelling that is conveyed through said cinematography.