2022 is offering exciting thrillers to look out to such as The Black Phone and Bullet Train, and fans of the genre are always eagerly waiting for those jaw-dropping twists and turns so typical of thrillers.
Not every movie of the genre needs a huge revelation at the end to shock the audience, sometimes a gripping final sequence is just what an ending needs to be compelling. However, either through shock or through dramatic plot twists, some thrillers will always be remembered for their memorable final scenes, which can often feel like a gut-punch or a fulfilling resolution.
Prisoners (2013)
In this slow-burn thriller, Hugh Jackman plays a desperate father, Keller, in search of his missing daughter, who frustrated with the efforts of the police decides to seek justice by himself. Contrasting Keller's reckless actions and the intricate police investigation led by detective Loki, the movie moves toward a shocking twist.
While the father manages to find out who kidnapped his daughter before the police, he also finds himself trapped by the perpetrator, who imprisons him in a hidden pit, where Keller finds his daughter's whistle. Prisoners ends with detective Loki inspecting that yard after the perpetrator has been killed and the missing kids found, as he faintly hears Keller blowing the whistle.
Fight Club (1999)
Fight Club is a movie that mostly takes place inside a character's mind and is one of the most rewatchable thrillers from the '90s. In the film, the narrator is an insomniac office worker who meets Tyler, a careless soap maker. Together, they form an underground fight club that rapidly evolves into something much more dangerous.
Apart from the incredible twist that both characters are in fact the same person, things escalate into pure chaos in the film's final moments. Even though the narrator manages to reconcile with his lover and "kill" Tyler's twisted personality by shooting himself, the couple watches the buildings in front of them collapsing in an explosion, as Tyler's plan is inevitably executed.
Burning (2018)
Burning often feels like a heavy drama, but from the beginning, there's a haunting atmosphere that something bad is about to happen. This South-Korean film follows Jong-su, who bumps into Hae-mi, a girl who used to live in the same neighborhood and asks him to look after her cat while she's on a trip to Africa. When Hae-mi returns, she's involved with a mysterious guy she met there, Ben, who confesses a peculiar hobby.
Hae-mi's sudden disappearance changes the tone of the movie completely, as Jong-su's suspicions of Ben become an obsession that leads to an ambush: Jong-su tricks Ben to meet him in the abandoned countryside and stabs him several times, getting rid of his body and car. The fact that Jong-su is such an unreliable character makes these final moments as heartbreaking as they are shocking.
Fallen (1998)
Rolling Stones will never sound the same after Fallen, a supernatural thriller starred by Denzel Washington, who plays John, a detective investigating a series of murders that follow the same style of a serial killer whom John witnessed die in a sentenced execution. What starts as a regular crime narrative soon turns into something darker, revealing a supernatural antagonist named Azazel, capable of possessing people by touch.
In a game of cat and mouse, John goes through hell in an attempt to stop this demoniac force. In a last effort by the detective, he sacrifices himself in order to leave Azazel without a host, and he seemingly succeeds. However, Azazel suddenly breaks the fourth wall and mocks the audience for believing he's lost, as a possessed cat emerges from the cabin.
I Saw The Devil (2010)
I Saw The Devil is a brutal thriller that often goes over the limits of onscreen violence. The brutal movie follows a secret agent, Kim, who loses his wife by the hands of the infamous serial killer Kyung-chul, and decides to go after the killer even if it means he must become a monster himself. In a series of captures and releases, the agent plays with his prey, and tragedy stacks up.
Understanding Kim's sick game, Kyung-chul gets the upper hand by getting rid of a transmitter and going after his other loved ones. When Kim finally gets his revenge by torturing the killer and leaving him to die in front of his family, he also looks back on everything that led him to this moment, including losing his humanity and other innocent lives. The emotional final scene shows Kim breaking down completely and crying as he walks away from the crime scene.
Vertigo (1958)
Vertigo is a Hitchcock masterpiece that still holds up today with its incredible narrative twists and persistent tension from beginning to end. It follows a retired detective suffering from acrophobia hired to investigate the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.
In Vertigo, viewers follow only fragments of reality as the truth unveils, just to be covered up once more. The protagonist gets caught up in the middle of a ploy, but most importantly he ends up falling for the image of someone, someone who will bring him up in the heights once again to face his deepest fear, as the narrative comes full circle in an upsetting, yet thrilling conclusion.
Memories of Murder (2003)
This devastating crime thriller directed by Bong Joon-ho is based on the true story behind South Korea's first serial killer. Set in a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with a case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown killer. The movie shows how unprepared the local police were in terms of technology and direction, which led the case to remain without a conclusion for decades.
In the final moments of Memories of Murder, one of the detectives returns to the first crime scene almost 20 years later, as a little girl tells him the place was also recently visited by an unknown man who revealed he was reminiscing about something he had done there a long time ago. The girl tells the detective he looked like an "ordinary man," which reflects the haunting reality of the unsolved case.
Se7en (1995)
Another masterpiece by David Fincher, Se7en follows two homicide detectives, Mills and Somerset on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins." Not only is the premise compellingly dark and tense in a way that leaves viewers on the edge of their seats, but the characters are also extremely nuanced and well-written.
The entire 10 final minutes from Se7en are pure cinema, but the very ending really sticks with the viewer. Face to face with the serial killer, John Doe, the two detectives discover a terrifying truth: the two final sins are about to take place right there, as the killer represents the sin of envy and Mills the sin of wrath as he repeatedly shoots Doe after learning he killed his pregnant wife. The movie closes with Mills' arrest and Somerset's melancholic words.
Uncut Gems (2019)
Uncut Gems is an anxiety-inducing thriller with an almost non-stop narrative where everything seems to go wrong, as viewers follow Adam Sandler's character, Howard, a charismatic yet unreliable jeweler energetically trying to piece together his family and business as debts mount and adversaries close in on him.
Adam Sandler's award-worthy performance carries this chaotic narrative incredibly, as every risky choice and careless actions Howard has done in the past days leads to a momentary triumph before he is fatally shot by the people he pissed off. Uncut Gems is the kind of movie able to let anyone stressed regardless of the circumstances.
The Vanishing (1988)
The Vanishing (or Spoorloos) is a Dutch thriller with a hopeless message to deliver to the world. In the movie, Rex and Saskia are enjoying a holiday in France when, stopping at a gas station, Saskia disappears. The narrative of the film is conducted in an unconventional way, by showing the viewers the perpetrator of the crime right in the beginning, though both the audience and Rex will only find out what he's done in the very ending.
The shocking final scene is delivered in such a disturbing way that the rest of the movie feels entirely like a build-up, which is a good thing because the payoff is priceless. After years of trying to figure out what happened to his wife, Rex is contacted by the perpetrator of the crime, as he promises to reveal what happened to Saskia if Rex goes with him. He does, and the truth is absolutely horrifying.