What is the last show/movie you were completely devastated with by the ending?

Question

I just finished 1923 and I should’ve stopped while I still liked it 😭

abc3643 · Accepted Answer

I don't know if devastated is the right word, but furious is.

"Arrival" in 2016 was a good movie - very good - which is why it was up for an Academy Award for Best Picture.
It was about the arrival of extraterrestrial ships over several places around the world and our attempts to establish communication with them and understand why they are here.

The protagonist of the story is Dr. Louise Banks, a linguistics professor who was also part of a special US team to attempt to decipher how the aliens communicate. Much of the movie is focused on her and the rest of the team's attempts to communicate with the alien ship hovering over an area in Montana. One team member is Ian Donnelly, a physicist, with whom Louise gets closer.

At the same time, interspersed with those scenes, we have additional are voiceover soliloquys scenes. We quickly realize that she is talking to her daughter. We see images of Louise with her daughter and soon we quickly realize the daughter has died, so we feel empathy for Louise, who is unmarried and we assume divorced.

Back to the main scenes, Louise communes with the aliens on their ship and eventually comes to realize how they communicate and this realization is important.

This brings me to the end of the film but I need to preface it first.

In fiction, particularly science fiction such as "Arrival", the reader/viewer needs to have something called "suspension of disbelief" in which the reader/viewer is willing to forgive the impossible or improbable for the sake of the story.

"Arrival" was very good in the way it was presented. There really wasn't any suspension of disbelief necessary. Everything that we see on the screen isn't really science fiction except for the aliens and their ships.

Now for the ending...

Louise learns how to communicate with the aliens who are like giant 7-armed cephalopods (like squids or octopuses) which are called "Heptapods". ("Hepta" meaning 7).

Now the suspension of disbelief is about to be shattered completely...

Louise learning how to communicate with the aliens causes her to have a shift of consciousness and perceive reality in way like they do. The aliens do not perceive time in a linear fashion like we do... moment, then moment, then moment, etc. They can see the future and the past and, to them, everything is like a big circle which is why they communicate with circular inkblot patterns that they can shoot out of one of their arms.

Why did they come?

To give us a "weapon" - but actually a tool - the ability to perceive like they do. The aliens tell us that, in 3000 years, they will need humanity's help.

OK, as someone with a 40-year-old BS in physics, this instantly pissed me off because time-travel and nonlinear time are all bullshit. It's a violation of all sorts of physical laws including, most importantly, the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.

So, my suspension of disbelief was nuked making the previous 2 hours I spent watching this film a waste. I wouldn't have bothered had I known this beforehand.

But that's not what really pissed me off.

That dead daughter? SHE'S NOT EVEN BORN YET! She's the daughter she will have with Ian. The daughter, Hannah, will die young and Louise knows this now that she can see the future. Those images we see of Louise and Hannah during the soliloquy scenes are images of the future.
OK, here's what bothers me:
1. Louise can change the future with the choices she makes knowing the future allegedly is envisioned as at the moment. So, of course, this renders this nonlinear time, future-seeing bullshit as elephantshit.
2. And this is what truly got me steaming. She can make choices and she chooses not to tell Ian who will marry Louise and have their daughter Hannah with Louise and then become devastated at Hannah's death and then divorce Louise because he discovers that she knew about it all along and was using him. In essence, it's a gigantic rape of Ian and his thoughts and feelings are irrelevant to her and the future she willingly does nothing to change. He was a tool to provide her with a baby she knows will die. What's the point of that? I guess I can understand having Hannah despite her death in childhood, so I am not bothered by that, but it came at the cost of Ian's life path. He could have had a different life without such devastation. Louise ignored that perfunctorily in this movie.

After the credits were completely over, I walked out of that movie feeling raped myself since I identified with Ian and learned first-hand of manipulation by women of men and this was an devastating example of it.

This movie gets a lot of great reviews and, otherwise, it is a great movie. Many are fine with the ending and think it's appropriate. I do not on so many levels. I'd consider seeing it again to try to see their point but, knowing what I know, I doubt anything would change other than since I already know the ending, I won't be shocked about it and thus less angry.

Finchie40 · Accepted Answer

There are a lot lol , The Sopranos ending was definitely one of them , that shocked me on how they ended it , Another one that comes to mind is the show Soap , such a classic funny show that the ending shocked the shit out of me , because everyone of them dies at the end of it , from different things. But I agree with you , I hate loving a show that ruins the ending

NoDecision · Accepted Answer

I saw the first season but not the 2nd yet. Was the 2nd season that bad?

7Phoenix7 · Accepted Answer

I can't think of anything recent... I'll just say the titanic haha.

Static_In_The_Attic · Answer

What is the last show/movie you were completely devastated with by the ending?

As a kid I was devastated by the Wizard Of Oz especially the ending. Dorothy is an evil bitch & she murdered a wonderful woman seeking justice for the death of her sister & to top it off Dorothy steals her broom & gives it to a pervert hiding behind a curtain.

There’s no place like home. Fuck you Dorothy & your red devil shoes.

Wiredone · Answer

I'd have to say fast and furious when Paul walker died. Vin diesel and Paul ( who at that point was played by his brother) races through the mountains and coming to a stop sign. Paul took the high road to heaven and Vin took the straight road.

exitseven · Answer

Probably Avengers Endgame. When Iron Man died in the end. The funeral scene was a real tear jerker.

fish5505_87 · Answer

I've never heard of it, I'm old! is it good, I'll bing watch it? For me, "Mad Men" I wasn't devastated, but really disappointed.

Bklynbadboy12 · Answer

Your tougne piercing looks amazing but I looks like it was painful! 😉 And that last movie or show where I absolutely hated the ending was Game of Thrones

xcheerleader_jessx · Answer

The movie LIFE with Jake Gylenhaal and Ryan Reynolds. Bruh, it had me on edge. 10/10 recommend even if the ending was ick.

Dargil · Answer

I recently saw a movie called   The homesman, With Tommy Lee Jones. The entire movie was sad and dreary but a scene close to the end will break your heart. And I don't hurt easy.

msc545 · Answer

I agree, the ending of 1923 was very disturbing.

DrPepper12 · Answer

When Dexter went off the rails at the end. It was so good and then... 💩

Anonymous · Answer

I was devastated only when some shows were cancelled, for example Secret Circle, Terra Nova, and Eastwick.

BruceWayne987 · Answer

That’s the worst when shows go too long and just can’t maintain all the way through the end.

seeyounexttuesday · Answer

This last season was ridiculous. They really jumped the shark.

qwerty2469 · Answer

Seinfeld. 1999. Haven't wasted a single second on TV ever since. I can't belive how much life yous waste watching TV. I'm depressed for you.

maj1nall · Answer

The man in the high castle. The finale is too rushed

MemeSupreme · Answer

million dollar baby  like wtf

DJB72 · Answer

Sarah Connor Chronicles

bddddd · Answer

The Usual Suspects.

Jay-_- · Answer

"Disappointed by" I don't remember.

ABC1x1x · Answer

Seinfeld. 1999. haven't watched TV since.

alice55 · Answer

can't remember anything

TonyMetal___86 · Answer

"A walk to remember"

eagle1951 · Answer

beetlejuice

What is the last show/movie you were completely devastated with by the ending?

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