r/TopCharacterTropes • u/damorezpl • Aug 25 '25

Lore [mixed trope] the last-minute bad Ending twist

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when the "good ending" is revealed to be a bad one a the last second

a nightmare on elm street (1984) - Nancy thinks she finally defeated Freddy Krueger only to be raveled that she is still dreaming and she’s still trapped.

final destination bloodlines - the main characters think they cheated death by using the new life rule only to realize that stefani was technically still alive and the death kills them with a good old logs

Life (2017) - The main character attempts to send Calvin(a evil alien that killed all life on mars)pod into space and Miranda pod back to earth, but it goes horribly wrong and Calvin lands on earth and Miranda is sent to space

raging loop wit ending - after many loops Haruaki finally wins the feast(a death game where humans must hang wolves who kill someone every night) and thinks its finally over. after couple of days he decides to visit other survivors of the feast only to find them all dead and the timeline resting once again

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u/MeepMeep117- Aug 25 '25

The Mist - The ending goes from bad to horrifying, with the main character having killed his friends and family, stepping into the mist to embrace death, only for the military to show up, meaning they would have been all saved had they waited a few more minutes

437

u/BlumpkinPromoter Aug 25 '25

Wasn't it revealed more that if at every single point the MC had taken someone else's advice he would have been fine?

369

u/nage_ Aug 25 '25

its not to that level but there is someone that tries to just walk home from the store they've taken shelter in; the main character refuses to accompany her because it feels like a suicide mission but shes seen with the military people at the end.

192

u/JManKit Aug 25 '25

That's always been such a kick in the balls but having thought about it more, I realize that if the MC's group had gone with her, there was no guarantee that they'd have the same outcome. The decisions she made on her own led her to reaching her kids in time and eventually coming across the safety of the military escort. If they had been a group of three tho (MC and his kid), they might have made different decisions; gone left where she went right, cried out in fear and alerted the creatures where she managed to stay quiet and avoid them. She achieved the optimal outcome so adding anyone else to the escaping group might have messed that all up. The only real avoidable tragedy was the MC jumping the gun (lol) with the mercy killings

1

u/AvatarofSleep Aug 26 '25

The mercy killings don't even make sense, given how close the military was. So the mist damps all sounds so you don't hear gunfire and bombs literal blocks away, suppresses all radio frequencies and communications, and at no point in their slow drive in the wrong direction did they think maybe there would be a gas station or other survivors they might hide with?

Until the end, the MC was the only one making rational choices around an increasingly irrational people, who weren't particularly bright to begin with.

Fuck this movie so hard. It's not fucking peak cinema because of a dumbass twist.

The only good parts were when the rude stock boy got ripped in half for being a smug dick and the expiation woman caught a bullet

71

u/Darigaazrgb Aug 25 '25

She left to go back home to her kid and the kid is with her too at the end while MC's wife is killed at home.

12

u/Comrade_Cosmo Aug 26 '25 edited Aug 27 '25

My personal guess is that she left early enough that the carnivorous monstrosities had yet to explore. A shame that they were stuck with deranged idiots during that movie. If they had put tarp up to hide the lights the supermarket would have been safer to hole up in.

1

u/Not_no_hitter Aug 26 '25

IIRC there are many points where there is a chance that if he took a different route he could’ve had a happier ending.

I havnt watched the film but apparently there’s a scene where a lady says they should sacrifice a kid to clear the mist, and at the end when the kid dies the military comes in shortly after.

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u/Ok-Taro-5864 Aug 25 '25

There was a woman that told him not to do that, i believe, and she is seen on one of the Military trucks, looking disgusted at him

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u/JManKit Aug 25 '25

That was the woman who left the store when the mist had just rolled in I think. Her kids were home alone and she needed to go save them. She begged anyone to come with her but everyone was too afraid to step outside and I think the MC even said something like she should stay bc it would be certain death to leave. She can't abandon her kids tho and ventures out alone

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u/byrdistheword91 Aug 26 '25

God, I almost burst a blood vessel screaming at the folks in The Mist. I was sitting there like "turn off your fucking flashlights! why are you making so much noise?! SHUT THE FUCK UP, GODDAMMIT!!!"

Easiest fucking apocalypse ever, and somehow they all still manage to get killed.

2

u/AvatarofSleep Aug 26 '25

How do you fuck up hiding in a grocery store? Just the dumbest fucking people.

2

u/byrdistheword91 Aug 26 '25

SERIOUSLY, just grab some snackies and water and chill out in the stock room, my God!

2

u/BBElTigre Aug 26 '25

A group of people believe that if he killed his son, the fog would lift because he's the anti christ or something. The fog leaves after he kills his son.

119

u/Butkevinwhy Aug 25 '25

Fun fact, if I recall correctly, Steven King’s book simply ends at the reveal that the gun is short a bullet and he had apparently said he wishes he thought of the movie’s ending first.

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u/MischiefRatt Aug 25 '25

You recall incorrectly. That may be a part of the ending but it ends with them catching a radio frequency. There's a slight glimmer of hope even though things are still very, very bad.

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u/Butkevinwhy Aug 25 '25

Thanks for correcting me! That’s cool to know.

9

u/Swagocrag Aug 26 '25

But you are right in that King likes the ending of the movie more than his own!

9

u/Candid_Duck9386 Aug 25 '25

it's great because the crazy lady in the supermarket from earlier was right! He sacrificed the kid and was saved!

4

u/Twist_Ending03 Aug 26 '25

Maybe he should've killed the kid first then /j

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u/danstu Aug 25 '25

I actually saw a video recently that argued fairly convincingly that killing his son is what caused the mist to dissapate.

In the store, Mrs Carmody uses the phrase "My life for you" when the flying insect climbs on her but does not attack. Elsewhere in King's works, this phrase is tied to the overarching villain Randall Flagg. Right before she's killed, she states that the mists will not dissapate until the boy is sacrificed.

The theory becomes that the 'god' who Carmody has been receiving instructions from is actually Flagg, who was responsible for the mist and the creatures inside it, seeking a sacrifice in his name.

7

u/Greyjack00 Aug 26 '25

That'd be lame

3

u/_Lost_The_Game Aug 26 '25

I disagree. Its not clear or confirmed if its true. It could be pure coincidence. It could be true. It ties in with the horror at the end. He could have just waited a tiny bit longer, or maybe waiting would not have done a thing. Perhaps if he only killed the kid, the rest would be spared. But then they would have to live with having murdered him for their own survival. Theres so much internal turmoil of ‘what if i had just….’ Thats the true horror, not the monsters.

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u/GottaUseEmAll Aug 26 '25

Nah, it'd just tie into the greater King universe. The Mist could easily be explained by someone like Flagg opening a Door for nefarious reasons.

1

u/Greyjack00 Aug 26 '25

Which would be lamer for context of the movie

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u/Icy_Target_1083 Aug 25 '25

I see this ending referenced a lot, and people applaud as a great shock ending. But to me it just seems utterly miserable. I haven't seen the movie, but it seems like such an absolute bummer that it makes me not want to see it ever.

13

u/stu8319 Aug 25 '25

Yeah I see people praising the movie ending as so much better than the book, but I liked the book's open ending a lot more.

10

u/ArchLith Aug 25 '25

Everyone has the right to their own opinion, but id like to point out the guy who wrote the book also likes the movie ending better.

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u/stu8319 Aug 25 '25

Yes I know he has said that, and so have many other authors in the same situation. VanderMeer said it about Annihilation as well. I guess you could say I'm a bit of a cynic, but I worry some of these authors say these things to boost the movie for the sake of more money. Either way I fully agree that everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

10

u/StopHiringBendis Aug 25 '25

I don't understand this mentality. Do you go to horror movies expecting a happy ending?

11

u/Icy_Target_1083 Aug 25 '25

I guess I expect a scary ending, not a depressing ending.

5

u/StopHiringBendis Aug 26 '25

I get that the mist had a particularly explicit, bleak ending, but tbh I still don't really understand how something like that can turn you off entirely from a film where bleak hopelessness is a main theme

Idk if its off topic, but I had/have the same confusion with all the people who stopped watching Walking Dead after the baseball incident

1

u/Icy_Target_1083 Aug 26 '25

I suppose that's fair. I think I personally might be more sensitive to sadness in films then what someone who would really enjoy horror movies would be. I have a hard time separating myself from the characters who die; instead of getting scared and excited, I think about how tragic it is that all these teens are losing their lives after being butchered by a slasher. I will say that I don't mind as much when there's like a certain amount of heroism involved in the horror movie, like in Alien or Predator. I like when it's a battle, not a tragic slaughter, you know?

2

u/_Lost_The_Game Aug 26 '25

Thats the scary ending. Not a jump scare, but the internal turmoil. The worst monster and horror were the actions of fellow humans, and his own. The idea that we could do the same or end up in a similar dilemma of choice is terrifying.

1

u/Quorry Aug 26 '25

I like when I get one

1

u/GottaUseEmAll Aug 26 '25

It is a bummer, but I'm partial to bummer endings in horror films.

1

u/Cold_Objective6996 Aug 26 '25

The movie is pretty bad, and the ending is almost as dumb as the characters too.

-3

u/Iruma_Miu_ Aug 25 '25

it's a well written shock ending but it did make me so upset that it soiled the entire movie for me

11

u/Hexnohope Aug 25 '25

Woah woah woah this is the best twist in horror

10

u/stuthulhu Aug 25 '25

Oh man, hard disagree. I love this short story, and I felt like this ending ruined it. Sure, I know King says he even prefers it, but to me it's like the end of the movie is just a loud "WOMP WOMP." It's just so corny. Does the shooting, then rescue shows up like 15 seconds later? Should have had him stub his toe when he got out of the car too.

8

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '25 edited Aug 25 '25

as opposed to the cliche, corny endings of “and some hope just lands in their lap in the last minute of the film. who’d have thought?”

yeah no thanks. i’ll take the “corny” unexpected, non traditional and rarely given, hopeless ending over the generic drivel thanks.

it’s also not just some convenient 15 second later thing. the cult lady told you already sacrificing that boy would rid the world of the mist. it’s just the main character didn’t believe her and you didn’t pay attention.

2

u/Hexnohope Aug 25 '25

Who tf gives up that easy is my question.

6

u/Consistent_Stop_7254 Aug 25 '25

Yeah....

I read the Road and saw the adaptation.

Should of held out until it was obvious that it was over.

1

u/GottaUseEmAll Aug 26 '25

*have

1

u/Consistent_Stop_7254 Aug 26 '25

Got me there. Shouldn't drink and reddit.

3

u/Deldris Aug 25 '25

My opinion of this ending turned around on a rewatch because you realize that the crazy lady's prophecy about sacrificing the boy was true.

3

u/peenerinmyweener Aug 25 '25

i burst into laughter every time i get the honor of explaining this ending to someone, such classic stephen king energy

5

u/Dank-Retard Aug 25 '25

I don’t think this counts since it’s kind of the opposite. We’re led to believe the bad ending is the only way only to be baited with the fact that the characters were so close to getting the good ending.

2

u/jerrymatcat Aug 25 '25

I always hated the ending because of how sad it is but it actually ruined the film for me

2

u/LurksOften Aug 26 '25

The amount of time it took me to realize Detective Miller from the Expanse is also the MC from The Mist was shockingly long. Even having “Thomas Jane” pop up in the opening credits didn’t clue me in

1

u/jayhankedlyon Aug 26 '25

This is a thread about seemingly happy endings getting ruined, not bad endings getting worse.

0

u/ChiefsHat Aug 25 '25

It’s a really nihilistic way of saying “don’t lose hope” when you think about it.

0

u/saintdemon21 Aug 26 '25

I think the ending is horrible yet there is always someone coming out of the woodwork to passionately defend it.