Some movies have endings that are bleak or frustrating or sad. Some are even filled with absolute dread. But more often than not, most movies have relatively happy conclusions - where the main character has grown as a person, is with their love interest, or where they've recently survived a terrible experience and are hopefully on the road to recovery.
With a lot of these movies, though, if you think about the next few days or weeks or months of the character's lives, you could easily imagine how things could turn out badly, sometimes eclipsing even what they've gone through in the original movie.
If the following characters had to live through a sequel, I think they'd be awfully disappointed, terribly traumatized, or even worse.
Groundhog Day - Phil Connors (Bill Murray)
By the end of Groundhog Day, Phil Connors has lived through the same day approximately 10,000 times and spent quite a bit of those days literally killing himself. Even though he ends up with his love interest, Rita (Andie MacDowell) and is excited and energetic about his future, it doesn't take much to imagine how his sanity will probably unravel. This is a man who, for close to thirty years, thought of himself as a God of sorts. He saw people get injured and die, sexually assaulted numerous women, committed bank robbery, and pretty much was witness to his existence unraveling. Then suddenly - poof - it's all over and he can move on with his life. But can he, really? And what life will it be? Rita doesn't know anything about his experience in the time loop and probably wouldn't believe him if - when - he told her. So she's going to end things with him eventually, leaving him alone and probably questioning his own mental state. Is he going to miss his omniscient powers, his ability to "know" everything and be a hero to everyone? At what point will he try to take another toaster bath or another high dive off of a tower? And I do think it's a matter of when, not if, thoughts of suicide will creep back into his mind. The sudden, unexpected stop of the time loop and the equally shocking "happy" ending that he gets sets him up for a catastrophic ending down the line. Phil might make it a few months or even a year, but I don't think he's going to see more than one more Groundhog Day and his numerous insurance policies from Ned Ryerson probably have a non-payment clause invalidating them in the event of suicide. Nothing happy about Phil's ultimate ending.
Good Will Hunting - Will Hunting (Matt Damon)
The ending of Good Will Hunting is one of my favorite parts of the wonderful film and it's nice to think that Will is going to find Skylar in California and live happily ever after. But in reality, what are the chances of that? Will and Skylar had a bit of a whirlwind romance and showed some serious relationship flaws even during their short time together. Now Will is leaving his home and friends and way of life behind and moving cross country to be with a girl that he doesn't truly know. He won't fit in out there, which will make him self-conscience and awkward, probably shutting him down emotionally. Will is a deeply troubled young man and got some serious help from his therapist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), but will Will continue his therapy out on the west coast with a therapist that he might not trust or respect? Probably not. And that's just stuff about Will himself. When they get to know each other better, will he and Skylar even like each other? I'd be surprised if their relationship lasts more than 6 months in California. Maybe they're both stubborn and determined enough to "make it work" and they'll be together for a year or two - tops! - but it won't be too long before Will is moving back to Boston, back to his home and his crew of reliable friends and a routine where things feel comfortable. I don't think Will will necessarily have a terrible life in the end, but it won't be the romantic, Hollywood one hinted at at the end of the original film. He had to "go see about a girl" but I have no doubt that he'll be back, a bit more world weary and beaten down, just like most normal people.
Get Out - Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya)
Chris survives quite a bit during his weekend stay at his girlfriend's parent's house in the country - awkward interactions with white folks, seemingly crazy housekeepers and gardeners, hypnosis experiments, and a near lobotomy, to name a few - but he does survive, outliving his girlfriend, her family, and the family's live-in staff with the help of his buddy Rod "TS - mother fuckin' - A" Williams. In the end, they drive away, seemingly safe and sound. But how long before the police come calling? Chris was seen at the property by more than a dozen people just earlier that day. People with a vested interest in him being caught and silenced. Surely they'll point the authorities in his direction and then what? Finger prints, hair, and DNA will all place Chris at the scene and directly involved with the murder of the Armitage family and staff. The cops might find some remnants of the surgery center where the procedure was going to take place, but depending on how long and hot the fire burned, they might not. It will be Chris's word against everything else. The word of an out-of-towner, a black kid even, against the legacy of a loved and renowned and rich white family. I don't have much trust in the United States' criminal justice system to think that Chris will survive the investigation and subsequent trial. Chris will be going to prison for a very, very long time and his once promising life will be ruined, all because he chose to date the wrong person.
Whiplash - Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller)
The ending of Whiplash is a bit decisive. I've read people's thoughts online that they think the film is painting a happy ending - Andrew getting what he wants and becoming a jazz drummer extraordinaire, besting his abusive teacher, Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) - but I think those thoughts aren't mutually exclusive. Andrew certainly becomes a fantastic, passionate drummer by the end of the film and he certainly impresses the demanding Fletcher, but is that necessarily a "happy" ending? I don't think so, but I do think Andrew is happy with himself and his current lot in life. But he's done so at the cost of his humanity and the expense of his girlfriend, friends, and even his father, who has a look of utter horror on his face while he watches Andrew perform. From this point on, what is Andrew's life going to look like? Best case scenario, he learns how to balance his work and his personal life and becomes a moderately successful musician, booking small clubs and maybe playing the drums on indie recording sessions. But Jazz isn't exactly super popular anymore and will Andrew be content with that? With never becoming a superstar like his idol, Buddy Rich? I don't think so. Hell, I'm not sure he'd even be able to find a functioning work/life balance in order to have any lasting relationships, either personal or professional. By the ending of Whiplash, Andrew has descended so far down that the best he can probably hope for is an existence like Fletcher has - living alone, full of regrets, and terrorizing students in hopes of creating the next great jazz superstar. It's a sad, miserable life, but it'll be too far down the road before Andrew realizes what has happened to him for him to change. He'll be a bitter, old, failure of a man, full of hate and spite, just like Fletcher.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns)
Sally is one of the first and most famous "Final Girls" in horror film history. She survives so much physical and emotional trauma that, by the end, when she jumps into the back of a passing by pickup truck and speeds away from the deranged, chainsaw twirling Leatherface, you can't help but exhale and think "Wow, she's so lucky to get away!". But how lucky is she really? Over the course of one afternoon and early evening, Sally is subjected to so many shocks and terrors that she's unlikely to ever mentally recover from them. She watches her brother get violently murdered with a chainsaw, runs to shelter inside a nearby home only to find the dead bodies of her friends, and then is imprisoned and tortured by a maniacal family of cannibals. She eventually escapes the scene of the crime, but will she ever escape the mental image of Franklin being murdered or those of the dead bodies or the furniture made of bones or the horrific chases through the woods and house, with Leatherface hot on her trail? Will she ever have a peaceful night's sleep or will her dreams be perpetually haunted by what she's had to endure? The final image of the film is that of Sally, laughing and/or crying in the bed of the pickup truck. At that point, it seems like she's already suffered a near catatonic break, resulting in probably life long issues that no amount of therapy or medication will ever hope to alleviate. Is Sally lucky to be alive or would she have been better off joining her friends in death? Is it better to be living a life of mental and emotional torment or be dead, with your skin and bones used for furniture and your meat and organs used in championship-caliber chili? I think the latter is probably better, but I've always been one for the easy way out.
Million Dollar Baby - Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood)
Frankie Dunn is a complex character who has to make a terrible choice at the end of Million Dollar Baby: either let his award winning, determined, and intently competitive fighter Maggie (Hilary Swank) live out her days as a paraplegic with no prospects of a recovery - something she absolutely doesn't want to do - or assist her in committing suicide. As a devout, albeit questioning, Catholic, the second option doesn't seem to be something he'd even consider, but he loves Maggie so very much and absolutely hates to see her suffer, so he disconnects her breathing tube and injects her with a solution to stop her heart. They both have tears in their eyes at the end, but hers are tears of relief and his are tears of pain and heartbreak. It's a sad, but just end and the viewer is happy that Maggie's suffering has ended. The film ends with Frankie at a diner, alone, but with hopes of connecting with his long lost daughter at some point in the future. Of course, Frankie has committed murder and will likely be the prime suspect when the police realize he's fled his hometown. Will the authorities throw up roadblocks and search high and low for him, an elderly man who's crime is technically assisted suicide? Maybe, but probably not. Either way, though, Frankie will have to live his remaining years on the run, always looking over his shoulder and never being able to settle down and enjoy his "golden years". I don't think he'll ever regret what he did in the end, but Frankie might regret that he ever coached Maggie in the first place. That he ever trained her and got her in a position where she could get so hurt, so broken. He voices that concern in the film itself and is quickly shot down by his friend (Morgan Freeman) who knows how happy Maggie was with her career, but I have a feeling that during those long nights alone, those thoughts will creep back into Frankie's mind and he'll always have to wonder if he could have done something - anything - differently that could have prevented Maggie's accident and kept her wonderful dream alive. Frankie's got a hard road ahead of himself at the end of the film, one that no one would want or envy. And one that's certainly not "happy".
The Mist - David Drayton (Thomas Jane)
There's no doubt about it, The Mist has a downer of an ending for David: thinking they were soon to be mauled and killed by mysterious creatures, David shoots his last remaining friends and his young son as an act of mercy. His thought process was sound, it's definitely better to go quickly and relatively painlessly via a gun shot wound at close range. But when David gets out his car and readies himself for the attack, he soon realizes that the titular mist is clearing and the US Army is rolling by, destroying the creatures and promising a brighter future for mankind. That's not going to be the case for David, though, since he's going to have to live with what he did. The thought of "If I'd only waited another 5 or 10 minutes, we'd all have been rescued" is going to circle in his head for the rest of his life. His wife had already been killed, so he's lost his whole family and numerous friends, plus been witness to many other unspeakable acts of violence and gore. I think in the immediate aftermath of the movie, David might hold things together just long enough to oversee the burials of his family, but soon after, he'll turn to alcohol and drugs to numb the pain. When those fail to work, David will no doubt think about taking his own life, perhaps even with the same gun that ended his young son's existence. It's a bleak, disheartening end to a once promising life.
Beauty and the Beast (1991) - Belle (voiced by Paige O'Hara)
It's safe to say that you're not supposed to think too hard about the realistic nature or character dynamics of most animated movies, and Beauty and the Beast is no exception. In this wonderfully delightful film, Belle - a 17 year old girl who has never seen the world outside her tiny village - falls in love with The Beast. Belle's love and kiss magically resuscitates The Beast from his recent death at the hands of Gaston and transforms him back into a human prince, aged 21. And they live happily ever after. Or do they? A few things to consider: I can't imagine the success rate of relationships between 17 and 21 year olds is very high under normal circumstances. They're just too young and are prone to making careless, poorly thought out decisions. And then there's the fact that Belle only knew her new beau for a short time and, oh yeah, he was a BEAST for that whole time! In addition to those factors, Belle is now in a relationship (engaged? married?) with a young man who spent the last ten years of his life locked away in a castle as a BEAST with only his cursed servants as company. The Prince was cursed as an 11 year old, so did his human body skip puberty? Will he even be prepared for a physical relationship with Belle? If not, that's another strike against her future. How long will Belle be able to last with the cruel and selfish Prince before she tries to flee back to her home or out of the country entirely? Will the Prince allow her to leave or will he track her down and have her imprisoned - or worse - for her actions? It's hard to say, but I don't like the odds of Belle living happily into her 20's, much less ever after.
Snowpiercer - Yona (Ko Asung) and Timmy (Marcanthenee Reis)
Yona (17 years old) and Timmy (5 years old) have lived the entire lives on Snowpiercer, a train constantly circumnavigating the globe during an ice age that has wiped out the rest of humanity on Earth. At the end of the film, the titular train has derailed and they're the only two survivors. Seeing no other viable options, they set out, into the coldness where they see a polar bear in the wild. The film posits that, since the bear is alive, that life must be possible after all and that Yona and Timmy have a chance at survival. If I had to guesstimate their odds of making it more than a day or two, I'd guess about seven trillion to one. They don't have the proper gear, supplies, or knowledge to live off the snowy land. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the polar bear - starving and desperate for food - rushes over and kills one of them right away. If that happens, Timmy's probably a goner - he'd make a nice little snack for the hungry bear. If Yona is injured in the altercation, that limits her chances even more so. I can't imagine any scenario where either of them survives, which really negates all the suffering and sacrifices that everyone makes during the movie.
Home Alone 2 - Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin)
Sure, Kevin survived the first movie and seems relatively happy and well adjusted despite what he went through, but after going through all that - and more! - again, will he be so lucky? I don't think so. Kevin proved uncapable of learning lessons from the first film - he again attacks Buzz for something inconsequential and triggers a huge fight with his family, he again wishes to be left alone in a petulant huff, he again immediately distrusts a nicer older person (the Pigeon Lady) just because of her appearance, just like he did the Shovel Man from the first movie, and he again promises never to do it again if he can just have Christmas with his family. So in the end, Kevin's got his family at Christmas time, but what has he learned? Probably nothing. He's going to mature into a spoiled, narcissistic, thoughtless young man and then, eventually, an adult with all those same characteristics, plus a hefty trust fund from his mommy and daddy. Rich assholes beget rich assholes, it's a tale as old as time, and Kevin's no different. He might not grow up to be the serial killer from Saw like a popular internet theory, but he's not going to be a good person, either. And maybe he wouldn't even want to be a good person. Maybe he'll be perfectly happy with how he turns out, but for the audience, it certainly wouldn't inspire those warm and fuzzy holiday feelings that the Home Alone movies are aiming for.
Well, those are my ramblings on the subject. I'm sure there are dozens or hundreds of other movies and characters that I could have picked to write about, but these ten were among the first that I thought of and I thought they represented a nice cross-section of styles and genres.
Who are some characters that you think would have a hard road following the events of their movies? Do you agree with my choices? I'd love to read your comments!
Thanks for reading!