Random Movies With 'Happy Endings' That Were Actually Unspeakably Tragic (18 items)

• 

  (#1) Forrest Gump

  • Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Brendan Shanahan, Dick Cavett, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Bobby Richardson, Mykelti Williamson, Afemo Omilami, Michael Jace, Sam Anderson, Mary Ellen Trainor, Geoffrey Blake, Joe Alaskey, Peter Dobson, Hanna R. Hall, Sonny Shroyer, Brett Rice, Al Harrington, Greg Brown, Aaron Michael Lacey, Bob Penny, Harold Herthum, Jim Boeke, Hallie D'Amore, David Brisbin, Jacqueline Lovell, Stephen Bridgewater, Byron Minns, John Voldstad, Mike Jolly, Margo Moorer, Rob Adams, John Randall, Richard D'Alessandro, Shann Johnson, Markus Alexander, Robb Skyler, Vanessa Roth, Don Fischer, Rebecca Williams, Dick Stilwell, Bill Roberson, Marla Sucharetza, Michael Connor Humphreys, Bryan Hanna, Shawn Michael Perry, Troy Christian, Jeanne Hanna, Zach Hanner, George Kelly, Ellsworth Hanna, Ione M. Telech, Michael Burgess, Charles Boswell, William Shipman, Daniel C. Striepeke, Nora Dunfee, John Glenn Harding, Kirk Ward, Michael Mattison, John William Galt, Bob Harks, Christopher Jones, Jason McGuire, Tyler Long, Deborah McTeer, James Ent, Rob Landry, Jed Gillin, Elizabeth Ann Hanks, Keri-Anne Bilotta, Joe Abby, John Worsham, Christine Seabrook, Nathalie Hendrix, Joe Washington, Paulie DiCocco, Timothy McNeil, Isabel Rose, W. Benson Terry, Steven Griffith, Eric Underwood, Christopher James Hall, Scott Oliver, Timothy Record, Matt Wallace, Hilary Chaplain, Ed Davis, Jim Keller, Lazarus Jackson, Kevin Mangan, Joe Stefanelli, Alexander Zemeckis, Lonnie Hamilton, Bonnie Ann Burgess, Grady Bowman, Steve DeRelian, Juan Singleton, Logan Livingston Gomez, Frank Geyer, Teresa Denton, Emily Carey, Chiffonye Cobb, Tim Perry, Tiffany Salerno, Aaron Izbicki, Mark A. Rich, Kitty K. Green, Mark Matheisen, Daniel J. Gillooly, Marlena Smalls, Danté McCarthy, Jim Damron, Ben Waddel, Jack Bowden, Gary Robinson, Calvin Gadsden, Lenny Herb, Pete Auster, Jeffrey Winner, Kevin Davis, Russ Wilson, Fay Genens, Aloysius Gigl, Michael Flannery, Matt Rebenkoff, Bruce Lucvia, Michael McFall, Michael Kemmerling, Paul Raczkowski, Jay Ross, Kenneth Bevington, Angela Lomas, Peter Bannon

  This epic tale ends as it begins: with a symbolic feather symbolically floating on invisible currents, much as Forrest himself has bobbed, twirled, and run through life, almost entirely without agency to decide his fate. It's been quite a ride, and the hero is now the father of adorable little boy. Given that the film strongly implies that Forrest Jr.'s mother died from AIDS, there's a decent chance the kid was born HIV-positive.

  Setting aside that kind of speculation, though, Forrest still lost the love of his life and little Forrest Jr. lost his mother, leaving him in the care of a good-hearted and kind man who nonetheless presents issues as a parent. He is, after all, a feather on the breeze.
• 

  (#10) Gravity

  • Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris, Phaldut Sharma, Amy Warren, Orto Ignatiussen, Basher Savage

  Gravity follows astronaut Ryan Stone's heart-pounding descent to Earth from a space station that's been wrecked by debris. By the time she makes it back, the audience is too overwhelmed to comprehend what's really happening. 

  The final moments of the film show Stone landing in a lake in the middle of nowhere. She has no supplies, no food, and no way of communicating with NASA. Even assuming people live nearby, the chances of Stone finding a phone are slim. 
• 

  (#13) Whiplash

  • J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist, Miles Teller, Paul Reiser, Chris Mulkey, Jayson Blair, Damon Gupton, Michael Cohen, Austin Stowell, Kofi Siriboe, Tarik Lowe, Suanne Spoke, Marcus Henderson, Kavita Patil, Adrian Burks, Dakota Lupo, C.J. Vana, Tian Wang, Keenan Henson

  Whiplash is staggeringly tense. Neurotic music student Andrew Neiman finds himself overly stressed by his breathtakingly cruel instructor Terence Fletcher. The end of the film is built around Fletcher tricking Neiman into playing the wrong music in front of a giant crowd of people, and Neiman retaliating by playing drums like a jazz demon. Fueled by their spite, the two men put on an amazing show.

  What does that fictional audience think, though? There's no way this performance didn't receive a scathing review in the New York Times, or that Fletcher didn't lose his job by giving Neiman the wrong music, right? 
• 

  (#6) Ferris Bueller's Day Off

  • Charlie Sheen, Matthew Broderick, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey, Kristy Swanson, Ben Stein, Lara Flynn Boyle, John Hughes, Mia Sara, Louie Anderson, Cindy Pickett, Edie McClurg, Harry Caray, Scott Coffey, Alan Ruck, Steve Stone, Richard Edson, Max Perlich, Del Close, Virginia Capers, Lyman Ward, Robert Minkoff, Larry "Flash" Jenkins, John Richard Petersen, Dee Dee Rescher, Katie Barberi, Joey D. Vieira, Jonathan Schmock, Annie Ryan, Tom Spratley, Stephanie Blake, Dick Sollenberger, Polly Noonan, Kevin Bassett, Eric Saiet, Robert Kim, Tim Boxell, Brendan Baber, Joey Garfield, Jason Alderman, Bridgett Baron, Robert McKibbon, Eric Edidin, Edward Le Beau, Lisa Bellard, Dave Silvestri, Paul Manzanero, Bob Parkinson, Miranda Whittle, Kristin Graziano, Tiffany Chance, Richard Rohrbough, Debra Montague, Joseph P. McDonnell

  "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Ferris utters this immortal line at the closing of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, after he narrowly made it back to his "sick" bed. 

  Viewers are supposed to leave the film feeling like they've spent a riotous day with Ferris, the boy who can do no wrong, but there's an inherent nihilism in his approach to the world. He absolutely ruins his principal's life, makes his sister lose her mind, convinces his best friend to destroy his father's property, and essentially promises to break up with his cool girlfriend. You're charmed by his sweater vest and lack of planning, but the guy really doesn't think through the consequences of his actions.
• 

  (#11) Grease

  • John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Sid Caesar, Joan Blondell, Lorenzo Lamas, Michael Biehn, Eve Arden, Frankie Avalon, Jeff Conaway, Didi Conn, Dinah Manoff, Alice Ghostley, Fannie Flagg, Wendie Jo Sperber, Andy Tennant, Dody Goodman, Eddie Deezen, Michael Tucci, Annette Charles, Darrell Zwerling, Sandra Gray, Ellen Travolta, Kelly Ward, Edd Byrnes, Jon Bauman, Dennis Cleveland Stewart, Frederick "Dennis" Greene, Jamie Donnelly, Mimi Lieber, Susan Buckner, Barry Pearl, Scott Simon, Greg Bradford, Dick Patterson, Greg Rosatti, Helena Andreyko, Bob Quinn, Johnny Contardo, Dennis Daniels, Donald York, Lou Spadaccini, Antonia Franceschi, John "Jocko" Marcellino, Sean Moran, Carol Culver, John Robert Garrett, Kristine Greco, Richard Weisman, Lennie Baker, Daniel Levans, Paula Beyers, Judy Susman, Andy Roth, Jennifer Buchanan, Larry Dusich, Cindy DeVore, Vinny Genna, Barbi Alison, Deborah Fishman, Carole Demas, John Mooney, Tod Burton, Donna Felix, J. Andrew Kenny, Lora Marie Oberhofer Taylor

  The ending of Grease may be the most low-key depressing finale ever filmed. Danny and Sandy literally fly off into the sunset while the gang sings "We Go Together." It's supposed to be fun, but it feels like a surreal Viking funeral. The gang is literally discussing how they'll always be friends, even though high school is over before the main characters lift into the sky.

   
• 

  (#4) Kill Bill Volume 2

  • Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Samuel L. Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sonny Chiba, Chia Hui Liu, Bo Svenson, Sid Haig, Michael Parks, Michael Bowen, Julie Dreyfus, Jonathan Loughran, Lawrence Bender, James Parks, Laura Cayouette, Jun Kunimura, Christopher Allen Nelson, Gary Rodriguez, Akaji Maro, Kazuki Kitamura, Perla Haney-Jardine, Sakichi Satô, Larry Bishop, Shun Sugata, Ambrosia Kelley, Clark Middleton, Caitlin Keats, Yoshiyuki Morishita, Jeannie Epper, Venessia Valentino, Kenji Ohba, Shana Stein, Issei Takahashi, Juri Manase, Tom Hartig, Stephanie L. Moore, Goro Daimon, Reda Beebe, Helen Kim, Yuki Kazamatsuri, Yamanaka Soh, Ronnie Yoshiko Fujiyama, Tetsuro Shimaguchi, Jorge Silva, Stevo Polyi, William Paul Clark, Victoria Lucai, Maria Del Rosario Gutiérrez, Sachiko Fujii, Lucia Cruz Marroquin, Veronica Janet Martinez, Maria de Lourdes Lombera, Sonia Angelica Padilla Curiel, Graciela Salazar Mendoza, Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Thea Rose, Patricia Silva, Citlati Guadalupe Bojorquez, Al Manuel Douglas, Claire Smithies, Yōji Tanaka

  Throughout the Kill Bill movies, Beatrix crisscrosses the world to get revenge on her old gang, who stole her baby and left her behind. The finale of Vol. 2 is an almost anti-climactic showdown between Beatrix and Bill: she uses the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique to fulfill the title, and whisks B.B. off to a new life.

  While the audience may see this as a win over the biggest of big bads, B.B. has just been robbed of the only parent she ever knew and taken away from her home. There's no way she's not going to have huge questions or lingering trauma after meeting her mother this way.

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking