It wasn’t just the ending of The Tree of Life that was a little confusing—it was the whole movie. It centers primarily on a family living in a Texas town, though their lives are intercut with other scenes that represent everything from the dawn of time to the afterlife.
Director Terrence Malick never specified exactly what the movie was about. However, film critics have suggested that the movie prompts you to reflect on all the good and bad in your own life and how it fits into the bigger picture.
The Machinist
The Machinist follows a gaunt, sickly insomniac named Trevor, who believes that he’s being tortured by a man named Ivan. Much like Memento , however, the movie includes a shocking twist at the end.
It’s finally revealed that Trevor and Ivan are one and the same. Trevor created his own tormentor in an attempt to punish himself for a previous hit and run that resulted in a child’s death. That’s why no one around Trevor has ever seen Ivan. If there’s a character no one else can see, you can pretty much guarantee that they’ll be part of a big twist.
After Darkness
In After Darkness , the world faces a disaster of epic proportions – the sun is burning out. Raymond Beaty is trying to escape the crisis and find a way to survive with his wife and two children. However, the ending of the movie shows the Beaty family falling asleep together without any hope for help, only to emerge into a restored world the next morning.
Unfortunately, the ending scene likely isn’t real. Instead, the Beaty family passed away together after eating some poison berries, and the sunny morning was simply symbolic of their afterlife.
The Babadook
The Babadook features a mother and son who accidentally summon a terrifying monster out of a children’s book. The monster possesses the mother, and the child is forced to beat the demon on his own.
After the son sends the demon away, however, it appears to disappear into the basement. At the end of the film, the mother brings a bowl of worms downstairs to feed the Babadook. While some fans took this to mean that the monster never disappeared, others assumed that the monster was simply a manifestation of the mother’s own grief at the loss of her husband.
Arrival
In Arrival , Amy Adams's character is haunted by visions of what we assume to be her past while trying to communicate with a new alien race. In the end, however, we find out that her visions of the past are actually visions of Louise’s future, which become vital in her journey to save the world.
After successfully saving mankind, Louise chooses to live her future, knowing that the pain of losing both her daughter and her husband awaits her down the line. Her “happy ending” is bittersweet because both the viewer and Louise know what’s coming.