By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 6 seconds ago

Before he was Reacher, but after he was Thad, Alan Ritchson played Barbie. Not that Barbie, Arthur Bailey, the hero of SyFy’s wild series, Blood Drive. A throwback to the grindhouse cinema of the 70s, Blood Drive is the most twisted series to air on the cable channel. If you think a show about a cross-country death race in a future wrecked by environmental catastrophe and controlled by a mega corporation sounds like Death Race 2000 or Twisted Metal, well, you’re right. There’s one small difference. The cars in Blood Drive run on human blood. 

Gas Is People

Set years after the United States was cracked in half by earthquakes along the Mississippi river, Blood Drive’s evil corporation, Heart Enterprises, has monopolized the rare resources exposed by the massive fault. Water’s scarce, and gas is hard to come by, so of course the solution is cars that run on blood, which have helpful grinders built into the engines for sticking human bodies. Not all of them have that of course, but when you see the inside of the psychotic Grace’s (Christina Ochoa) car, you won’t soon forget it. 

Grace and Arthur, a cop trying to do the right thing, are reluctantly partnered for the cross-country race. Together, they hit one nightmare after another on the open highway, from cannibals to Amazons, with every new city and rest stop hiding a deadly secret. Every now and then, they stumble across a small town in need of a few good men. Except this is Blood Drive. There are no heroes here.

It’s no surprise which character ended up becoming the fan favorite: Julian Sink, the Blood Drive Master of Ceremonies. Played over the top by Stargate’s Colin Cunningham (also John Pope in TNT’s Falling Skies), no one can out dandy Sink. He’s eccentric, he might be insane, and you can’t help but be charmed by the man with personality to spare. 

Blood Drive Was Pure Grindhouse Fun

Alan Ritchson’s involvement in Blood Drive seems weird to everyone who only knows him from Reacher. Ritchson’s sense of humor lands right in the Grindhouse aesthetic, which is why he can deliver lines like “why are hot girls so mean,” when the Amazon Queen has him tied down. It’s an insane series that is well-served by the case-of-the-week setup. In addition to the Amazons and cannibals, there are nymphomaniacs, zombies, an asylum, a fight club, and an Asian martial arts-inspired episode. Again, this is an insane series filled with blood, guts, and sex. Thanks to the two leads, there’s something here to appeal to anyone. 

Blood Drive only lasted one season and it sort of wraps up the story. SyFy cited poor ratings, but then again, they didn’t do a whole lot of marketing for the show that sounds ridiculous at first, and remains ridiculous, but it hides a wicked sense of black humor. Blood Drive is hard to find streaming, with episodes only available for purchase from YouTube and Fandango at Home, and the Blu-Ray has been out of print for nearly a decade. 

If you can find it, Blood Drive is the perfect watch for anyone who enjoys the old-school grindhouse aesthetic, or wants something that dares to be different. The best part of the series though, the fake commercials for Grindhouse movies, the same gag used by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse double-feature, are left off the home video releases. Still, if you want to see Alan Ritchson murder people, or Colin Cunningham have the time of his life, it’s worth hunting down a copy of SyFy’s bloodiest series ever. 

Five years have passed since their time in East Highland, but things aren’t getting any better in Season 3 of Euphoria. The last time audiences saw television’s most controversial teenagers, very little ended on a hopeful note — from the infamous high school play to a drug bust gone wrong.

Sam Levinson‘s pop culture phenomenon raises the stakes once again as these now-adult characters step into a new chapter of their lives. However, as the saying goes, “Another year older, none the wiser.” Still, they might be lost causes, but they’re not all hopeless. Some might surprise audiences for the better. Without further ado, here are the best characters in Euphoria, ranked.

10

Nate Jacobs

Played by Jacob Elordi

Image via HBO

It’s valid to call Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) a monster. He’s displayed some of the worst behavior toward his then-girlfriend Maddy Perez (Alexa Demie). He also blackmailed Jules Vaughn (Hunter Schafer) after discovering her illicit online relationship with his father, and beat up Maddy’s one-time hookup to the point of near death.

However, in the aftermath of his father’s drunken confession, Nate appears to have softened. In Season 3 — his questionable relationship with Cassie Howard (Sydney Sweeney) aside — he seems to have no agenda beyond rebuilding his father’s real estate empire. When Cassie indulges in OnlyFans ventures, although he resents them, he no longer exhibits that same volatile behavior.

9

Cassie Howard

Played by Sydney Sweeney

Image via HBO

It’s one thing to date your best friend’s ex-boyfriend, but knowing he abused your best friend is another level of low. That’s Cassie (Sweeney) in Euphoria. Although Cassie’s choices are frowned upon, they come from a troubled relationship with her identity and body — she’s been sexualized from a young age after hitting puberty early.

The low self-esteem she developed when she was young manifests as an obsession with being wanted. Although she knows Nate is a troubled man, she still wants him to want her, especially because of his notoriously unattainable status. Although Cassie and Maddy end up in a catfight, Cassie seems to have put things behind them in Season 3.

8

Ashtray

Played by Javon “Wanna” Walton

Image via HBO

Nothing is more dangerous than a literal child caught up in a drug ring. Coming from a tragic family background, 10-year-old dealer Ashtray (Javon Walton) is the unofficial “brother” of Fezco (Angus Cloud), who took him in after his mother abandoned him as a baby. With no real childhood, his only education is the violence that surrounds him.

Because of his young age, he acts more based on his feelings than on his rationale. He has no qualms about killing people who wrong him or Fez — something even Fez wouldn’t do, let alone on impulse. He’s a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at the slightest trigger.

7

Kat Hernandez

Played by Barbie Ferreira

Image via HBO

Kat Hernandez (Barbie Ferreira) may have her own issues, but she’s not one to drag others down with her. Once invisible at school, she reinvents herself into a hyper-confident, provocatively sexualized persona after discovering the power of online sex work — though that newfound confidence is ultimately just a performance, and not a true reflection of herself.

Kat remains insecure, locked in a constant battle with her self-esteem. While she craves male attention, it’s not as severe as Cassie’s fixation. Still, her fear of rejection often gets the better of her. Even with people who genuinely care about her, the internalized belief that she’s unlovable causes her to self-sabotage.

6

Lexi Howard

Played by Maude Apatow

Image via HBO

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Lexi Howard (Maude Apatow) is Euphoria‘s wallflower. It’s not that she’s invisible, but she would rather stay in the background and observe everyone around her. Unlike Rue, Cassie, or Maddy, Lexi is the only one who actively tries to stay away from trouble. However, just because she’s “the good girl” of the group doesn’t mean she judges her friends.

Despite choosing to stay on the sidelines, there are times when Lexi stands up for others when needed. As Cassie’s younger sister, she’s the one who accompanies her to the clinic during one of the show’s biggest twists. She’s just as reliable as she is passive, knowing when to extend her kindness.

5

Maddy Perez

Played by Alexa Demie

Image via HBO

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If there’s one thing about Maddy Perez, it’s that someone needs to put a filter on her. She’s not one to keep quiet. More often than not, she doesn’t think twice before voicing her opinions, no matter how much they sting her friends. However, credit where it’s due — at least she stabs in the front rather than in the back.

Maddy’s infatuation with the lifestyle of the rich makes her come across as shallow. However, she’s willing to work for that lifestyle. In Season 3, with no university degree or work experience to her name, she lands a job as an executive assistant through her own initiative. Maddy refuses to succumb to her circumstances, taking control of her fate whenever possible.

4

Rue Bennett

Played by Zendaya

Rue Bennett (Zendaya) is a walking contradiction. As the show’s narrator, Rue is very aware of her struggle with addiction. She knows exactly what she’s supposed to do, and yet she chooses denial instead. It’s an age-old problem among struggling addicts, but there is a line between being a victim and playing the victim.

As complicated and frustrating as Rue can be, she’s not malicious. Much of her judgment is clouded by her relapses, which are enabled by some of the people around her. Had she been in more fortunate circumstances and surrounded by more supportive people, Rue would have had the willpower to become a better — though still imperfect — version of herself.

3

Jules Vaughn

Played by Hunter Schafer

Image via HBO

To Rue, Jules is a literal angel. She represents everything good, which makes Rue want to take her sobriety seriously. As much as Jules cares for Rue, that’s not exactly what she wants from her. Having grown up around an addict, it’s understandable that Jules doesn’t want history to repeat itself.

It’s not like Jules is actively trying to save Rue, but she does expect more from her — at least more than what her own mother was able to provide. Unfortunately, this only puts more pressure on Rue. When Rue is unable to fulfill Jules’ needs, she leaves a heartbroken Rue behind instead.

2

Ali Muhammad

Played by Colman Domingo

Image via HBO

Becoming a sponsor of a recovering addict is no easy task. Throughout Euphoria, Ali Muhammad (Colman Domingo) has been a mentor figure to the struggling Rue. Although he appears to have a strong sense of self-awareness, Ali has had his fair share of personal demons. A former addict himself, he is proof that recovery is possible.

However, Ali doesn’t sugarcoat the journey, and that applies to the wisdom he shares with Rue. He is aware of how relapse can trap and manipulate someone into thinking there’s no way out. Every time she falls back into her rage and constant lying, Ali calls her out immediately — without being condescending to her.

1

Fezco

​​​​​​​Played by Angus Cloud

Image via HBO

Drug dealers like Fez are often villainized for indirectly being enablers. However, Fez is not a high-profile criminal making thousands from a drug ring. Unlike Laurie (Martha Kelly), who’s calling most of the shots, Fez is just a street-level dealer trying to survive with what he’s been taught since childhood (his grandmother is involved in the business).

Although selling as much as you can is part of the trade, Fez refuses to prey on the vulnerable to make some money. That includes refusing to sell to a relapsing Rue. He tries to find moral ground despite being born into a life shaped by exploitation, and his good-natured heart shows through his relationships with Ashtray and Lexi.

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Euphoria

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Release Date

2019 – 2026-00-00

Network

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HBO

Showrunner

Sam Levinson

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Directors

Jennifer Morrison, Augustine Frizzell

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Matlock isn’t just getting a schedule change — but a time jump as well.

“Season 3 will not pick up directly [after the season 2 finale],” creator Jennie Snyder Urman told Deadline. “It’ll be six months to a year, I would say.”

Urman also confirmed this in an interview with TVLine, teasing how Matty (Kathy Bates) and Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) will be working in a new firm.

“It’ll be a little time jump: six to nine months, something like that,” she continued. “Not like five years later and everything has changed. But we’re not a direct pickup, like we were this year.”

Related: Why Are Many CBS Shows Facing Major Shakeups? Fall Lineup Changes Explained

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Before the season 2 finale, it was confirmed that Matlock is returning for a third season — but will go through a schedule change after a “complete reset” for the show.

“I asked for it with the network. We had a talk,” Urman told TV Insider. “I just feel like we had so much stuff to think about because we really landed the plane on this, and we really thought that was important because we didn’t want to keep dragging out the same story, and the characters have to get to someplace real emotionally.”

Urman confirmed that season 2 would wrap up the Wellbrexa story line, which meant a complete “reset” for the series.

“When we took this two-hour finale and really paid a lot of things off, what came with that was I’m going to need time after that to really build the architecture so that we have it for the next seasons,” she teased. “I’m excited about it, but I am also grateful because we needed a little bit of time.”

Urman addressed possible disappointment from viewers, adding, “Sad for audiences, but actually really good for me and the writers because I want us to plot this new mystery and make sure it’s airtight.”

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She continued: “We had a lot of pieces going in, so we really had to create this new piece of it. I feel lucky that the network’s giving us time to get it right because I don’t want the quality to drop.”

CBS previously announced its schedule on April 15 with viewers noticing some substantial changes. Ghosts, Matlock and NCIS: Sydney received a shakeup by having their premieres moved to 2027 for midseason. They will join the new show Einstein, which is finally premiering in 2027 as well.

Matlock’s time slot will be given to Elsbeth to allow Cupertino to premiere on the same night. NCIS: Sydney, meanwhile, is moving to midseason as NCIS: Origins — which received a shorter episode order — takes over to pair off with NCIS: New York.

Jason Ritter is still aiming for a role on Tracker — even if it means getting to be a “damsel in distress” who is saved by Justin Hartley.

“Justin and I are very friendly. I really love him. He’s such a nice guy,” Ritter, 46, exclusively told Us Weekly while suggesting a possible Tracker crossover with Matlock. “Julian is going to be looking for new positions so maybe he can train me in his tracking ways and I can help him find some people.”

Matlock, which premiered in September 2024, follows a wealthy retired lawyer named Madeline Kingston (Kathy Bates), who pretends to be a poor widower named Matty Matlock to get a job at Jacobson Moore law firm.

Then there’s Tracker, which follows Hartley’s Colter Shaw as he solves missing cases for a reward.

“If Tracker ever wants a partner [for Justin’s character, Colter], maybe Julian leaves the firm and he starts a new life,” Ritter previously joked with Us Weekly in August 2025. “Just two rugged guys.”

At the time, Ritter’s costar Skye P. Marshall weighed in on his idea.

“Jason comes to set now, and he squints his eyes and he tries to play a rugged guy. And we’re like, ‘Can you please stop?’” she quipped in September 2025. “And he’ll put his foot up on the chair and squint his eyes like James Dean. It makes my stomach crawl. I was like, ‘You’re not a rugged guy, OK?’”

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Justin Hartley‘s CBS series Tracker has won over its audience because of the intriguing cases — and the impressive guest stars. Tracker, which premiered in February 2024, is centered around a survivalist named Colter (Hartley) who travels the country helping people and law enforcement tackle a variety of mysteries. As the series unfolds, viewers learn […]

Marshall would still love to see Ritter share the screen with Hartley, 59. “But I feel like he’d be the guy that gets kidnapped,” she joked. “Please don’t give Jason Ritter a gun.”

Ritter couldn’t help but agree with Marshall’s assessment, telling Us earlier this month, “She’s probably right. Who knows? It’s TV, so anything can happen. A guy like me can be a hero on TV but in real life, if I was on Tracker, I’d be like, ‘All right, I got these guys … Oh, one of them snuck up behind me and that’s the end for me. Save me, please. I’ve made this mission 20 times harder by being captured.’”

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After the actor noted that he is “very good at being someone who needs to be saved,” Us suggested that Ritter play Hartley’s “next damsel in distress.”

“There you go,” Ritter replied. “Anytime, Justin.”

Tracker airs on CBS Sundays at 9 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Paramount+.

Fresh legal drama surrounding Rebel Wilson has taken a darker turn as explosive new allegations surface in court.

A rising actor’s claims have reignited scrutiny around the Hollywood star, with accusations ranging from hacking to harassment.

As the case unfolds, disturbing details and emotional testimony are reshaping the narrative and drawing intense public attention once again.

The controversy stems from a lawsuit filed by actor Charlotte MacInnes, who alleges that Rebel Wilson hacked into her Snapchat account and distributed private images without consent.

According to court documents, the alleged incident involved deeply personal material being shared widely.

“Once I regained access to my account, I could see that whoever had hacked into the account had saved a nude photo of me that I had sent to my boyfriend and also uploaded a photo of a vagina (that wasn’t mine),” Ms. MacInnes stated in her affidavit per News.com.au.

She further alleged, “They then sent these two photos to all of my contacts on Snapchat, including my family, as well as many strangers.”

The actor claimed the ordeal was orchestrated by Wilson, adding, “I believe that this was orchestrated by Rebel,” and describing the experience as deeply distressing.

“It was completely terrifying and caused me a new kind of anxiety. I was not myself for some time after,” she said.

Rebel Wilson Faces Claims Of Bullying And Reputation Damage

Beyond the alleged leak, MacInnes accused Rebel Wilson of publicly damaging her reputation through social media posts.

The young actor said she once admired the star but was left feeling targeted and humiliated.

“I remember crying every day for weeks (after the social media posts),” she revealed in her affidavit.

She also expressed frustration over what she described as a contradiction in Wilson’s public image, stating, “It was ‘sickening that Rebel presented herself as a whistleblower who spoke out to protect me’ when she ‘has only acted spitefully towards me with constant bullying and harassment.’”

MacInnes further alleged, “I was also angry that Rebel claims to be someone who stands up for women and young Australian talent but then was so maliciously and unfairly persisting with a narrative that painted me as a liar, prostitute, sell out, and whore.”

“I was confused as to how she had ever been accepted by this industry as a respectful professional, as it felt to me that these actions were somehow comfortable to her,” she added.

Rebel Wilson Case Expands With Claims Involving Her Wife

The legal battle has also pulled in Wilson’s wife, Ramona Agruma, after MacInnes accused her of making social media posts that appeared to mock her testimony. One such post featured a reference to the animated character Dory.

“I suffer from short-term memory loss … or do I? I can’t remember,” the post read.

MacInnes told the court, “I felt as though she was mocking the evidence that I gave,” describing the impact of the post during ongoing proceedings.

The accusation came after MacInnes faced questioning over travel expenses during cross-examination, which she later clarified under re-examination by her legal team.

Conflicting Accounts Over Key Incident Raise Questions

At the center of the dispute is an incident involving a bath shared between MacInnes and producer Amanda Ghost in 2023.

Rebel Wilson has claimed the young actor initially expressed discomfort before allegedly retracting the complaint.

However, MacInnes has strongly denied ever making such a claim, maintaining that she “never” said she felt uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, Ghost offered her own perspective in court, acknowledging tension in the situation. “I wasn’t annoyed at the beginning, I was annoyed after Rebel presented a case against her to me,” she testified.

According to testimony, Ghost later admitted feeling so upset at one point that she “couldn’t even look at her,” though she also described herself as “shocked” rather than consistently angry.

Legal Battle Intensifies As New Details Emerge

Additional claims in the case have added further complexity, including allegations about the working environment during the production of “The Deb.”

MacInnes denied suggestions that she was forced into uncomfortable situations.

“Amanda did not force me to stay with her – she invited me to…Amanda didn’t have ‘sexual conversations’ with me,” she said in her affidavit.

The court also heard about text messages exchanged following the alleged incident.

“Charlotte says all good. She just meant ‘it was a bizarre situation’ not that she personally felt uncomfortable x,” Wilson reportedly wrote.

“Oh thank f**k for that!!” the producer responded.

Despite these exchanges, the case continues to highlight sharply conflicting accounts from those involved.

As proceedings move forward, the allegations and testimonies are expected to remain under intense scrutiny while the trial continues.

The 2000s might’ve kicked off a new century, but openings are not the right topic for right now. Just the opposite: endings! Every movie needs an ending, and pretty much every good movie also needs a good ending, because it’s fairly rare to find a satisfying film that has a lackluster conclusion.

That’s certainly not a problem for any of the movies below, with some of them being great throughout and then that greatness continues through to the final scene, while others are generally good movies that get elevated thanks to how effectively they end. There is, inevitably, a need to go into spoiler territory when talking about movie endings, so consider that a pretty casual warning (none of these are new releases, after all, since the 2000s ended, like, about 17 years ago, at the time of writing).

10

‘There Will Be Blood’ (2007)

Image via Paramount Vantage

Punch-Drunk Love was a pretty great Paul Thomas Anderson movie from the 2000s, but There Will Be Blood is the best film of his, not just of the decade, but – some might argue – of his entire directorial career. It’s an epic that’s also very much just centered on one man, being lengthy with its runtime and grand with its visuals, but largely a psychological drama that’s quite intimate (and unsettling) as a character study.

Very slowly, and over many years, Daniel Plainview unravels psychologically, even as he keeps gaining wealth, property, and power. What do you know: it’s never enough. And he explodes at the very end of There Will Be Blood, and it’s at that point that you actually see quite a bit of the titular blood. Oh, not because he literally explodes, but because he beats Eli Sunday to death with a bowling pin. Somehow, it’s the only logical way this film could’ve ended, really.

9

‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)

Image via Universal Pictures

One of those “It makes sense once you’ve seen the movie a few times” endings, Mulholland Drive does admittedly conclude in a way that runs the risk of feeling nonsensical the first time around. There’s a switch made going into the final act that’s intentionally disorientating, and feels like a nightmare compared to some (not all) of what came before, but it works more once you catch on to the final act being more reality than nightmare.

There are still surreal sights, including a tiny elderly couple, and still more to unpack beyond “much of the preceding movie was a dream,” but it’s all striking and leaves an impact, more confusing at first, and later deeply troubling and eerie. There are reasons to consider Mulholland Drive David Lynch’s best film beyond the ending being striking, of course, but the ultimate conclusion does help quite a lot in that regard.

8

‘Saw’ (2004)

Image via Lions Gate Films

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Sure, Saw is not a perfect movie, and maybe you could even say the ending is imperfect if you want to argue it’s all a bit wild and implausible, but whatever. The ending is awesome. There’s a dead body in a room two men are trapped in the whole movie, and then it turns out the body is not dead, and it’s actually the guy who’s responsible for them being trapped. And he sits up as his whole scheme is unveiled; it’s great.

And it’s kind of silly. The ending to Saw is over-the-top, but it’s here on the basis of it being the right kind of over-the-top, whereas some of the sequels trying to outdo the twist ending here kind of face-planted, or went genuinely too far. There are still fun Saw movies released following the original, especially if you like your soap opera-esque storytelling accompanied by hyper-violence, for whatever reason, but Saw (2004) is still the best, and it’s also the film in the long-running series with the greatest ending.

7

‘Dancer in the Dark’ (2000)

Image via Fine Line Features

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Dancer in the Dark is easily up there among the heaviest musicals ever made, and the ending is a big reason for that. Not that the movie before the final scene is very cheery, but it’s the sort of miserable film where the predicament the main character’s in just gets worse and worse on a scene-by-scene basis, since she’s slowly losing her eyesight and then ends up committing a murder under circumstances that are not well expressed during her trial.

So, she ends up being sentenced to death, and the film slowly builds up to her execution, with the only glimmer of hope being that she successfully got her son an operation to prevent him from succumbing to blindness the way she has. Björk’s acting sells the horror and tragedy of the ending eerily well, as does the realistic and somewhat nauseous way the film’s shot. You almost feel like you’re really there, even though you probably don’t want to be.

6

‘Children of Men’ (2006)

Image via Universal Pictures

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There’s very little peace found throughout Children of Men, which is an overall relentless and unapologetically grim sci-fi/dystopian movie about a world where humanity is at risk of dying out because infertility is affecting the whole population. Yet somehow, a woman gets pregnant, and then she needs to be taken to (what’s purportedly) a safe location, so that no one shifty can get hold of her for their own gains.

It’s a film about saving everyone and everything, showcasing countless sacrifices and horrible things that happen along the way to achieving that goal, including almost every named character but the pregnant woman and her newborn baby dying. At the end of Children of Men, it is probably achieved. There’s some ambiguity, but it’s not really as frustrating because the peacefulness that comes alongside that slight uncertainty is just so welcome after a really brutal and high-intensity film. Also, that very last shot is undeniably visually striking (just like most of the film, really).

5

‘Gladiator’ (2000)

Image via DreamWorks Distribution LLC

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Moving fast for something so long, Gladiator is a real streamlined sort of epic that doesn’t really mess around when it comes to telling a story that’s equal parts straightforward and satisfying. There’s an emperor who’s murdered by his son, and then a general who’s betrayed and becomes a gladiatorial slave, and someone with nothing left but a desire to get revenge.

And so it’s not a surprise when he gets it at the end, and inspires the people of Rome to consider doing away with the Empire and becoming a Republic again (which doesn’t stick, come Gladiator II, but then again, does anyone really care about – or even remember – Gladiator II anymore?). It’s a crowd-pleasing sort of ending to a very crowd-pleasing and easy-to-like epic movie, with even the hero’s death being a moment of catharsis, since he believes in the afterlife and gets to see his murdered family again once arriving there.

4

‘Gangs of New York’ (2002)

In 2002, there was some controversy over the World Trade Center being visible in the final shot of Gangs of New York, but the decision to keep it in feels like the right one now. Martin Scorsese himself explained it well, saying: “The people in the film were part of the creation of that skyline, not the destruction of it. And if the skyline collapses, ultimately, they will build another one.”

And Gangs of New York is a movie about the history of New York City, mostly in terms of its violent past, with the ending montage showing the skyline growing with skyscrapers and all into what was almost the present-day, at the time of the film’s release. The movie itself is quite good before that point, but it’s a case of the ending being the most powerful moment of the thing, and elevating the overall film from good to great.

3

‘Oldboy’ (2003)

Image via Show East

Sincerely containing one of the best plot twists in cinema history, Oldboy just ends in the most wildly uncomfortable of ways, but it inevitably makes a twisted sort of sense and feels logical. The main character has been on his own quest for revenge the whole movie, having been imprisoned by someone under mysterious circumstances for 15 years, but then he finds out the truth about why he was kept captive, and it’s a lot, to say the least.

He himself was a target of revenge for an old classmate, and there are some really twisted ways that classmate got vengeance, with the psychological toll ultimately being even ghastlier than the physical toll of the years of imprisonment. Oldboy is great all the way through, but it is one of those films where the ending more or less makes it legendary (well, that or the famed one-shot hallway fight sequence).

2

‘The Mist’ (2007)

Image via Dimension Films

The Mist was a novella that appeared in Skeleton Crew, which was a short story compilation written by Stephen King (The Mist being a good deal longer than most of the other selections there). It’s one of a handful of stories where King tackles Lovecraftian horror, and he does it really well, with the premise involving a group of people trapped inside a small town’s supermarket after the titular mist falls over the town and brings with it countless strange creatures.

2007’s The Mist came out more than 20 years after the novella, so it was a fair time coming, considering some King adaptations are made not long after publication (see Christine, with the book and movie coming out the same year), but it was worthy of the original story. And, famously, it had a more devastating ending that trades in the unease of the novella’s more ambiguous ending for a full-blown tragic one that feels like it could well be the heaviest final movie scene of the 21st century so far.

1

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)

Image via New Line Cinema

There was an overwhelming number of things to consider for the ending of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The source material has a series of endings that go on for much longer than the movie trilogy, which can make the stereotypical complaint about The Return of the King having “too many endings” sound more than a little ridiculous. After a novel that spans well over 1000 pages, there are an additional 100-ish pages of appendices, with much of the writing there feeling like a series of epilogues.

One feels J.R.R. Tolkien not wanting to bid the world and the characters farewell, and you can’t entirely blame him. So, Peter Jackson giving his adaptation a few scenes that feel like endings seems like showing restraint, in comparison. And what was picked here is pretty much perfect, with the final stretch of The Return of the King being both an incredible ending for the third movie in the trilogy, and a beyond fitting conclusion for that trilogy as a whole.