Annihilation and 4 Other Sci-Fi Movies With the Most Confusing Finales
Time travel, memories of the future, and other paradoxes you won't understand the first time you see them.
The science fiction genre has a special stimulating effect on the brain. That is why it is not so simple, and sometimes the movie leaves the viewer completely confused after the climax.
We tell you about the most confusing endings in science fiction movies.
1. Annihilation, 2018
Alex Garland has mastered the art of combining the metaphorical with the scientific like no other. His Annihilation explores the effects of trauma on the human psyche and leaves us with a sense of ambiguity at the end.
The so-called shimmer is both an alien entity and a metaphor for the grief that protagonist Lena experiences after the supposed death of her husband, Kane.
When the characters are reunited at the end, it's hard to tell if they've been completely replaced by shimmer, or even how much of their original selves remain.
2. Arrival, 2016
Denis Villeneuve's movie may not be a subject for discussion, as it explains everything straightforwardly. But it will definitely leave you with confused feelings.
The movie offers to explore the question of free will and the pain of loss through the experience of the main character, linguist Louise. The plot revolves around her attempts to make contact with aliens who give humanity the opportunity to experience time in a non-linear way.
And in the finale, it turns out that the woman's memories of her daughter's death are not an experience of the past, but events of the future. But even knowing this, Louise chooses to live through this experience, accepting the inevitability of the most painful moments.
3. Blade Runner, 1982
The problem with Blade Runner isn't how the movie ends, but the confusion over which of the many versions you need to see to understand it.
It's the multiple cuts that create confusion about the movie's central question, whether Deckard is human or a replicant. The ending shows Deckard looking at a paper unicorn and repeating his conversation with the replicant Gaff about the animal.
The least open-ended ending is in Ridley Scott's 2007 director's cut, which includes a scene in which Deckard dreams of unicorns, suggesting that both he and Gaff are replicants.
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968
For nearly six decades, 2001: A Space Odyssey has been and remains one of the greatest science fiction films of all time.
The surrealism reaches a crescendo at the end, when astronaut Bowman falls into an interdimensional vortex and finds himself standing before a monolith in the form of an old man who transforms into a giant fetus suspended above the ground.
This may mean that Bowman has reached the next stage of human evolution, but the imagery and ambiguity of the movie will forever leave room for multiple interpretations.
5. Looper, 2012
In the finale, the protagonist, Joe, realizes the damage he can do to everyone in the future and shoots himself to prevent him from becoming the Rainmaker.
When he does, his older self immediately disappears, but it's not easy to understand what happens next given the time travel rules that apply in this universe and are explained at the beginning. So if you really want to explore the subject of time loops, watching this movie is a real study.