A new study has revealed the movies that have left viewers most confused for its endings, with the production of a renowned director dominating the list.
Conducted by the BonusFinder group, the list was compiled by aggregating the total number of Google searches conducted in the UK related to the explanation of movie endings, with the psychological thriller Martin Scorsese 2010 Shutter Island first of all.
The end of Shutter Island
In the film, Leonardo Dicaprio plays American detective Teddy Daniels, who travels to a hospital for the criminally insane to investigate the disappearance of a patient. However, as the film progresses, it is revealed that Daniels is actually a hallucinatory character and that “Teddy” is actually Andrew Laeddis, another American detective who had been imprisoned at the facility for murdering his wife after she would have killed his three children.
The film ends on a philosophical note, as DiCaprio’s character appears to simulate another psychological relapse to provoke a lobotomy procedureas living with the knowledge of its reality has become too much to bear.
Christopher Nolan’s films
They don’t occupy the first place, but with four different entries in the top ten are the films of Christopher Nolan. The British director, who this week won a BAFTA for his work directing Oppenheimerdominates the list, with inception in fourth place, Oppenheimer in fifth, Interstellar in sixth and memento in eighth.
The inclusion of Oppenheimeras well as Barbiewhich comes in at number seven, may simply indicate its ubiquitous presence in the zeitgeist over the past 12 months, but it’s no surprise to see inception claiming such a high position.
The 2010 sci-fi action drama also stars DiCaprio as a professional thief who infiltrates his targets’ subconscious to steal or plant information. In a notoriously multi-layered narrative, the film ends in a moment of uncertainty, as DiCaprio’s character Cobb returns home after spending a long time in limbo. He has a chance to use a top to check if he has really returned to his “reality”, but the movie ends before the top has a chance to stop.
Also high on the list is the Coen Brothers’ 2007 neo-Western thriller, No Country For Old Menand the psychological horror of Mary Harron of 2000, American Psycho.
The complete list of movies with endings to think about
- 1) Shutter Island (2010)
- 2) No Country for Old Men (2007)
- 3) American Psycho (2000)
- 4) Inception (2010)
- 5) Oppenheimer (2023)
- 6) Interstellar (2014)
- 7) Barbie (2023)
- 8) Memento (2000)
- 9) Fight Club (1999)
- =10) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
- =10) The Shining (1980)
Source: Ambito

I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.