10 Movie Endings That Should’ve Rolled Credits Sooner (and 3 That Should’ve Kept Going)

You ever feel like a movie doesn’t end so much as it just lingers around the lobby, pretending it forgot its keys? Hollywood’s gotten addicted to “one more scene.” Somewhere between emotional closure and the thirty-seventh drone shot, filmmakers forgot that sometimes a fade-to-black is the bravest choice of all. So, in the spirit of mercy for both our bladders and our attention spans, let’s talk about ten great movies that didn’t know when to leave the party — and three that I wish had stayed just a little longer.

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Peter Jackson delivered one of cinema’s greatest trilogies — and then refused to let it go. Don’t get me wrong, I cried when Frodo boarded that ship. I cried again when Sam came home. And I might’ve cried a third time from dehydration. We didn’t need seven endings to feel closure. A single tear-streaked farewell in the Shire would’ve done just fine. Every fade-out teased relief, every fade-in teased more hobbit hugs. At some point, I started checking for end-credit scenes before Marvel even made that a thing. Epic? Absolutely. Exhausting? Equally.

2. The Batman (2022)

Matt Reeves gave us mood, rain, and more eyeliner than a Hot Topic reunion. But after three hours of brooding brilliance, the final stretch felt like Gotham’s power outage came for the editor too. We got flood rescues, monologues, new villains teased, and Batman’s emotional growth repeated in case we missed it the first two times. It’s not that it wasn’t good — it just overstayed like a dinner guest who keeps saying, “One more thing.” Sometimes less vengeance is more victory.

3. Titanic (1997)

Ah, Titanic. The movie that taught an entire generation what love, loss, and poor flotation planning looked like. Once Jack sinks into the icy depths, the story’s emotional peak is right there. But Cameron, bless his ocean-sized ambition, keeps going — dream sequences, rescue scenes, and that endless jewelry toss finale. The movie doesn’t just sink; it drifts. Jack and Rose already broke our hearts; we didn’t need a decade-spanning epilogue to twist the knife. End it when the music swells and the ship goes quiet. That’s poetry. The rest is damp sentiment.

4. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Christopher Nolan makes movies like clockwork — intricate, layered, and a little obsessed with time. But in Rises, that final act overstays its welcome like a late-night philosophy major. Once Batman sacrifices himself, we feel the closure, the heroism, the legacy. Then we get café scenes, estate sales, and a hint that maybe he’s alive and sipping espresso in Florence. That’s not mystery — that’s emotional catfishing. Sometimes heroes die. Sometimes they stay dead. Sometimes they just should.

5. The Irishman (2019)

I respect Scorsese. The man’s an institution. But when The Irishman hit its fourth ending, I started aging alongside De Niro in real time. The last hour is slow cinema — a quiet meditation on mortality — but after three hours of mobster regret, my soul and my streaming device both needed a rest. It’s a masterpiece of reflection, but let’s be honest: some reflections go on too long. When your credits feel like a eulogy, maybe it’s time to roll them sooner.

6. La La Land (2016)

Now, I love a musical that punches the heart before it hugs it. But La La Land hits perfection the moment that piano melody lands and their eyes meet across the bar. Then, the movie decides to show us every possible timeline where things might’ve worked out. Don’t get me wrong — it’s gorgeously shot, brilliantly edited — but that fantasy montage robs the heartbreak of its silence. Sometimes the best note to end on is the one that never resolves.

7. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

The grand finale of the MCU, a decade of buildup, billions of dollars, and my last shred of emotional stability. The first ending? Beautiful. The second? Okay. The third, fourth, and fifth? I started wondering if Thanos had the right idea. Once Tony Stark says goodbye, the movie’s work is done. But then we get weddings, reunions, time-travel callbacks, and enough farewells to fill a yearbook. Still great, still epic — but it could’ve been tighter than Ant-Man’s suit.

8. A Star Is Born (2018)

Cooper and Gaga knocked it out of the park. The music, the chemistry, the heartbreak — perfection. But after that final performance, the film lingers too long on mournful glances and dramatic pacing. It’s like watching someone hold a note five seconds past beautiful. Sometimes art isn’t about echo — it’s about knowing when to cut the sound.

9. Pearl Harbor (2001)

Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor is a cinematic buffet of explosions, romance, and historical melodrama. The attack sequence alone feels like its own movie. Then the film pivots into a love triangle epilogue that could’ve been an entirely different project. It’s not that we didn’t need closure — we just didn’t need another forty-five minutes of it. Bay directs like every goodbye has to be firebombed.

10. The Hateful Eight (2015)

Tarantino writes endings like he’s allergic to silence. The Hateful Eight reaches a brilliant crescendo, then keeps unraveling layers of chaos long after the joke’s landed. Once the twist drops, it’s pure indulgence — good indulgence, but indulgence nonetheless. When every frame screams “finale,” maybe it’s time to fade to black before someone else’s head explodes.

But I'm not all bad aches so here's 3 That Should’ve Kept Going:

1. Inception (2010)

The spinning top. The gasp. The cut to black. Genius. But you can’t blame folks for wanting one more beat. Nolan built tension like a magician, then yanked away the payoff. I get it — it’s art. But a flicker more would’ve been cinema history instead of internet debate.

2. Whiplash (2014)

That final cymbal hit leaves you breathless. But as the sweat cools and the silence stretches, you crave the applause, the validation. Five more minutes — that’s all we needed. Fletcher’s face breaking, Neiman’s pride cracking. It’s the rare case where indulgence would’ve been mercy.

3. The Social Network (2010)

Fincher’s cool precision ends with Zuckerberg refreshing a friend request like a ghost in his own machine. But man, what I’d give to see him look up — just once — and realize power’s no substitute for connection. The silence says it all, sure. But maybe so would one small sigh.

Movies don’t have to go on forever to make a point. Sometimes the most haunting image is the one that cuts too soon, and the most powerful ending is the one that trusts you to feel it.

Remember: every reel has its last frame. Some just don’t know when to let go.

Stay kind, stay curious, and don’t spill the butter on your way out.— Pappy Hull, The Popcorn Philosopher