CLIFFHANGER ENDINGS MOVIES ARE LEARNING THE WRONG LESSONS FROM TV
This is swiftly turning into the year of the cliffhanger ending. In 2023, we’ve already seen Dominic Toretto square off against an exploding dam, Miles Morales come face to face with himself, and there’s still Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One to come, the movie with the best chance of ending on some literal cliffhanging.
You can probably blame it on the Avengers: Infinity War effect. The Snap was such an anticipation-builder that it helped briefly propel Avengers: Endgame to the all-time box-office top spot. From a commercial perspective, the logic is sound; a truly great cliffhanger will guarantee bums on seats next time around as ravenous viewers clamour to discover how, for example, Dom’s bulging biceps deflect several metric tonnes of raging water. But do televisual cliffhanger endings, where plotlines and character journeys are left unresolved, really belong on the big screen?
There’s a stark difference between films that tell a complete story, while leaving the door open for the characters and world to continue, versus those that simply stop in a fashion akin to a season
