Edge of Tomorrow’s conclusion doesn’t really make much sense. The movie follows William Cage, who is sent back to the same moment in time every time he dies. In the end, he dies in the process of defeating the aliens, which should send him back to the beginning of the timeline and undo all his hard work.
Instead, Cage wakes up where he started, but his victory over the aliens still stands. The big Hollywood ending results in a happily ever after, but it’s missing some crucial logic.
Interstellar
Any movie that deals with space and time paradoxes will always be confusing. Interstellar uses the ideas of quantum physics to push its main character, Cooper, into a black hole. In this fourth dimension, Cooper can interact with the past.
To help save mankind, Cooper chooses to interact with a past version of his daughter, giving her the equation she needs to save the earth. By the end of the movie, he’s reunited with his little girl, who is now a much older woman. Although they have little time left together, their prior work succeeded in saving the human race.
12 Monkeys
Another time travel movie, 12 Monkeys, focuses on the idea that time travel can’t change the past. At the end of the film, Cole goes back in time and ends up getting shot when he attacks Dr. Peters, fulfilling the scene from the beginning when young Cole watches an unknown man die.
Although Cole didn’t change anything for himself, he was able to get some information to the future that helped create a vaccine. The movie focuses on changing the future, not the past. Hence the “insurance agent” follows Peters at the end of the movie.
Jacob’s Ladder
When Vietnam War veteran Jacob Singer returns home, he’s plagued by strange visions. Throughout the course of the movie, we learn that the military gave their soldiers psychedelic drugs, which made each man particularly violent and aggressive.
As the movie comes to a close, however, Jacob’s visions switch to calmer, more peaceful hallucinations. The shift is explained by Jacob’s chiropractor, who states that you must come to terms with death and realize that it’s a freedom from the earth, rather than a punishment. Although it’s a bleak explanation, it makes sense within the narrative of the movie.
The Wrestler
The Wrestler stars Mickey Rourke as Randy Robinson, a pro wrestler who’s warned that he’ll kill himself if he continues fighting. Robinson, however, cares very little for his life, especially since he’s ruined every relationship he has had outside of the ring.
He continues to fight, ending with one last jump from the ropes where the breath finally leaves his body. Before we reach a full conclusion, however, the film cuts to black. While fans like to debate whether or not Robinson survived, the director confirmed that Robinson did indeed pass away in the arena, where he felt most alive.