While Darren Aronofsky has appeared on this list more than once, his directorial debut proves that he’s always been a fan of confusing endings. In Pi , Max Cohen believes that everything can be solved by numbers, though he can’t fix his own medical problems.
While Cohen spends his life making stock predictions, he can’t overcome the headaches and hallucinations that plague him every day. Eventually, he is driven to total madness and performs a lobotomy on himself to end the pain forever. While it’s a dark ending, it’s the only way Cohen believed he could save himself.
Drive
Drive finished on an interesting cliffhanger. As Ryan Gosling’s driver speeds away at the end of the film with a painful stab wound, viewers are left wondering if he lives or dies.
Unfortunately, the driver doesn’t make it. Earlier in the movie, Gosling asks the mob boss if he is familiar with the story of the Scorpion and the Frog, which ends with both animals dying because they must be true to their natures. By asking this question, the driver makes it clear that he knows he’s going to die because neither he nor the boss will resist their nature.
Grease
Grease is a fairly realistic movie about two high school teenagers who fall in love. It’s filled with musical numbers, but there’s nothing to suggest any sort of supernatural element in the film...except the ending. After Danny and Sandy finally decide to be together, they get into a car that then drives into the air and flies away.
While some fans have suggested that Sandy was actually dead for the entire film, the filmmakers have rebuffed their ideas. It’s likely that the moment was simply a bad editing decision to end the film on a high note. Literally.
A Clockwork Orange
In typical Stanley Kubrick fashion, A Clockwork Orange takes a much darker turn than the book it’s based on. In the story, Alex undergoes conditioning and brainwashing after his suicide attempt in an effort to rid him of his violent ways.
In the movie, however, Alex seemingly makes a return to his aggressive behavior by the end of the film. The book, however, takes a happier approach. It shows that Alex does clean up his life and moves forward after realizing the toll his behavior has taken on those around him.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Put most simply, 2001 tracks humanity’s evolution. It starts with primitive peoples who resemble apes creating tools and ends with Bowman transforming into a super being and being sent back to Earth.
Director Stanley Kubrick explained the ending of the film with more finesse, stating that Bowman was studied by a team of super-beings and sent back to Earth after he made his final evolution. As for what happens when he returns to Earth with his new powers, viewers can only guess.