Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Sergio Leone
The ending: Robert de Niro lies reclining in an opium den with a pleasant expression on his face after we have witnessed his adventures and misfortunes in the world of the American mafia. Which gives rise to speculation about the veracity of the facts.
The unexpected: it may all be the dream of an opium addict who is anticipating his future or simply imagining what he would like to become.
Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Steven Spielberg
The Ending: Two thousand years after the Earth has fallen into an ice age, a race of aliens finds the robot David frozen at the bottom of the sea. When they read his memory they realize his wish: to be loved by his adoptive human mother. His dream comes true when the aliens revive the woman for 24 hours and David lives a dream day next to her. As she dies, David lies next to her and closes his eyes.
The unexpected: David decides to immerse himself in a long and indefinite dream that will keep him together with his mother for as long as possible and not return to the real world.
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Roman Polanski
The end: after giving birth under strange circumstances, Rosemary arrives at the apartment of her neighbors who belong to a satanic sect. Seeing the monstrous aspect of her son, her expression is filled with horror – although she later softens and she seems to accept him as he is.
The unexpected: her desire to be her mother was so great that finally her mind collapses and she agrees to take care of the newborn, even though she comes from the most evil of beings.
The Graduate (1969)
Mike Nichols
The ending: Benjamin Braddock manages to interrupt the wedding between Elaine and her fiancée, and both escape before the confused eyes of the guests. They board a bus and laugh uncontrollably.
The unexpected: seconds later, their faces are submerged in the most absolute confusion and seriousness. Perhaps they both realize that they have nowhere to go and no future that bodes well for them. Their euphoric outburst gives way to the shock of reality that surrounds them like the night around the planet.
The Mist (2007)
Frank Darabont
The ending: David manages to survive –along with a few others- the monsters that have come to town, but he knows that their situation is hopeless and that they will not be able to escape certain death. When they see all lost, David shoots each one of them, including his son.
The unexpected: just as he kills his son, David watches as the army is gaining ground on the creatures. If he had waited a few more minutes, he would have avoided making a desperate decision.
Seven (1995)
David Fincher
The end: when detectives William Somerset and David Mills finally manage to capture the serial killer who is inspired by the seven deadly sins to commit his crimes, he leads them to a barren area to show them one last surprise inside a cardboard box.
The unexpected: what is found in the box is the head of Mills' wife. With this, the psychopath ends his mission to represent the most common sins of the human being, provoking the anger of his enemy.
Secret window, secret garden (2004)
David Koepp
The ending: Mort Rainey realizes that everything he believed to be real was part of his imagination and that the crimes that occurred had been committed by him. In short, he was a psychopath. When her wife, whom he is divorcing, shows up at her house, Rainey murders her and buries her under the secret window she faces a cornfield.
The unexpected: Mort resumes his career as a writer and escapes justice due to the lack of evidence to frame him as the author of the deaths of her wife and her lover. With great cynicism and perversity, Mort feeds on the ears of corn that grow from the grave of his wife.
Friday the 13th (1980)
Sean S Cunningham
The end: when it seemed that the bloody crimes of Crystal Lake were committed by Jason Voorhees, the boy who had drowned years before in that same place, it turns out that it had all been the work of his vengeful mother.
The unexpected: a rotten and moldy body emerges from the bottom of the lake – it is Jason – to take the only survivor of the massacre to the bottom.
