Summary
As one of the premier indie movie production houses,A24has cultivated an incredible fan baseof film-loving fans the world over. They’ve done this by helping to put out some of the most interesting and, at times, disgusting films to ever grace the silver screen. As such, the company has become synonymous withthe modern horror genre.
A24 movies tend to have some of the mostimaginative and horrific premises,while exuding an incredible amount of heart. Yet, what these films are mostly known for are how these elements come together in the form of intense, and at times, nonsensical endings, that leave fans in a state of awe just about every time. What follows is a list of thebest A24 film endings there are.
Director
Robert Eggers
From the start, nothing is as it seems inThe Lighthouse, partly due to the main characters, Wake and Howard’s, deceptive natures. However, it’d be easy for any person to lose themselves in the isolation that being a lighthouse keeper brings.
The two men gradually lose themselves, growing madder with each passing day. This culminates in the siren’s call of the lighthouse driving Howard to bury his partner alive, before succumbing to the elements himself in a finale that is a true testament to the movie’s sound design team.
Ari Aster
Hereditaryis dense, full of cult-ish imagery and jargon that is not very obvious upon first watch. Instead, viewers are greeted with a number of mundane situations that build on the movie’s tension over time, due in no small part to the rapturous performances of the main cast.
By the climax of the film, though, that tension is released as the family is picked off, one by one, dashing any hope of a happy ending. Son of the family, Peter, then has his body taken over by the true antagonist of the film, the pagan god, Paimon. It’s one of those endings that can be seen coming upon subsequent watches, as viewers come to realize that Paimon’s followers orchestrated everything bad that happens to the Graham family from the start.
Director Robert Eggers showcased an early mastery of the slow-burn withThe Witch.This flick stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Thomasin, as she and the rest of her family try to make it through the winter amid an ongoing attack by the Wicked One himself.
Everything amounts to naught, though, as the Devil’s machinations, and the family’s growing distrust of Thomasin, come to a head. This results in the deaths of everyone but her. With nothing left to lose, she gives in, signing her soul away, and becoming the witch her own blood accused her of being all along.
Rose Glass
Like most A24 films,Saint Maudis low budget, and it shows in its janky depictions of divinity throughout. Yet, the story of a woman trying to escape her seedy past through a life of divinity loses none of its poignancy, right up until its end.
Maud offers herself to her God in a way many would never want to even imagine: self-immolation. Wings spread out from her back, as onlookers fall to their knees over what they are witnessing. Alas, in the final frame, it’s revealed to be a delusion, the fantasy being washed away in a sea of flames and screams.
Directors
Danny and Michael Philippou
InTalk To Me,a gaggle of teens mess with what essentially ends up being an elevated ouija board. It’s a hand that allows those who hold onto it to commune with the dead, and it winds up releasing a power that they simply don’t fully understand, leading to some dire consequences. While definitely not a wholly unique premise,it is done extremely well.
It’s a story that clearly speaks about the dangers of unattended grief, as main character, Mia becomes addicted to communing with the dead, only to wind up being haunted by her deceased mother’s spirit; a spirit that, as it turns out, is a malevolent one. This ghost (who may or may not be Mia’s real mother) drives her to murder her father before eventually ending her own life, and becoming trapped inside the hand that started it all.
