It should as no surprise that movies are no exception to becoming debatable among avid cinema lovers. Naturally, it goes without saying that, in the long history of cinema, fans would have inevitably come across hundreds of moments in their favorite films that make them scratch their heads to come to a resolute conclusion. In fact, even to date, these moments from fabled movies have become a topic of endless discussion, with no settling of argument in sight. And so, refreshing your memories once again, here are the 10 most debatable movie moments in the history of cinema.
10Titanic — The Size of Rose’s Door
Even after more than 25 years since the release ofTitanic, it comes as no surprise that the ending ofJames Cameron’s filmis still so debatable. And we all know what this is about: yes, it is about whether Jack could have survived if Rose had just moved a bit to create room for her lover on her door. Back then, and even until recently, this was a full-blown debate, but thankfully a few months back, Cameron once and for all settled the argument that Jack would have survived the freezing Atlantic water if Rose had given the space on the wooden door. In fact, in his interview withRolling Stone, the director went on to admit he would have reduced the size of the door to make sure there was no room for debate. He said, “Based on what I know today, I would have made the raft smaller, so there’s no doubt.”
Related:10 Moments in Christopher Nolan Movies That Actually Aren’t CGI
9Inception — The Ending
Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece,Inceptionis another mind-boggler that needs no introduction to cinephiles. Based on a complex tale of stealing confidential information from the subconscious of people, the ending has inspired debate that, to date, is arguably enough to keep watchers engaged for hours. The ending sees Cobb’s totem still revolving and signaling he is possibly still stuck in limbo. Even Nolan has had his own way of explaining the end. In an interview, he explained, “The real point of the scene — and this is what I tell people — is that Cobb isn’t looking at the top. He’s looking at his kids. He’s left it behind. That’s the emotional significance of the thing.”
8American Psycho — Fantasy or Murder?
American Psycho, starring Christian Bale in the lead, is a psychological thriller that, at first, makes you squeamish at the sight of blood and flesh, and then finally makes you scratch your head at the end, wondering whether Patrick Bateman was some sadist who had these gruesome fantasies, or if he really was guilty of those 40–50 murders? For years,American Psycho’s endinghas been a matter of debate. And while fans may have tried to come up with their own theories, truly nothing is confirmed aboutAmerican Psycho.
Director Mary Harron and co-writer Guinevere Turner have nothing to offer by way of conclusion, either. They believed they would have disliked the film had there been a big reveal at the end. In an interview, they said, “We just said we’re going to make a really conscious effort to have it be real, and then at some point… he’s sort of perceiving things differently, but they’re really happening." Even these words are equally ambiguous.
7Shutter Island — The Ending
Martin Scorsese’sShutter Islandbrought together Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo for another enigmatic cinematic ride. The movie starts as a suspense-thriller and ends as the best mystery movie of the decade. But if you watch the film for the first time, it becomes really hard to comprehend and perceive what the film is trying to convey. Over multiple watches, however,Shutter Islandis really easy to chew over. PerScreen Rant, there have been a lot of lengthy discussions about what went down at the end, and mostly it has been concluded that Teddy was ill and into a role-playing game that was fabricated by Chuck.
6Gone Girl — Amy vs Nick
Gone Girlis arguably a disturbing thriller movie, and Amy Dunne is the worst woman villain in modern cinematic history. She is manipulative and a con, who would go to any lengths to serve her motive. And that’s what exactly she does: she kills and cheats people to take advantage of them. Basically, the message that was disseminated was that women get away with anything no matter how wrong they are. On the other hand, Nick’s character stinks of misogyny. The debate, here, is who, between Amy and Nick, is the worst spouse.
5Man of Steel — Superman Killing Zod
Man of Steelwas no doubt a movie not to be missed, especially when Henry Cavill was cast in the lead as Superman. But the one debatable moment that was hard to digest for comic lovers was Superman killing Zod. In DC Comics, Superman never killed Zod, so witnessing such a major shift in plot, particularly one that violates Superman’s no-kill rule, gave fans a lot to debate.
Man of Steelscreenwriter David Goyer had his reasoning for what happend: “I absolutely understand a lot of people had problems with it. When I have had a hand in adapting these things, you wanna be as respectful to the core material as possible, but you also can’t protect against failure. You have to take big swings. With big swings, there are big rewards.” Clearly, fans aren’t so sure about rewards, but this definitely sparked a lot of debate.
Related:The Best Action Movie in Each Decade from the Last 100 Years
4Parasite — Ki-woo’s Dream
Bong Joon Ho’sParasiteis a cinematic masterpiece that defies genre in every sequence. But the ending, too, serves something extraordinary and offers food for thought. At the end of th film, the deeds of Ki-woo and his family, who conned their way to the wealthy Parker home, are finally out in the open and his father evidently is trapped in the secret basement. The camera cuts to Ki-woo’s figment of imagination, where he turns into some big shot and earns enough to buy Parker’s house.
What’s debatable is that it was never disclosed whether Ki-woo’s dream materialized or not, but a safe guess would be nothing of that sort happened and Ki-woo is still lower-class.
3The Dark Knight Rises — Where Is Batman?
The Dark Knighttrilogy no doubtepitomizes the superhero genre. More than that,The Dark Knight Riseshas an ending that will undeniably take a little more time to decode. Alfred’s monologue, here, is somewhat confusing; it doesn’t really convey what exactly happened to Bale’s Batman. Some believe things really worked out the way Alfred had wanted — Bruce and Selina escape Gotham — while other fans believe that final sequence to be a figment of his imagination. What’s more, there are those who believe Batman did survive, but his whereabouts are unknown.
2Black Swan — Nina’s “Death”
Black Swanis a psychological thriller that sent the fans into a tizzy when it released in 2010. With a movie so phenomenally intriguing and led by talents like Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis,Black Swanis definitely a treat and a mind-boggler to watch at the same time. Portman’s Nina unknowingly stabs herself with a shard of broken mirror under the guise of hurting her competitor, Lily (Kunis), whom she fears will replace her. What audiences have debated is whether Nina succumbs to death at the end after achieving the satisfaction of delivering a “perfect” performance, or she lives on to tell the tale.
1Hereditary — The Ending
Ari Aster’sHereditarymade a lot of noise during its release and for good reason. Despite being the modern classic that it is, the movie’s ending was no stranger to debate. The ending was so confusing with little logic in place for a horror genre film. In fact, it is really hard to make sense of the film when viewing it for the first time. Some believe it doesn’t do much justice to the hype build-up around the film and absolutely ruins the film, while others feel the film is cleverly done to convey the loss, grief, and illness of the protagonist.
