The classic conclusion of the majority of movies that stick to the manual is a happy ending in which “good” defeats “bad” and everyone goes home with a smile. However, this rule has many exceptions, as movies develop to different conclusions and sometimes roll the credits after killing most or all of their characters.
Among these fatal endings, there are heroic deeds that conclude with a brave sacrifice, unexpected carnage that takes characters’ lives, or confrontations that evolve into last-man-standing showdowns. Ranker compiled ten of the best movies where death comes to pretty much everyone.
Note: Ranker lists are live and continue to accrue votes, so some rankings may have changed after this publishing.
10 Sunshine (2007)
It’s the year 2057 when humanity sends an astronaut crew, played by a fantastic cast with stars such as Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, and Mark Strong, as the last opportunity to reactivate the dying sun by detonating a gigantic nuclear bomb in it. .
As the glorious star that gives life to the Earth agonizes, so does Sunshine‘s space team. One by one, the astronauts lose their lives on their journey to the sun, and the last survivors pay the ultimate price to give new life to the sun and to the rest of humanity along with it. This stunning sci-fi film, directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, cemented itself as an epic story of self-sacrifice for the greater good.
9 Carrie (1976)
Directed by Brian De Palma, this classic horror story based on the same-titled Stephen King’s book follows a shy and bullied teenage girl who discovers she has telekinetic powers that originate from her rage.
When a malicious trick finally ignites the fire of Carrie’s rage, she burns the whole world surrounding her and even ends her mother’s life, embracing the accumulated anger that’s built up from the wrongdoings she endured. Eventually, the title character also takes her own life as she realizes the destruction she has caused. The movie ends in a bitter and tragic tone, leaving the audience questioning how justified the revenge rampage was.
8 Snowpiercer (2013)
Snowpiercer, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi action film, follows the revolt of the lower class on a train that circumnavigates the now-frozen planet. Directed by Bong Joon-ho, the $ 40 million Korean production focuses on the violent social conflict of the last remains of humanity.
As the bold revolutionary group led by Chris Evans’ Curtis Everett engages in a brutal with the guards of the elite train front, the self-caused human extinction reaches closer to its completion. The politically-imaged story depicts the bitter divide of these last survivors of humanity, whose bloody battle finally wrecks the whole train, killing everyone but two last souls who are sent out to survive in a frozen world.
7 Scarface (1983)
Brian De Palma’s Scarface depicts the splendid rise and fall of Tony Montana, a Cuban refugee played by Al Pacino.
By chasing the American dream through the narcotics trade and his impetuous hunger for power, Tony Montana goes as high as he dreamed of before becoming a destructive force for himself and others, causing the deaths of many around him. In the grand finale, he embraces his destiny and immolates in a grandiose fashion as he presents his little friend to the waves of foes that surround him and meets death with open arms.
6 The Cabin In The Woods (2011)
This horror satire directed by Drew Goodard reflects on the notions of the slasher genre while delivering effective comedic moments and terrifying scenes. The story of The Cabin in the Woods follows a slasher-genre archetypal group in a forest cabin who then discover they are part of a manipulated scenario that serves as a sacrifice to cruel divinities.
As in any conventional slasher story, the members of the group start to perish in the adequate order of their stereotypes, but the last two, the ‘fool’ and the ‘virgin,’ end up at a crossroads where the virgin needs to kill the fool in order to complete the sacrifice. They decide not to please the bloody desire of the evil gods and thus seal not only their own fate but that of the whole Earth when the diety does indeed rise and destroy everything.
5 The Departed (2006)
One of master Martin Scorsese’s best films, The Departed follows the entanglement of two confronted ‘rats,’ the one in the police played by Matt Damon and the one in an Irish mob led by Jack Nicholson’s Frank Costello, played by Leonardo Di Caprio.
With such a stacked cast, which also features Mark Whalberg and Alec Baldwin, it is a dreadful joy to observe the tight mess of the individual efforts of each character to watch their backs and keep their composures against the pressure. As covers are lost, one by one the characters eliminate each other until only one man is left standing. The Departed is a stressful and superb tale of lies and betrayal that gradually turns to carnage, becoming one of the most praised works of Scorsese filmography.
4 Reservoir Dogs (1992)
The cinematic debut of Quentin Tarantino follows the preparation and aftermath of a heist gone wrong, and the violent remnants of the criminal mission as its participants try to make it out of the situation.
Already a display of Tarantino’s trademarks, the violent and vulgar film develops into a standoff between the last survivors of the gang, resulting in one of the saddest deaths in a Tarantino movie, but also one of the most satisfying. Considered a milestone of independent filmmaking and inspiration to countless other bloody movies, Reservoir Dogs concludes with all of its characters dead except Steve Buscemi’s Mr. Pink.
3 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
The first spin-off film in the Star Wars universe, and one of the most praised Disney productions of that franchise, Rogue One follows the desperate mission of a rebel crew that commits to steal the Death Star plans, serving as a heroic setup for the opening events in A New Hope.
Introducing memorable characters such as Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso, the battle-bound team ultimately pays for the first important victory of the Rebel Alliance over the Empire with their lives, becoming immortal martyrs in the effort to save the galaxy from tyranny. Some familiar characters such as Darth Vader, Princess Leia, and Tarkin survive to continue their paths in the original. Star Wars trilogy and fans expect to see characters that did not survive the movie pop up in the upcoming prequel series Andor.
2 The Hateful Eight (2015)
Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight is a slow-paced western which reunites a dysfunctional group of strangers in a cabin, where secrets start to unravel and blood spills along with them.
As with most movies in the director’s filmography, the main character is difficult to denominate, although the one who most neatly endeavors through the violent gathering is the bounty hunter played by Samuel L. Jackson, a favorite actor of Tarantino. As the blizzard from which they take shelter intensifies, so does the discord in the cabin, and the meeting derives into a standoff that ultimately takes the lives of everyone in it.
1 300 (2006)
The extremely violent and glorious tale of the stand of the 300 Spartans against more than 100,000 Persian soldiers displayed in the not-so-historically-accurate Zack Snyder film is the finest example of a movie in which everyone dies but somehow the good guys still win .
Best placed in the historical fantasy genre, 300 features the proud sacrifice of the Spartan army against an enemy that vastly outnumbered them as a bold defense of their homeland. Though he was only in one film, the enduring pop-culture notability of Butler’s Leonidas is a testament to the selfless king.
