"There is no real ending. It's just the place where you stop the story."
"Yet, the best ending of all I have saved for last. The best ending is one that ends suddenly and without any explana—."
— J.P. Beaubien, Terrible Writing Advice, "ENDING A STORY"
Yes, that REALLY IS how the movie ends — it closes with yet more mutilation, an arbitrary wrap-up and an outtake. This isn't a resolution, it's a sudden stop 78 minutes in! And yet it's a fitting ending with everything that came before it. "We don't know how to end this, but who gives a shit?! We're having too much fun to care!"
— Film Brain calling out the last minutes of Strange Wilderness
The movie never ends, but if you wait long enough it gets to a point where it's over.
— Roger Ebert describing Tidal Wave
Archibald: Wait! What happens next?
Larry: Um...
Archibald: Does the hippo see them? Is the poor mute cebu successful in communicating the imminent danger to the other passengers? Is the boy injured? Why is the sad cebu sad? Is the canoe wood or aluminum?.... You can't just stop a song and leave it hanging like that!
Larry: Um...
Archibald: Does the hippo see them? Is the poor mute cebu successful in communicating the imminent danger to the other passengers? Is the boy injured? Why is the sad cebu sad? Is the canoe wood or aluminum?.... You can't just stop a song and leave it hanging like that!
— VeggieTales lampshading this, The Song Of The Cebu
"In the end?" Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.
— Dr. Manhattan, Watchmen
Endings to be useful must be inconclusive.
— Samuel R. Delany, The Einstein Intersection
You see, anything indirect is stronger, in many cases at least, because you leave it or you hand it over to the imagination of your audience. And I’ve always been trusting my audience to have imagination, otherwise they should stay out of the cinema. You know, you have to leave something open. You have to have an open ending, neither good nor bad...Let’s put it this way, the moment you start preaching in a film, the moment you want to teach your audience, you’re making a bad film.
Well, at least it didn't end like The Sopranos, where it just cuts to black in mid-se-
— Stewie Griffin, Family Guy, making fun of The Sopranos' infamous series finale.
And does the movie actually end? Not really, it just kinda stops.
— The Nostalgia Critic, bringing up this trope in his Rock-A-Doodle review.
Liir: The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.
Molly: But what if there isn't a happy ending?
Schmendrick: There are no happy endings, because nothing ever ends.
Molly: But what if there isn't a happy ending?
Schmendrick: There are no happy endings, because nothing ever ends.
Elan: But in the end—
Tarquin: The end of what, son? The story? There is no end, there's just the point where the storyteller stops talking.
Tarquin: The end of what, son? The story? There is no end, there's just the point where the storyteller stops talking.
Elan! This arc isn't over yet! Where's the growth? You didn't lose anything! Nothing has changed! YOU GET BACK HERE AND GIVE THIS PLOTLINE A SATISFYING RESOLUTION THIS INSTANT!! ELAN!! ELAN, THERE'S NO SENSE OF CLOSURE! I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! THIS IS A TERRIBLE ENDING!!!
— Tarquin, The Order of the Stick 936: "End of the Line"
This brings to an end the story of Rudeus Greyrat, a former unemployed NEET.
Although we were shown the future of Hitogami’s defeat, the future may change so the fight between Hitogami and various people will still continue.
However, the story of Mushoku Tensei itself tells the tale of Rudeus Greyrat only, so please let me have the privilege of ending the story now.
Although we were shown the future of Hitogami’s defeat, the future may change so the fight between Hitogami and various people will still continue.
However, the story of Mushoku Tensei itself tells the tale of Rudeus Greyrat only, so please let me have the privilege of ending the story now.
— Rifujin na Magonote on the conclusion of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
"Listen, Mandy, we've been through hundreds and hundreds of portals, century after century! This could go on forever and ever! Who knows how this will all end!" (Smash Cut to a "The End!" card)
—The Grim Reaper, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, "Billy Gets an A"
"It was said that Magical Girls defeated the very last boss whose mission was to wipe out humanity. But... the truth is there are no real endings in this world. Even after that boss was defeated, true peace never returned. We fight on a new battlefield of international crime, indiscriminate terrorism, civil wars, conflict... The Magical Girls' battle isn't over. It never ends."
—Asuka Otori, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
"...The path of these "unfinished" novels is born specifically of the infinite number of obstacles that stop and return to stop their identical heroes. Franz Kafka does not finish them, because the main thing was that they were endless. Do you remember the first and clearest of Zeno's paradoxes? The movement is impossible, because before reaching B we must cross the intermediate point C, but before reaching C, we must cross the intermediate point D, but before reaching D ... The Greek does not list all the points; Franz Kafka does not have to list all the vicissitudes. It is enough to understand that they are infinite like Hell".
—Jorge Luis Borges about the novels "Amerika", "The Castle" and "The Trial", Foreword to "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka
"'Grandpa,' I shouted, 'be careful. Oh, gee!
Who's going to drop it? Will you or will he?'
'Be patient,' said Grandpa. 'We'll see. We will see.'"
Who's going to drop it? Will you or will he?'
'Be patient,' said Grandpa. 'We'll see. We will see.'"
"Ah, forget it!"
—Mrs. Puff, SpongeBob SquarePants, "Doing Time"
"The events of this film have never been fully explained. Visit therossifiles.com for more information on the ongoing investigation."
—The infamous ending to The Devil Inside
"STOP!
Congratulations. You have chosen to STOP this story just when you were about to be turned into one of them. But what are they?
Elevator operators in the Bottomless Pit Elevator!
If you had not stopped the story at this point, you would have had nowhere to go but down. There’s only one thing worse than a bad ending, and that’s no ending. So consider your choice wise because it brings you to what is officially known here as
THE END"
Congratulations. You have chosen to STOP this story just when you were about to be turned into one of them. But what are they?
Elevator operators in the Bottomless Pit Elevator!
If you had not stopped the story at this point, you would have had nowhere to go but down. There’s only one thing worse than a bad ending, and that’s no ending. So consider your choice wise because it brings you to what is officially known here as
THE END"
"I'll leave it to you to imagine for yourself the best ending to a story about a man who swallowed another's soul."
—The Author, Kwaidan
Oh Murdering Jack
Tied Louise to the track
In a plan that was grisly and gory,
While back in the shack
Was her Marvelous Mack,
Held prisoner there by the Outlaw Suntory.
Then the wolf pack attacked
And then down from the stack
With six-guns ablaze jumped young Billy McClory.
A CRASH! And a CRY! And I'm sorry but I
Have forgotten the rest of the story.
Tied Louise to the track
In a plan that was grisly and gory,
While back in the shack
Was her Marvelous Mack,
Held prisoner there by the Outlaw Suntory.
Then the wolf pack attacked
And then down from the stack
With six-guns ablaze jumped young Billy McClory.
A CRASH! And a CRY! And I'm sorry but I
Have forgotten the rest of the story.
— "Suspense", A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
"What now, boss? Looks like we’re on our own."
—Geoffrey Plumb, Toppat Civil Warfare, Completing the Mission
