Five harshly treated movie characters who deserved a better ending than they got
There are some films that make us rejoice with joy when the villains are finally destroyed and the heroes come out on top, sparking a visceral reaction as we commiserate with the losses of the characters and celebrate their wins.
Whether it be the triumphant moment in Jaws as the shark is finally destroyed or the captivating final sequence in Whiplash as Andrew hijacks the concert hall and proves his worth to Fletcher, there are many movie moments that have us cheering for the characters on screen and feeling completely committed to their journey.
However, there is nothing more frustrating than finishing a film and feeling as though they were completely duped and in need of a much better ending. You feel cheated for them, knowing that there was an alternate solution just hidden in the distance that you would have preferred (for your own peace of mind).
And so with that, here are five harshly treated movie characters who deserved far more than the pitiful endings they received.
Five harshly treated movie characters who deserved better:
Lisbeth Salander – ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (David Fincher, 2011)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one of David Fincher’s most beloved movies. It is arguably the director at his best, putting a gritty and bleak (even for him) twist on the murder mystery genre by using it to hone in on the cruelty of humankind as we know it.
But perhaps the most outrageous element of the story is the conclusion to Lisbeth’s story. The character, rightly having a hard outer shell after being subjected to a life of abuse, eventually softens in the presence of Mikael before discovering that he is an emotional terrorist who was never in love with her. It’s a brutal ending that shows just how selfish people truly are, and all to a character who has already one through enough in life and deserves more than the pitiful ounce of kindness he showed towards her.
John – ‘Materialists’ (Celine Song, 2025)
If you left the cinema after watching Materialists feeling flat and conflicted, then you are not alone. A fun but insightful rom-com about the stakes of modern dating, was the expectation most had when buying a ticket.
Lucy is a slave to capitalism and everything wrong with the modern world, viewing people as commodities, but somehow, this is the person John ends up with. Even after outright telling him that she is too good for him because he is poor. He is somehow happy to end up with her, all because he has ‘always loved her’. Sorry, John, but you can do so much better than this classist robot!
Gwen Stacy – ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ (Marc Webb, 2014)
Gwen Stacey’s death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is one of those earth-shattering movie scenes that completely destroyed me as a teenager. It is a movie death that I don’t think I will ever recover from. After losing his Uncle Ben in the first movie, the additional loss of Gwen just feels like an unnecessary and cruel kick in the teeth.
As well as this, Emma Stone was one of the best additions to the entire Spider-Man franchise, and her portrayal of Gwen was perfect. Stone and Garfield have an electric chemistry which brings more to this relationship than most superhero movies can afford. It makes Stacy’s death all the more difficult to bear as he suffers at the hands of Peter Parker’s poor decision-making.
Harry – ‘A Bigger Splash’ (Luca Guadagnino, 2015)
The filmography of Luca Guadagnino is entirely littered with controversial characters, but there was one who might have been the most effortlessly charismatic and watchable yet somehow ended up with the bloodiest end.
A Bigger Splash is one of my favourite films from the Italian director, with the central performance from Ralph Fiennes as Harry being one of the main factors in this rather bold statement. Harry oozes charisma in everything he does, existing as one of those larger-than-life and annoying but incredibly likeable characters who somehow dips his fingers into every pie on the block. But his antics are met with an incredibly sticky end after being murdered in a swimming pool, and something that was completely undeserved and quite sad to see.
Erika – ‘The Piano Teacher’ (Michael Haneke, 2001)
Erika has been routinely categorised as a psychotic freak, and there is some validity there. But, throughout the picture, there are several moments that point towards the reason why she might have a slightly odd view of sex and intimacy.
Erika must fulfil her darkest desires. In deciding that this is the only way forward, she also picks out Walter, the source of her abuse, as the only man to bring her to where she wants to be. The final shot is very sobering, showing that she may never realise these fantasies and will forever be trapped by her quest for a kind of intimacy that will finally free her.
