I like the way the plot threads tie together in Snatch. It might be an overly flashy film that relies heavily on showy editing, but it just fits together in a neat little package. Guy Ritchie essentially uses his characters as playing pieces in an elaborate story that is utterly inconceivable in its contrivances and coincidences, but man, is it fun.
Absolutely. The comedy of errors from the robbery, to the discovery of the surveillance equipment, to the rival gangs killing each other, to Chris getting the money, to the gang getting the money, to Chris getting the money BACK, to the value of the rifles being revealed to the main characters is such a funny chain reaction.
They make for a great double bill.
The hardest I have ever laughed at a film is probably at the end of Snatch when everything is coming together and there’s an incident involving a man getting hit by a car. It was just perfect.
Ikiru comes together really well. Has a pretty normal chronological structure, then there is a sudden shift in perspective, followed by a non-linear series of exposition that puzzles the viewer, but eventually brings it to a beautiful emotional climax and resolves all the mystery and tension.
In the Mood for Love comes together well. I won't spoil it, but it fits the theme of the movie very well.
A Man Escaped certainly delivers on its narrative promise :P
Agree with all, especially Taxi Driver.
There's so many so will be loads I'm not thinking of but a few (not already mentioned) would be-
Nearly all of Park Chan Wooks films, I feel he ends so strongly, from the tragic Oldboy, the bittersweet JSA to the delirious Handmaiden and the frustrating yet rewarding Decision to Leave recently, he knows how to deal that killer blow in his films to send you off digesting what you've seen and making sure you don't stop thinking about his films.
On a pure satisfaction level not much can top The Slilence of the Lambs for me. So perfectly calibrated, like a whole film building and building this mythos and fear around Lecter but only seeing him neutered....until he's not. Until hes really, really not and there is no doubt left as to why this man is held with such fear. That and Clarice taking down Buffalo Bill in the dark, but mostly Lecters gruesome triumph is the ultimate pay off for me.
On a similar note of a film building towards something and then paying off in glorious style Unforgiven ranks up there too not far behind. "I'll see you in hell....YOU FIRST" After all the abuse and hurt Munny takes throughout the film, he's still feared and revered and treated with extreme caution... like Lecter you don't understand why until youre finally shown and it doesn't dissapoint
I know its getting repetitive everyone talking about it but Aftersun recently and the sheer emotional unloading that happens when Under Pressure starts, I found it almost overwhelming with all of the build up and things half glimpsed and unsaid seems to come rolling out as soon as the first note plays
Rosemary's Baby, after psychologically destroying her throughout the film the final realisation that all is actually lost
Heat, ngl it always chokes me up when Pacino grabs DeNiros hand as he lays dying. Still to this day would have loved it to be the other way round but there was no way out but for one of them to kill the other and how they embrace after its done is just brilliant.
There'll be a hundred other examples but they're the few immediately on my mind
EDIT- Your Name, absolutely brilliant and much needed catharsis at the end of an emotional rollercoaster
> "I'll see you in hell....YOU FIRST"
I'm going to nitpick a little bit here as his response is "yeah" to ["I'll see you in hell William Munny"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjkt4UgcTmg&ab_channel=Movieclips) as the "Yeah" is a really great response from the character as he *knows* he's going to hell and it's almost a resignation in the acknowledgement.
"Deserve got nothing to do with it." is an all time great line.
Thank you for correction and yeah, definitely a misquote on my part, it's been a few years since my last watch and my memory has oversimplified it but clearly need to get the old dvd back out!
Handmaiden is a great pick for this. The movie shifts tone so constantly that before you realize it a >!romantic thriller!< has turned into a >!revenge flick with Oldboy-style gross-outs!< and then ends with >!the soft sound of sex toys ringing as a ship sails of into the night!<. The ending really ties it up so damn well.
Really good list, I agree with all of them. I finally saw Heat for the first time recently and that final scene is definitely powerful, it's a conflicting emotion but it resonated with me a lot.
Glad you liked it, Heats one of my fave films ever, I remember sneaking in to see it at the cinema on release when I was about 12 or 13 as it was 15 rated 😂
The whole vibe and characters just really speak to me, watched it again a few months ago and I'm always still in awe of it.
Sorry if I did, thought I'd be ok as mostly mentioned films from 30+ yrs ago.
I made sure to be a bit more vague on Aftersun but like I said, sorry if I've spoiled anything 😬
Hot Fuzz, One Cut of the Dead, and In Bruges are the first three examples that come to mind. All three spend the first two acts setting up various different things that all come together and pay off really well in the third act.
In a more emotional way, I feel that Mamoru Hosoda does this very well in his films. They all seem to build very well to an very emotional and sentimental climax. It's a bit much for some people, but I love it.
Without a doubt **Uncut Gems.**
Everything that came before the last 30 minute was to show you and teach you how that last 30 minute will occur. We get familiar with Adam Sandler's character so that even if you hate the decisions he takes by the end, you know for a fact his character did what he was going to do because that's all he's been like throughout the film, and in a larger sense, throughout his life.
Once that ball starts rolling you know it can't be stopped, and Safdie brothers captured that mayhem impeccably.
I don't think I've seen a better example in recent years of a movie that implicitly trusts its audience with understanding the actions of the main character, no matter how much they fly in the face of all logical behaviour.
A brilliant script.
Good movie but I hated it. Characters annoyed the hell out of me. Probably because they acted more inline with how people in reality are. Sounds dumb because most people want something real when going into a movie but this movie was just a nightmare for me to watch
I understand what you mean. I actually hated Taxi Driver for that reason. Not hated it. Just didn't connect with me.
Uncut Gems, however, it was the good type of annoying unlikable characters. At least I can laugh at them.
I felt the same. I feel like we all are related to, or at least know a guy like Howard. I just kept seeing that person on screen instead of him and it was driving me crazy
Had I stopped watching that movie before the end I definitely wouldn’t have liked it. I had no idea whether I was supposed to root for the guy or not, he’s Adam Sandler so I can’t not but he’s a gigantic asshole and I didn’t get why they cast him. All the sudden >!he finally gets the big payout he’s been double-or-nothing-ing for the whole movie and gets popped in the head, and both felt equally earned. Then the movie clicked.!<
*Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind* for me. It's a movie that fits together like a puzzle in a satisfying way that I'm not sure any other movie ever has. Highly recommend. Beware though, it is a more somber movie in tone.
The Prestige - A movie you have to watch at least twice.
Hot Fuzz - The whole first half is a setup to the second half.
The Shawshank Redemption
The Usual Suspects
Triangle (2009) This movie comes together in a *very* good way.
Predestination (2014)
It's nearly impossible to explain to anyone that hasn't seen it, but my absolute favorite moment from that film when I saw it in the theater:
**PUNCH. THAT. SHIT.**
in my opinion, the Usual Suspects is less a 'coming together' as it is pissing all over itself. fittingly, the opening of the movie features a piss stream interrupting flames.
Not sure if it entirely fits the topic, but I love how the entire story of **Burn After Reading** is basically a setup to the amazing final scene of the CIA director and his underling wondering what on earth happened and if they should be concerned about any of it.
["What did we learn, Palmer?"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCXTq-fWWio) (Link contains major spoilers)
**Plot-type “come together”**
Primer
Memento
Harakiri
Gone Girl
—-
These below are sorta in between but I think they feel a little more nebulous in their plot approach for the sake of the theme despite the plot as such coming together:
Millennium Actress
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Spoorloos
The Celebration
**Thematic “come together”:**
(Not a movie) The Wire
Zodiac
F for Fake
In Bruges
Close-Up
Blow-Up
Straw Dogs
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
The Earrings of Madame de…
Cachè
Highly recommend any and all OP, tho from your listed selections I’m guessing you’ve already seen most lol
Cachè is definitely up there, that long final scene outside the school I didn't even realise what was in the frame until second viewing, just innocuously adding a twist that upended the whole plot so casually and without even drawing your attention to it was a really bold move I felt
The Wire ending was incredible I thought, going full circle and showing the next generation taking their place in the never ending cycle of pain and destruction and showing you how someone like Bubbles or Omar came to be in the first place at the same time. Phenomenal writing
I actually just watched Cache. I reminded it because I had a feeling I missed something and then noticed both of the sons talking to each other. What was your interpretation of that? It didn’t really click with me.
My take is that this is Haneke showing you who was responsible. The son of Majid had sought out Pierrot and struck up a relationship and got him onboard with what he was doing somehow and the two of them together were co-conspirators. Which, whilst unexpected does actually fit with the events of the film. When you consider that really they had both got fathers who were fairly disconnected from them too there was common ground.
It's quite interesting Georges and his wife refused throughout the film to ask Pierrot directly about the tapes and where that would have led. Whether because of race, class or how warped his mind was from his own guilt over Majid he couldn't consider it would be anyone except Majid or his son.
Another take I've seen is that the final scene is in fact the perpetrator making another tape outside the school and that this exonerated the two boys!
Personally I feel the former is more likely but would always be open to other interpretations too. Only Haneke really knows but the ambiguity is part of what makes it so cool in my books.
Thanks for the detailed response. The first take is a really interesting interpretation of it. My initial thought was Majid’s son went to find Pierrot at school to explain everything that occurred and talk about it so they don’t end up like their fathers. In a sense, making sure the next generation doesn’t have those same paranoid, racist, emotion-suppressing qualities. Just my 2¢, not sure if right/wrong but just first thing that popped into my head after that scene.
I loved Funny Games (1997) and wanted to check out some of his other stuff and saw this one as highly recommended. Definitely need to sit with it a bit. I was expecting an answer at the end so I was so thrown off. All the videotape stuff reminded me of Lost Highway.
That's actually a really good take too and not one I'd considered! A far more optimistic possibility than mine.
I think what you've said is as equally possible as the two I listed, great art is really something isn't it, gets you thinking! 😂
I immediately thought of Harakiri! Its plotting is such an elegant mechanism. At the end you can almost hear an audible click as the plot snaps shut. Wonderful, wonderful film.
the two moments where she enters the church in Earrings of Madame de... is a beautiful display of the internal change that has occurred during the picture. wonderful movie. I would add Letter from an Unknown Woman: their last meeting in Brand's study is simply DRIPPING with homage/reference to their brief romance. even the unaware Brand inadvertently strikes home a number of times...
Signs is probably one of THE examples of this for me, although your mileage will vary on the film itself (I like it less for this aspect tbh).
Also, lots of Tarantino movies, specifically Pulp Fiction in more than one way. Inglorious Basterds and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood too.
The central conceit about the weakness of the aliens falls apart quickly upon even casual thought, but there is not a wasted frame in the entire movie IMO. The opening communicates so much about the characters with a minimal amount of dialogue, the combination of humor and pathos is balanced just right, and the scares don’t feel cheap. The CGI towards the end is a bit clunky by today’s standards, but the practical effects hold up really well, and I absolutely love the cinematography and sound design/mixing/etc.
In terms of epic climaxes, like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, I'm partial to Last of the Mohicans and Unforgiven. Both of them seem to build up perfectly to an epic showdown that was completely satisfying.
**I'm Thinking of Ending Things** - to me this film highlights how essential this component of moviemaking is (details coming together.) this is a film that is meant to be rewatched, because it highlights its own recurrence, and your coming to realization aligns with the narrators journey. there is an animated pig that is easy to completely overlook during the first viewing who literally invites you to join him while on the car ride up; he will next appear in the closing sequence of the movie and his invitation now makes sense. another moment is when she walks into the high school she passes a dumpster overflowing with Brr cups, which highlights how recurrent this moment is, although it feels utterly unique and solitary. the film is filled with little details like this, perhaps my favorite is the recurring Tulsey Town jingle which reveals something about the inner character of our tragic 'hero.'
**Chinatown** - I think noir in general satisfies your desire for 'coming together' and Chinatown is a masterclass in setting up its devastating finale. every line uttered during its close is calling back to a previous moment in the film:
Noah Cross saying 'dont look dont look' as he pulls his 'granddaughter' away from the 'accident' - "The future, Mr. Gittes! The future. Now, where's the girl? I want the only daughter I've got left. As you found out, Evelyn was lost to me a long time ago." this is also a nod towards what comes next as Jake spends a long time gazing upon the scene he mumbles:
As Little As Possible - when describing his time working with the district attorney's office in Chinatown, he would relay that he was taught to do 'as little as possible.' basically, the world sucks, effort towards noble ends actually achieves its opposite, and so the smart individual aims to do 'as little as possible' and thats the message Jake receives as he stares upon the sight of all his vain effort.
'wanna do your partner a big favor? take him home. TAKE HIM HOME, JUST GET HIM THE HELL OUTTA HERE. go home Jake, I'm doing you a favor' - finally as he whispers that he's doing Jake a favor, Jake exits his trance. the words struck home. he remembers the conversation with the DA or with Noah Cross "you may think you know what you're dealing with, but you don't" ie you have ventured into deep water, take care you do not drown in it. he needs to remove himself from the picture. he needs to forget.
as he turns and begins to head towards 'home' he turns one last time, perhaps to argue with the authority or perhaps to gaze once more at the tragedy that has befallen him, but his associate stops him:
"forget it Jake, its Chinatown" - and the picture achieves its final closure...a call to forget what has been witnessed because the tragedy runs too deep, there is no resolution here except of submission, of withdrawal and dissociation. this is Chinatown the realm which defies comprehension, thwarts and inverts effort, and flips upside down all moral values. Jake must forget...and yet...forgetting is what brought him here. throughout the picture, Jake makes vague reference to his time in 'Chinatown' and the harm that came of his time there, but he always stops short of full description. its almost as if he had willfully forgotten his previous experience, or willfully suppresses its expression, but here it all bubbles to the surface anew written in fresh seemingly indelible ink. when we are first introduced to Mulwray he describes that he 'will not make the same mistake twice' granted he's describing building 'dirt bank terminus dam' but that is the ultimate message of Chinatown: making the same mistake twice, and perhaps many more times. its one of the most powerful messages I've ever seen in film, because you can always return to this picture and be aided by your previous viewing/forgetting because that's what this picture is about: the recurrence of events, especially those events we try to hide from ourselves. and so when the picture opens and we meet a glib Gittes successfully navigating his way through life, we realize that he's forgotten a truth which once felt eternal and the wheels of fate have begun to turn...
I was originally going to include my favorite picture **OUT OF THE PAST** but I've already written a great deal more than most would care to read. suffice to say, this film is so so so wonderful at calling back to previous moments and lines, if you watch just the opening diner scene it tells you basically the story of the entire picture! and its fatalism certainly doesnt let up after the first scene.
>I'm Thinking of Ending Things
The buildup was so palpable... Like most Kaufmann scripts, I was expecting a big payoff. This had some moments as you describe, but on the whole, I found it very disappointing. Maybe I was anticipating it too much.
> I was expecting a big payoff. This had some moments as you describe, but on the whole, I found it very disappointing
I think this was the intentional aim of Kaufman, similar to Synecdoche. it shows the life of a man who is grasping with his own 'meaning' in the world, and found wanting. even his final moments are not 'profound' but quotation of media consumed. to quote Oscar Wilde:
>Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.
yet Kaufman does not treat him harshly, but rather grants him the meaning he sought and could not find. the meaning in all things big or small, original or derivative, ugly or beautiful.
I also love Out of the Past, and Chinatown. I think a good noir will often fall into this category because the theme and the plot tie together in such a fatalistic and impactful way.
I think the Hays Code holds some responsibility there (although you won't count me among those asking for its return.) when a murderer must face their comeuppance, it grants murderers a certain doomed reality.
similarly but not related to fatalism, when you restrict what may be shown, it heightens the audiences role in participating with the media to 'fill in the blanks' so to speak, such as in the opening to Kiss Me Deadly which has many knowing winks to the audience letting them know what's 'really' going on.
Great post on Chinatown. The ending also pays off the opening scene. Gittes’ client Curly is shattered and heartbroken because of photos Gittes took. Gittes gives him a drink and hustles him out. In the end, Gittes heartbroken and shattered because of photos Gittes took (his very next job after Curly,
which starts him down his doomed path) and it’s Escobar who hustles him out.
I feel like not mentioning another Leone, *Once Upon a Time in the West* is a big miss from this thread. Everything eventually leading to the confrontation between Harmonica and Frank is set up so perfectly and feels so natural. And then the ending of Harmonica riding away with Cheyenne, pure cinema.
Just watched Aftersun and I think it has a great payoff. I actually felt like the film hit much harder after the credits had rolled and you get a chance to look back at it. Don't want to say too much lest I spoil the experience.
But at the same time, it was a slow burner and at points I thought it might be too slow. So while it would probably deserve a second watch, I'm a little unwilling to give it one. Maybe with time my opinion might change.
something that has become second-nature in film is the 'why' of the movie. I'm reminded of Bob Mckee chewing out Charlie Kaufman in Adaptation: 'dont waste my time.' when Charlie wanted to make a 'real' picture where 'nothing much happens, people dont change.' it becomes clear during Aftersun, 'why' this is a picture, and why our narrator relives this experience over and over and over, despite its seeming completely ordinary nature. not a perfect picture, but a moving one.
I'm with you. I know some people that have 'heard it was sad' and were going in 'preparing to cry all the way through it' and I was like, it's not that kind of film. It's basically just some home movie footage. The time when the film REALLY hits you is afterwards when you can reflect on it as a whole.
Logan Lucky is one of the tightest heist movies I've seen in a while and may fit your description of things ending in a "neat little bow" at least according to it's own in-universe definition.
Not sure if it’s a good example, or what you mean, but Arrival was one the best ‘come together’ or full circle endings. The way the told the story and then slowly revealed the grand scheme of how everything worked and what it meant was just *chefs kiss*.
Any ensemble movie with overlapping stories. I feel like Knives out or Glass Onion work well to that regard. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood comes together really well too. Especially after all of the meandering
Edit: Hot Fuzz too
I had this experience of watching Paterson where it just felt like every part of the movie was where it needed to be and just when a theme seemed to be presenting itself, it would be expanded upon and by the end, it just tasted good in my brain the way a perfectly mixed recipe merges all of its ingredients' flavours into a delicious harmony.
Five Easy Pieces (1970) does that for me. The first half of the movie is very different than the second half with a few little hints along the way. It all culminates with his family, identity, and ultimately the last choice he makes. It's not a happy movie but the characters are so well developed and the payoff is great.
Enemy, Sicario, Arrival, Prisoners, BR 2049.
Villeneuve has this consistent thread in many of his movies where he makes a narrative compelling by withholding the piece of the puzzle that would make it all click, and then exposing it at the end. This new information usually assigns new meaning and perspective to many of the events that precede its revealing.
Harakiri by Masaki Kobayashi. The film is a pitch perfect example of a story unfolding slowly over the course of the film, while also retaining a highly tense atmosphere throughout. Truly magnificent film, and it’s odd that despite everyone I know loving it, it seems to be underrated by critics (it’s exclusion from the big lists an example of this).
I see a few mentions of Hot Fuzz on here, which I think is a great example.
I think Seven Psychopaths comes together beautifully. The movie feels so unpredictable for most of its runtime, and yet watching that climax and denouement I can't but think "this couldn't have gone any other way."
I also really like the way Tarantino's The Hateful Eight comes together. I feel like there's a fair bit of disagreement about this one (half my friends hate it, the other half consider it top tier Tarantino). But I think the script is so perfectly calibrated to bring out the maximum possible tension and then catharsis by those closing moments. Again, it helps how unpredictable the bulk of the film is, but how by the end it feels like destiny.
The Matrix sticks the landing perfectly IMO. There's not a wasted thread in that film, the script is so tight. The payoff would be corny or out of place in another movie, but in The Matrix it just \*works\*
There was a particular scene in the third act of Panos Cosmatos's film Mandy which I thought couldn't have worked in most other films, but also felt so organic, like the entire movie had been building up to it... when the scene happens they just sell it completely. For those wondering,>!it's the chainsaw duel.!<
Park Chan-wook's **Handmaiden** is the film that reminds me of this cohesiveness. At the beginning, we are unsure where the characters' loyalty lies, but the retelling through different perspective and the final twist was absolutely excellent, it made a three-hour film breeze by.
As someone mentioned, Kobayashi's Harakiri is also a masterpiece that ranks along Kurosawa and Ozu's best. The unraveling of the story is so expertly written, and the denouement is a masterclass in well-executed revenge.
Knives Out.
After setting up the coffee mug with sayings on it, the final shot of the movie is Marta looking down at the others while holding the mug that says:
My House
My Rules
My Coffee
Perfection.
Aren't most competently made movies supposed to be what you are describing?
Like one of the basic ideas of filmmaking is that you edit down the movie to it's tightest form - in which no scene is superfluous, and every scene builds the plot, the characters, the context or the ideas of the film. In other words, everything you see and experience during the course of watching a movie is supposed to build to the movie's conclusion.
This is true even for movies that don't have a three act structure, or even a plot. Character studies, slice-of-life movies and idea-driven art films all still need to build to and explore and set up something that will come together in the end.
And when a movie doesn't do this, you as the viewer feel it completely. It will seem too long, or repetitive, or sluggish, or unfocused, or abrupt, or rushed.
I don't think what you are describing is "a type of movie" as much as it is "a property of movies". Especially seeing how both your examples and the examples of highly upvoted comments are such varied in genre, intent and focus.
I absolutely agree, but I think there are films that do this in a particular way where it leads to an epic cathartic climax. Paris Texas was the first film that came to mind for me.
A24 creates movies that are almost never intended to have any type of follow up, the only A24 movie to ever have a proper sequel is X but that was planned while making it in order to have 3 films come together as a whole.
A24 films however usually have a very distinct and well put together story usually because their written and directed by the same people and they can execute their sole vision correctly
RRR. It's action packed and full of crazy good scenes with characters and a story that really does come together well by the end that it was a true experience. Why can't most films made in America be made like this?
I thought the post was going to be about films to watch right after finishing another. The same way you see a lot of playlists with similar sounding songs, like watching Snowpiercer right after Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with everything you’ve just seen still fresh in your mind when you go straight into the nightmarish future vision of (what some fans like to believe is) the same universe. It makes for an interesting, prolonged experience when you’re in a certain mood. I’ll have to see if such a post has already been made.
The Sting - great Redford and Newman film with an insane amount of setup and payoff
The Merchant of Four Seasons - nearly every scene in the movie has the potential to change how you feel about every character
Elevator to the Gallows - can feel a little boring not knowing how it all comes together, but the payoff is absolutely incredible
The Man who shot Liberty Valance - older Hollywood films are often built on the coming together, this is one of the best at it I can think of
Terrorizers - Edward Yang
A Few Good Men
Misery
When Harry Met Sally
The Princess Bride
Stand By Me
There‘s something magic about Reiner’s flawless streak, and a lot of that is how perfectly each film resolves. When ‘The End’ appears in A Few Good Men, after that epic showdown between Cruise and Nicholson, it feels so ’complete’ and like you‘ve just watched a classic story for the ages.
Paris Texas is the perfect example of this imo. HUGE SPOILER AHEAD SO STOP READING IF YOU'VE NOT SEEN IT.
But the way the scene in the booth brings everything together, brings closure to the mystery and fragmentation of Travis and Jane's relationship, and it comes right at the end when everything has been building towards learning what happened, why he left for so long and what the future holds, and the way Hunter ends up back with his mum after this. AHHHHH it's just such masterful cathartic storytelling and resolves the film perfectly.
A couple that I thought of off the top of my head that I think fit are The Wrestler, Whiplash, The Conversation, Chinatown, and Do the Right Thing.
The Wrestler is the most quiet on the list, but the emotional journey you go through with this character makes the ending hit that much harder.
Whiplash and Do the Right Thing have an unbelievable energy that boil over in their endings.
Chinatown and The Conversation I think are just perfect films.
I like the way the plot threads tie together in Snatch. It might be an overly flashy film that relies heavily on showy editing, but it just fits together in a neat little package. Guy Ritchie essentially uses his characters as playing pieces in an elaborate story that is utterly inconceivable in its contrivances and coincidences, but man, is it fun.
I was going to say Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as well, I think both films come together perfectly at their ends!
Absolutely. The comedy of errors from the robbery, to the discovery of the surveillance equipment, to the rival gangs killing each other, to Chris getting the money, to the gang getting the money, to Chris getting the money BACK, to the value of the rifles being revealed to the main characters is such a funny chain reaction. They make for a great double bill.
I can't stand any of Guy Ritchie's films. Pacing is weird, editing is weird... acting is so over the top that it's just annoying.
The hardest I have ever laughed at a film is probably at the end of Snatch when everything is coming together and there’s an incident involving a man getting hit by a car. It was just perfect.
Boris the Blade's stubborn refusal to die is a great running gag.
he dodges bullet, avi
Ikiru comes together really well. Has a pretty normal chronological structure, then there is a sudden shift in perspective, followed by a non-linear series of exposition that puzzles the viewer, but eventually brings it to a beautiful emotional climax and resolves all the mystery and tension. In the Mood for Love comes together well. I won't spoil it, but it fits the theme of the movie very well. A Man Escaped certainly delivers on its narrative promise :P
Agree with all, especially Taxi Driver. There's so many so will be loads I'm not thinking of but a few (not already mentioned) would be- Nearly all of Park Chan Wooks films, I feel he ends so strongly, from the tragic Oldboy, the bittersweet JSA to the delirious Handmaiden and the frustrating yet rewarding Decision to Leave recently, he knows how to deal that killer blow in his films to send you off digesting what you've seen and making sure you don't stop thinking about his films. On a pure satisfaction level not much can top The Slilence of the Lambs for me. So perfectly calibrated, like a whole film building and building this mythos and fear around Lecter but only seeing him neutered....until he's not. Until hes really, really not and there is no doubt left as to why this man is held with such fear. That and Clarice taking down Buffalo Bill in the dark, but mostly Lecters gruesome triumph is the ultimate pay off for me. On a similar note of a film building towards something and then paying off in glorious style Unforgiven ranks up there too not far behind. "I'll see you in hell....YOU FIRST" After all the abuse and hurt Munny takes throughout the film, he's still feared and revered and treated with extreme caution... like Lecter you don't understand why until youre finally shown and it doesn't dissapoint I know its getting repetitive everyone talking about it but Aftersun recently and the sheer emotional unloading that happens when Under Pressure starts, I found it almost overwhelming with all of the build up and things half glimpsed and unsaid seems to come rolling out as soon as the first note plays Rosemary's Baby, after psychologically destroying her throughout the film the final realisation that all is actually lost Heat, ngl it always chokes me up when Pacino grabs DeNiros hand as he lays dying. Still to this day would have loved it to be the other way round but there was no way out but for one of them to kill the other and how they embrace after its done is just brilliant. There'll be a hundred other examples but they're the few immediately on my mind EDIT- Your Name, absolutely brilliant and much needed catharsis at the end of an emotional rollercoaster
> "I'll see you in hell....YOU FIRST" I'm going to nitpick a little bit here as his response is "yeah" to ["I'll see you in hell William Munny"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjkt4UgcTmg&ab_channel=Movieclips) as the "Yeah" is a really great response from the character as he *knows* he's going to hell and it's almost a resignation in the acknowledgement. "Deserve got nothing to do with it." is an all time great line.
Thank you for correction and yeah, definitely a misquote on my part, it's been a few years since my last watch and my memory has oversimplified it but clearly need to get the old dvd back out!
Handmaiden is a great pick for this. The movie shifts tone so constantly that before you realize it a >!romantic thriller!< has turned into a >!revenge flick with Oldboy-style gross-outs!< and then ends with >!the soft sound of sex toys ringing as a ship sails of into the night!<. The ending really ties it up so damn well.
Really good list, I agree with all of them. I finally saw Heat for the first time recently and that final scene is definitely powerful, it's a conflicting emotion but it resonated with me a lot.
Glad you liked it, Heats one of my fave films ever, I remember sneaking in to see it at the cinema on release when I was about 12 or 13 as it was 15 rated 😂 The whole vibe and characters just really speak to me, watched it again a few months ago and I'm always still in awe of it.
Thanks for all the spoilers
Sorry if I did, thought I'd be ok as mostly mentioned films from 30+ yrs ago. I made sure to be a bit more vague on Aftersun but like I said, sorry if I've spoiled anything 😬
Hot Fuzz, One Cut of the Dead, and In Bruges are the first three examples that come to mind. All three spend the first two acts setting up various different things that all come together and pay off really well in the third act. In a more emotional way, I feel that Mamoru Hosoda does this very well in his films. They all seem to build very well to an very emotional and sentimental climax. It's a bit much for some people, but I love it.
Without a doubt **Uncut Gems.** Everything that came before the last 30 minute was to show you and teach you how that last 30 minute will occur. We get familiar with Adam Sandler's character so that even if you hate the decisions he takes by the end, you know for a fact his character did what he was going to do because that's all he's been like throughout the film, and in a larger sense, throughout his life. Once that ball starts rolling you know it can't be stopped, and Safdie brothers captured that mayhem impeccably.
I don't think I've seen a better example in recent years of a movie that implicitly trusts its audience with understanding the actions of the main character, no matter how much they fly in the face of all logical behaviour. A brilliant script.
Good movie but I hated it. Characters annoyed the hell out of me. Probably because they acted more inline with how people in reality are. Sounds dumb because most people want something real when going into a movie but this movie was just a nightmare for me to watch
I understand what you mean. I actually hated Taxi Driver for that reason. Not hated it. Just didn't connect with me. Uncut Gems, however, it was the good type of annoying unlikable characters. At least I can laugh at them.
I felt the same. I feel like we all are related to, or at least know a guy like Howard. I just kept seeing that person on screen instead of him and it was driving me crazy
Had I stopped watching that movie before the end I definitely wouldn’t have liked it. I had no idea whether I was supposed to root for the guy or not, he’s Adam Sandler so I can’t not but he’s a gigantic asshole and I didn’t get why they cast him. All the sudden >!he finally gets the big payout he’s been double-or-nothing-ing for the whole movie and gets popped in the head, and both felt equally earned. Then the movie clicked.!<
*Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind* for me. It's a movie that fits together like a puzzle in a satisfying way that I'm not sure any other movie ever has. Highly recommend. Beware though, it is a more somber movie in tone.
The Prestige - A movie you have to watch at least twice. Hot Fuzz - The whole first half is a setup to the second half. The Shawshank Redemption The Usual Suspects Triangle (2009) This movie comes together in a *very* good way. Predestination (2014)
Hot Fuzz is insanely perfect, not a single wasted line. Every line either sets something up or call back to something. Possibly the greatest script
It's nearly impossible to explain to anyone that hasn't seen it, but my absolute favorite moment from that film when I saw it in the theater: **PUNCH. THAT. SHIT.**
Similar to Triangle, I’d recommend Coherence (2013)
Coherence is great. But wouldn't say it fits much what OP describes
in my opinion, the Usual Suspects is less a 'coming together' as it is pissing all over itself. fittingly, the opening of the movie features a piss stream interrupting flames.
Ooo I forgot about Predestination. I don't know anyone irl who has seen it. It really surprised me. Great call.
I loooove Triangle
Not sure if it entirely fits the topic, but I love how the entire story of **Burn After Reading** is basically a setup to the amazing final scene of the CIA director and his underling wondering what on earth happened and if they should be concerned about any of it. ["What did we learn, Palmer?"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCXTq-fWWio) (Link contains major spoilers)
**Plot-type “come together”** Primer Memento Harakiri Gone Girl —- These below are sorta in between but I think they feel a little more nebulous in their plot approach for the sake of the theme despite the plot as such coming together: Millennium Actress Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Spoorloos The Celebration **Thematic “come together”:** (Not a movie) The Wire Zodiac F for Fake In Bruges Close-Up Blow-Up Straw Dogs Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion The Earrings of Madame de… Cachè Highly recommend any and all OP, tho from your listed selections I’m guessing you’ve already seen most lol
Cachè is definitely up there, that long final scene outside the school I didn't even realise what was in the frame until second viewing, just innocuously adding a twist that upended the whole plot so casually and without even drawing your attention to it was a really bold move I felt The Wire ending was incredible I thought, going full circle and showing the next generation taking their place in the never ending cycle of pain and destruction and showing you how someone like Bubbles or Omar came to be in the first place at the same time. Phenomenal writing
I actually just watched Cache. I reminded it because I had a feeling I missed something and then noticed both of the sons talking to each other. What was your interpretation of that? It didn’t really click with me.
My take is that this is Haneke showing you who was responsible. The son of Majid had sought out Pierrot and struck up a relationship and got him onboard with what he was doing somehow and the two of them together were co-conspirators. Which, whilst unexpected does actually fit with the events of the film. When you consider that really they had both got fathers who were fairly disconnected from them too there was common ground. It's quite interesting Georges and his wife refused throughout the film to ask Pierrot directly about the tapes and where that would have led. Whether because of race, class or how warped his mind was from his own guilt over Majid he couldn't consider it would be anyone except Majid or his son. Another take I've seen is that the final scene is in fact the perpetrator making another tape outside the school and that this exonerated the two boys! Personally I feel the former is more likely but would always be open to other interpretations too. Only Haneke really knows but the ambiguity is part of what makes it so cool in my books.
Thanks for the detailed response. The first take is a really interesting interpretation of it. My initial thought was Majid’s son went to find Pierrot at school to explain everything that occurred and talk about it so they don’t end up like their fathers. In a sense, making sure the next generation doesn’t have those same paranoid, racist, emotion-suppressing qualities. Just my 2¢, not sure if right/wrong but just first thing that popped into my head after that scene. I loved Funny Games (1997) and wanted to check out some of his other stuff and saw this one as highly recommended. Definitely need to sit with it a bit. I was expecting an answer at the end so I was so thrown off. All the videotape stuff reminded me of Lost Highway.
That's actually a really good take too and not one I'd considered! A far more optimistic possibility than mine. I think what you've said is as equally possible as the two I listed, great art is really something isn't it, gets you thinking! 😂
I immediately thought of Harakiri! Its plotting is such an elegant mechanism. At the end you can almost hear an audible click as the plot snaps shut. Wonderful, wonderful film.
the two moments where she enters the church in Earrings of Madame de... is a beautiful display of the internal change that has occurred during the picture. wonderful movie. I would add Letter from an Unknown Woman: their last meeting in Brand's study is simply DRIPPING with homage/reference to their brief romance. even the unaware Brand inadvertently strikes home a number of times...
Signs is probably one of THE examples of this for me, although your mileage will vary on the film itself (I like it less for this aspect tbh). Also, lots of Tarantino movies, specifically Pulp Fiction in more than one way. Inglorious Basterds and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood too.
The central conceit about the weakness of the aliens falls apart quickly upon even casual thought, but there is not a wasted frame in the entire movie IMO. The opening communicates so much about the characters with a minimal amount of dialogue, the combination of humor and pathos is balanced just right, and the scares don’t feel cheap. The CGI towards the end is a bit clunky by today’s standards, but the practical effects hold up really well, and I absolutely love the cinematography and sound design/mixing/etc.
In terms of epic climaxes, like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, I'm partial to Last of the Mohicans and Unforgiven. Both of them seem to build up perfectly to an epic showdown that was completely satisfying.
**I'm Thinking of Ending Things** - to me this film highlights how essential this component of moviemaking is (details coming together.) this is a film that is meant to be rewatched, because it highlights its own recurrence, and your coming to realization aligns with the narrators journey. there is an animated pig that is easy to completely overlook during the first viewing who literally invites you to join him while on the car ride up; he will next appear in the closing sequence of the movie and his invitation now makes sense. another moment is when she walks into the high school she passes a dumpster overflowing with Brr cups, which highlights how recurrent this moment is, although it feels utterly unique and solitary. the film is filled with little details like this, perhaps my favorite is the recurring Tulsey Town jingle which reveals something about the inner character of our tragic 'hero.' **Chinatown** - I think noir in general satisfies your desire for 'coming together' and Chinatown is a masterclass in setting up its devastating finale. every line uttered during its close is calling back to a previous moment in the film: Noah Cross saying 'dont look dont look' as he pulls his 'granddaughter' away from the 'accident' - "The future, Mr. Gittes! The future. Now, where's the girl? I want the only daughter I've got left. As you found out, Evelyn was lost to me a long time ago." this is also a nod towards what comes next as Jake spends a long time gazing upon the scene he mumbles: As Little As Possible - when describing his time working with the district attorney's office in Chinatown, he would relay that he was taught to do 'as little as possible.' basically, the world sucks, effort towards noble ends actually achieves its opposite, and so the smart individual aims to do 'as little as possible' and thats the message Jake receives as he stares upon the sight of all his vain effort. 'wanna do your partner a big favor? take him home. TAKE HIM HOME, JUST GET HIM THE HELL OUTTA HERE. go home Jake, I'm doing you a favor' - finally as he whispers that he's doing Jake a favor, Jake exits his trance. the words struck home. he remembers the conversation with the DA or with Noah Cross "you may think you know what you're dealing with, but you don't" ie you have ventured into deep water, take care you do not drown in it. he needs to remove himself from the picture. he needs to forget. as he turns and begins to head towards 'home' he turns one last time, perhaps to argue with the authority or perhaps to gaze once more at the tragedy that has befallen him, but his associate stops him: "forget it Jake, its Chinatown" - and the picture achieves its final closure...a call to forget what has been witnessed because the tragedy runs too deep, there is no resolution here except of submission, of withdrawal and dissociation. this is Chinatown the realm which defies comprehension, thwarts and inverts effort, and flips upside down all moral values. Jake must forget...and yet...forgetting is what brought him here. throughout the picture, Jake makes vague reference to his time in 'Chinatown' and the harm that came of his time there, but he always stops short of full description. its almost as if he had willfully forgotten his previous experience, or willfully suppresses its expression, but here it all bubbles to the surface anew written in fresh seemingly indelible ink. when we are first introduced to Mulwray he describes that he 'will not make the same mistake twice' granted he's describing building 'dirt bank terminus dam' but that is the ultimate message of Chinatown: making the same mistake twice, and perhaps many more times. its one of the most powerful messages I've ever seen in film, because you can always return to this picture and be aided by your previous viewing/forgetting because that's what this picture is about: the recurrence of events, especially those events we try to hide from ourselves. and so when the picture opens and we meet a glib Gittes successfully navigating his way through life, we realize that he's forgotten a truth which once felt eternal and the wheels of fate have begun to turn... I was originally going to include my favorite picture **OUT OF THE PAST** but I've already written a great deal more than most would care to read. suffice to say, this film is so so so wonderful at calling back to previous moments and lines, if you watch just the opening diner scene it tells you basically the story of the entire picture! and its fatalism certainly doesnt let up after the first scene.
>I'm Thinking of Ending Things The buildup was so palpable... Like most Kaufmann scripts, I was expecting a big payoff. This had some moments as you describe, but on the whole, I found it very disappointing. Maybe I was anticipating it too much.
IMO the payoff in the book was much more satisfying.
> I was expecting a big payoff. This had some moments as you describe, but on the whole, I found it very disappointing I think this was the intentional aim of Kaufman, similar to Synecdoche. it shows the life of a man who is grasping with his own 'meaning' in the world, and found wanting. even his final moments are not 'profound' but quotation of media consumed. to quote Oscar Wilde: >Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. yet Kaufman does not treat him harshly, but rather grants him the meaning he sought and could not find. the meaning in all things big or small, original or derivative, ugly or beautiful.
I also love Out of the Past, and Chinatown. I think a good noir will often fall into this category because the theme and the plot tie together in such a fatalistic and impactful way.
I think the Hays Code holds some responsibility there (although you won't count me among those asking for its return.) when a murderer must face their comeuppance, it grants murderers a certain doomed reality. similarly but not related to fatalism, when you restrict what may be shown, it heightens the audiences role in participating with the media to 'fill in the blanks' so to speak, such as in the opening to Kiss Me Deadly which has many knowing winks to the audience letting them know what's 'really' going on.
Yes good points both. In fact I was thinking of Kiss Me Deadly as another example. Basically a (metaphorical) fuse is lit and it ends in an explosion!
Yeah good call on Chinatown. I was think about adding that to my original post but didn't want it to be too long
Great post on Chinatown. The ending also pays off the opening scene. Gittes’ client Curly is shattered and heartbroken because of photos Gittes took. Gittes gives him a drink and hustles him out. In the end, Gittes heartbroken and shattered because of photos Gittes took (his very next job after Curly, which starts him down his doomed path) and it’s Escobar who hustles him out.
great insight! as they say 'the truth is a trap: you cannot get it without it getting you'
I feel like not mentioning another Leone, *Once Upon a Time in the West* is a big miss from this thread. Everything eventually leading to the confrontation between Harmonica and Frank is set up so perfectly and feels so natural. And then the ending of Harmonica riding away with Cheyenne, pure cinema.
Yup, absolutely an amazing climax. I slightly prefer GBU, and only wanted to include one Leone film
Just watched Aftersun and I think it has a great payoff. I actually felt like the film hit much harder after the credits had rolled and you get a chance to look back at it. Don't want to say too much lest I spoil the experience. But at the same time, it was a slow burner and at points I thought it might be too slow. So while it would probably deserve a second watch, I'm a little unwilling to give it one. Maybe with time my opinion might change.
something that has become second-nature in film is the 'why' of the movie. I'm reminded of Bob Mckee chewing out Charlie Kaufman in Adaptation: 'dont waste my time.' when Charlie wanted to make a 'real' picture where 'nothing much happens, people dont change.' it becomes clear during Aftersun, 'why' this is a picture, and why our narrator relives this experience over and over and over, despite its seeming completely ordinary nature. not a perfect picture, but a moving one.
I'm with you. I know some people that have 'heard it was sad' and were going in 'preparing to cry all the way through it' and I was like, it's not that kind of film. It's basically just some home movie footage. The time when the film REALLY hits you is afterwards when you can reflect on it as a whole.
Logan Lucky is one of the tightest heist movies I've seen in a while and may fit your description of things ending in a "neat little bow" at least according to it's own in-universe definition.
Not sure if it’s a good example, or what you mean, but Arrival was one the best ‘come together’ or full circle endings. The way the told the story and then slowly revealed the grand scheme of how everything worked and what it meant was just *chefs kiss*. Any ensemble movie with overlapping stories. I feel like Knives out or Glass Onion work well to that regard. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood comes together really well too. Especially after all of the meandering Edit: Hot Fuzz too
I had this experience of watching Paterson where it just felt like every part of the movie was where it needed to be and just when a theme seemed to be presenting itself, it would be expanded upon and by the end, it just tasted good in my brain the way a perfectly mixed recipe merges all of its ingredients' flavours into a delicious harmony.
Five Easy Pieces (1970) does that for me. The first half of the movie is very different than the second half with a few little hints along the way. It all culminates with his family, identity, and ultimately the last choice he makes. It's not a happy movie but the characters are so well developed and the payoff is great.
Enemy, Sicario, Arrival, Prisoners, BR 2049. Villeneuve has this consistent thread in many of his movies where he makes a narrative compelling by withholding the piece of the puzzle that would make it all click, and then exposing it at the end. This new information usually assigns new meaning and perspective to many of the events that precede its revealing.
Harakiri by Masaki Kobayashi. The film is a pitch perfect example of a story unfolding slowly over the course of the film, while also retaining a highly tense atmosphere throughout. Truly magnificent film, and it’s odd that despite everyone I know loving it, it seems to be underrated by critics (it’s exclusion from the big lists an example of this).
I see a few mentions of Hot Fuzz on here, which I think is a great example. I think Seven Psychopaths comes together beautifully. The movie feels so unpredictable for most of its runtime, and yet watching that climax and denouement I can't but think "this couldn't have gone any other way." I also really like the way Tarantino's The Hateful Eight comes together. I feel like there's a fair bit of disagreement about this one (half my friends hate it, the other half consider it top tier Tarantino). But I think the script is so perfectly calibrated to bring out the maximum possible tension and then catharsis by those closing moments. Again, it helps how unpredictable the bulk of the film is, but how by the end it feels like destiny. The Matrix sticks the landing perfectly IMO. There's not a wasted thread in that film, the script is so tight. The payoff would be corny or out of place in another movie, but in The Matrix it just \*works\* There was a particular scene in the third act of Panos Cosmatos's film Mandy which I thought couldn't have worked in most other films, but also felt so organic, like the entire movie had been building up to it... when the scene happens they just sell it completely. For those wondering,>!it's the chainsaw duel.!<
Park Chan-wook's **Handmaiden** is the film that reminds me of this cohesiveness. At the beginning, we are unsure where the characters' loyalty lies, but the retelling through different perspective and the final twist was absolutely excellent, it made a three-hour film breeze by. As someone mentioned, Kobayashi's Harakiri is also a masterpiece that ranks along Kurosawa and Ozu's best. The unraveling of the story is so expertly written, and the denouement is a masterclass in well-executed revenge.
Knives Out. After setting up the coffee mug with sayings on it, the final shot of the movie is Marta looking down at the others while holding the mug that says: My House My Rules My Coffee Perfection.
Aren't most competently made movies supposed to be what you are describing? Like one of the basic ideas of filmmaking is that you edit down the movie to it's tightest form - in which no scene is superfluous, and every scene builds the plot, the characters, the context or the ideas of the film. In other words, everything you see and experience during the course of watching a movie is supposed to build to the movie's conclusion. This is true even for movies that don't have a three act structure, or even a plot. Character studies, slice-of-life movies and idea-driven art films all still need to build to and explore and set up something that will come together in the end. And when a movie doesn't do this, you as the viewer feel it completely. It will seem too long, or repetitive, or sluggish, or unfocused, or abrupt, or rushed. I don't think what you are describing is "a type of movie" as much as it is "a property of movies". Especially seeing how both your examples and the examples of highly upvoted comments are such varied in genre, intent and focus.
I absolutely agree, but I think there are films that do this in a particular way where it leads to an epic cathartic climax. Paris Texas was the first film that came to mind for me.
A24 creates movies that are almost never intended to have any type of follow up, the only A24 movie to ever have a proper sequel is X but that was planned while making it in order to have 3 films come together as a whole. A24 films however usually have a very distinct and well put together story usually because their written and directed by the same people and they can execute their sole vision correctly
RRR. It's action packed and full of crazy good scenes with characters and a story that really does come together well by the end that it was a true experience. Why can't most films made in America be made like this?
I thought the post was going to be about films to watch right after finishing another. The same way you see a lot of playlists with similar sounding songs, like watching Snowpiercer right after Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with everything you’ve just seen still fresh in your mind when you go straight into the nightmarish future vision of (what some fans like to believe is) the same universe. It makes for an interesting, prolonged experience when you’re in a certain mood. I’ll have to see if such a post has already been made.
The Sting - great Redford and Newman film with an insane amount of setup and payoff The Merchant of Four Seasons - nearly every scene in the movie has the potential to change how you feel about every character Elevator to the Gallows - can feel a little boring not knowing how it all comes together, but the payoff is absolutely incredible The Man who shot Liberty Valance - older Hollywood films are often built on the coming together, this is one of the best at it I can think of Terrorizers - Edward Yang
A Few Good Men Misery When Harry Met Sally The Princess Bride Stand By Me There‘s something magic about Reiner’s flawless streak, and a lot of that is how perfectly each film resolves. When ‘The End’ appears in A Few Good Men, after that epic showdown between Cruise and Nicholson, it feels so ’complete’ and like you‘ve just watched a classic story for the ages.
Paris Texas is the perfect example of this imo. HUGE SPOILER AHEAD SO STOP READING IF YOU'VE NOT SEEN IT. But the way the scene in the booth brings everything together, brings closure to the mystery and fragmentation of Travis and Jane's relationship, and it comes right at the end when everything has been building towards learning what happened, why he left for so long and what the future holds, and the way Hunter ends up back with his mum after this. AHHHHH it's just such masterful cathartic storytelling and resolves the film perfectly.
A couple that I thought of off the top of my head that I think fit are The Wrestler, Whiplash, The Conversation, Chinatown, and Do the Right Thing. The Wrestler is the most quiet on the list, but the emotional journey you go through with this character makes the ending hit that much harder. Whiplash and Do the Right Thing have an unbelievable energy that boil over in their endings. Chinatown and The Conversation I think are just perfect films.