Arts Vanity: Closing the Year, Closing the Film

As 2025 comes to an end, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’ve spent my year. There are some regrets, some things I didn’t accomplish, but there were also moments of unexpected joys — small victories, new obsessions, art that found me at exactly the right time.

Thinking about endings naturally got me thinking about film, since December is always a time when I catch up on the movies I’ve missed. This year, though, I’m also thinking about what feels like the end of the industry itself (re: Netflix acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney licensing its characters to OpenAI).

To distract myself from this, I’ve been reminding myself of the beauty of great film endings — final moments that linger for days, sometimes years. Some are quiet and arrive naturally, while others are these transcendent, watershed moments that can redefine the entire experience.

Here are a few endings I haven’t been able to stop thinking about (minor spoilers ahead):

‘Aftersun’ (Dir. Charlotte Wells, 2022)

I genuinely think about “Aftersun” all the time and almost entirely because of its final sequence. A father and daughter dance to a hauntingly reworked version of Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure.” Strobe lights flash like the fragmentation of memory, and suddenly Bowie’s lyrics are sadder than they ever were before.

‘Call Me By Your Name’ (Dir. Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

I remember watching this when I was too young and being largely unimpressed — until the final shot. Elio sits alone by a fireplace, tears collecting slowly as Sufjan Stevens’ “Visions of Gideon” plays and the credits roll.

‘La Chimera’ (Dir. Alice Rohrwacher, 2024)

“La Chimera” is one of the most beautiful and underrated films of 2024. The ending is its ultimate achievement: The mysterious red string that weaves through the story reappears, offering a gesture of love, reconnection, and myth. It’s a perfect bookend — simple, symbolic, and devastatingly clarifying.

‘Hamnet’ (Dir. Chloé Zhao, 2025)

Also known as the film that inspired this list. I was already crying my way through “Hamnet,” but the last scene completely floored me. Agnes watches the play her husband has written in their son’s memory, her face shifting from confusion to anger to recognition.

‘Il Posto’ (Dir. Ermanno Olmi, 1961)

Another film that doesn’t really hit you until its final scene. After a film of youthful freedom, possibility, and tentative romance, Domenico sits at his brand new office job. Then, the deafening sound of a mimeograph fills the room, signalling the oppressive bleakness of adulthood settling in.

‘Birdman’ (Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2015)

Weirdly, I also think about “Birdman” often. It has one of those great, sort of epic ending scenes that is absurd, triumphant, and tragic all at once. One of the greatest depictions of blurring reality and fantasy — actor with character.

‘Oppenheimer’ (Dir. Christopher Nolan, 2023)

Knowing me, I couldn’t not include “Oppenheimer.” Him staring out into nothingness as the horrifying implications of his work settle over him: “I believe we did [destroy the entire world].” Nolan perfectly collapses history and guilt into one chilling shot.

‘Challengers’ (Dir. Luca Guadagnino, 2024)

My favorite film of 2024. I truly believe that retrospectively, Art and Patrick’s final match will go down as one of the most visually exciting, hypnotic depictions of motion and desire in contemporary cinema.

‘Terrorizers’ (Dir. Edward Yang, 1986)

One of Yang’s most accessible yet structurally daring films, “Terrorizers” stages a fakeout, fantasy ending before culminating in a devastating rupture that reframes everything.

‘Babylon’ (Dir. Damien Chazelle, 2022)

A painfully controversial film, but it holds a special place in my heart. I loved the ending montage, paying homage to cinematic history. It was chaotic and probably indulgent, but moving above all else.

‘Ikiru’ (Dir. Akira Kurosawa, 1952)

I approached “Ikiru” ready to sob at its sad premise. However, the film’s emotional weight doesn’t fully land until the final scene. The bureaucrats promise to change, inspired by Watanabe’s quiet revolution, but they fall back into their old patterns. Only the prospect of death spurred Watanabe to truly live, and he continues to live through the playground he built.

‘All of Us Strangers’ (Dir. Andrew Haigh, 2023)

Another ending defined by its choice of song: “The Power of Love” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Haigh crafts a cosmic heartbreak — love entwines with fantasy, transcending life and death, as souls turn into stars.

‘Farewell My Concubine’ (Dir. Chen Kaige, 1993)

You can never go wrong with nature mirroring art. The final scene echoes the opera that defined the characters’ lives, blurring the line between performance and reality.

‘La Haine’ (Dir. Matthieu Kassovitz, 1995)

One of the most unforgettable final scenes. The inevitably of tragedy that has been accruing the entire film, the power of metaphor, and the brutal sound of the gunshot all collide.

—Incoming Film Executive Capri S. Wayne clearly watches too many movies. That is why, for the remainder of the year, she will be redirecting her attention to the TV show “Stranger Things.” Send fan theories to [email protected].