Why Endings No Longer Need Closure
Los Angeles – 2025
For decades, Hollywood upheld a reliable emotional arc: broken people fix themselves. Whether it was the addict who finds sobriety, the criminal who finds morality, or the flawed hero who learns their lesson, the redemption arc was gospel.
But today, that moral symmetry is fracturing. Films and series are increasingly endingwithout resolution, without neat moral restoration, and without cathartic closure. Instead of asking,how do they fix this?, today’s stories often ask:what if they don’t?
What the Redemption Arc Used to Be
The redemption arc typically followed this structure:
- A fall from grace
- A painful reckoning
- A moment of growth or self-awareness
- A final act of goodness or sacrifice
- Closure that affirms moral restoration
ThinkA Beautiful Mind,Good Will Hunting,American History X,Jerry Maguire, orThe Pursuit of Happyness—films where the arc completed in an emotionally satisfying, often idealistic loop.
What’s Changing—And Why
1. Realism Over Moral Messaging
Modern audiences have grown skeptical of simple moral turnarounds. In a world marked bysystemic injustice, generational trauma, and existential anxiety, not everyone gets redeemed—and that’s now reflected onscreen.
2. Trauma Doesn’t Always Follow Structure
Films likeTÁR,The Lost Daughter, andSound of Metaldon’t offer their protagonists traditional redemption. They offerreckoning, ambiguity, and continuation. The story ends, but the character’s resolution isdeliberately denied.
3. The Age of Anti-Hero Fatigue
Earlier anti-heroes (Tony Montana, Walter White, Tyler Durden) often met tragic ends or dramatic moral turnarounds. Now, characters areallowed to exist in contradiction—flawed, unresolved, but still human (Bo Burnham’s Inside,Uncut Gems,The Card Counter).
4. Gen Z’s Narrative Tolerance
Younger audiences have grown up with:
- Incomplete social justice
- Climate anxiety
- Disillusionment with political and institutional “heroes”
They are more comfortable with endings that reflect emotional or social limbo rather than moral order.
Key Examples
- TÁR (2022): The character isn’t redeemed. She’s displaced—recast into a different system, same unresolved ego.
- First Reformed (2017): A character descends into eco-nihilism. The ending hints at love—but offers no conclusion.
- The Power of the Dog (2021): Resolution comes through quiet manipulation, not redemption. The antagonist dies—but no one learns a lesson.
- Drive My Car (2021): Loss isn’t resolved—it is integrated. The journey continues without final answers.
- Beef (2023): Rage doesn’t disappear; it mutates. Closure is emotional, not behavioral.
What This Means for Writers
- Endings no longer complete the arc—they deepen the question
- Growth is shown in micro-movements, not transformation
- Resolution is emotional, not narrative
- Closure is withheld to protect complexity
The Commercial Implication
Not every studio is willing to back morally ambiguous finales. But:
- Streaming allows space for these structures
- Critics and awards bodies reward emotional honesty
- Audience segmentation means not every story must serve everyone
In this space, filmmakers likeChloé Zhao, Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Barry Jenkins, Todd Field, and Paul Schradercontinue to redefine what a “character journey” looks like.
Final Word
Hollywood isn’t discarding closure—it’s acknowledging that some stories don’t end with clean exits, apologies, or second chances.
Because in real life, some people don’t change.
Some wounds stay open.
And some endings aren’t redemptive.
They’re simplytrue.
