We’ve all been there, sitting in a theater when the collective “Oh, c’mon” groan from an audience when a fan favorite character inexplicably dies in its final minutes.
Now there can be reasons, either in the narrative or behind the scenes, to axe a notable character in a film’s last act, but that doesn’t make the loss any less frustrating to the audience.
With this in mind, I’ve assembled 20 examples of climactic movie character demises that were wholly unnecessary (and, in some cases, a bit insulting).
1.
Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh), Saw 3 (2006)
2.
Audrey (Willa Holland), Legion (2010)
3.
Hugo (Keean Johnson), Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
4.
Lilly (Nora Arnezeder), Army of the Dead (2021)
5.
Seok-woo (Gong Yoo), Train to Busan (2016)
6.
Abner Krill/Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), The Suicide Squad (2021)
7.
Andre (Jaymes Butler), Barbarian (2022)
8.
Jakob Toretto (John Cena), Fast X (2023)
9.
Cameron Elam (Dylan Arnold), Halloween Kills (2021)
10.
Nathan Sears (Arlen Escarpeta), Final Destination 5 (2011)
11.
Shogo Kawada (Taro Yamamoto), Battle Royale (2000)
12.
Sarah Caraway (Bojana Novakovic), Devil (2010)
13.
Scott Fuller (Ernest Liu), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
14.
Carolyn Fry (Radha Mitchell), Pitch Black (2000)
15.
David Dunn (Bruce Willis), Glass (2019)
16.
Scarlet (Rose Byrne), 28 Weeks Later (2007)
17.
Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors (1987)
18.
Taylor Ann Smythe (Bex Taylor-Klaus), Hell Fest (2018)
19.
Jordan Welch (Jack Quaid), Tragedy Girls (2017)
20.
Miles Dyson (Joe Morton), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenwhanley/20-movie-deaths-that-happened-in-the-last-act-that-were