It’s fair to say that we can call this a win for those who always have the subtitles on when they watch a movie or TV show. But the rest of the movie-watching population (and those who don’t watch the credits) have been angry about the ending of this film since it dropped a few weeks ago on Netflix. With a promising premise, an incredible cast, and a big-name director tied to the project, viewers had higher hopes for an ending that would leave them stunned as opposed to annoyed.
Videos by ComicBook.com
A House of Dynamite had a lot of promise. But the ending was so hated that the team behind it had to come out in defense of their choices. It left viewers frustrated, with no understanding of exactly how the movie ended. That is, until a Reddit post from a viewer who had watched the whole thing, including the credits, with subtitles on, popped up, shedding light on what everyone thought was a weird, fade to black finale. “We watched HoD and were loving the suspense but really disappointed by the ending. We have the subtitles on all the time and if have English CC subtitles turned on around 1:44:00 when the “Music By” credits appear you hear an explosion in the distance and the subtitles say “explosion” so we took it as Chicago was hit. Anyone else hear this in the credits?” they asked in their post.
You Shouldn’t Have To Jump Through Hoops To Know The Ending
The choice to end the film this way could be described as taking an artistic risk—if you’re feeling generous. Not every movie wants to simply hand the audience the answers, but to force this many hoops to jump through to know how a movie ends is just a bad choice. One viewer said, “I think very few people knew about this, I sure didn’t. Check the countless threads of people complaining about the ending. I blame Netflix, the way they immediately force you out of watching credits hurt this effect. I’m watching the credits now, explosions continue throughout.” Another viewer hits back at this theory though, stating, “I don’t think so… they happen at the same point rhythmically in the soundtrack multiple times. I think it’s just the soundtrack. Have the filmmakers come forward and confirmed that the end credits are intended to confirm that they happened?” So we genuinely have no idea how A House of Dynamite actually ends.
Ambiguous movie endings can work. But only when they’re done right—which A House of Dynamite failed to do in a big way. The film was meandering and repetitive, with its three acts simply being the same event from three separate perspectives. Add in a non-ending to that, and you have a recipe for angry movie watchers—no matter how good the cast is.
Did you enjoy the ending of A House of Dynamite? Let us know in the comments, and then check out the ComicBook forums to see what other movie fans think.
Most Viewed
-
Image via THQ Nordic -
image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
