Have you ever watched a movie where the ending hits you like a punch to the gut the first time, but if you rewatch it, the surprise is gone and the magic vanishes? One film that fits this perfectly is I Am Legend, starring Will Smith as the last man on Earth fighting mutated creatures called Darkseekers. The twist comes when Robert Neville realizes he is the real monster in their eyes. He has been capturing and experimenting on them, including a female Darkseeker whose mate is begging to save her. In a flash of understanding, Neville releases her and hands her over, seeing himself as the legend of horror from their perspective. This ending packs an emotional wallop because it flips the entire story on its head, making you question who the hero really is. But once you know it, rewatching feels flat. The shock of Neville’s sacrifice and self-awareness loses all power without that first-time reveal. Test audiences hated this smart, thoughtful close at first, pushing for a more action-packed version where he blows up the bad guys instead. That alternate take became the final cut in some markets, but the original twist-only works once because it relies on pure surprise to make you rethink everything you just saw. For more on this and other botched endings, check out this video breakdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJadR6rAKWk.
Films like this stand out in sci-fi and horror, where endings often twist reality or morality in ways that demand fresh eyes. Think of other examples where visions or rewinds cheapen the impact on repeat viewings, like a fake battle in Twilight that never happens or a mastermind reveal in Now You See Me that ignores plot holes. These rely on fooling you once to stick. Even ambiguous horror closes, where you pick the winner yourself, hit different the first time around.
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJadR6rAKWk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfw4bwtOZ1A
https://talesmoonlitpath.com/horror-movie-endings-some-are-better-than-others-by-paul-lonardo/
https://collider.com/movies-two-best-scenes-start-and-ending/
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9w6lna
