That fake happy ending in The Mist still bugs me 12 years later

I watched The Mist in 2007 at a buddy's house in Denver. The theatrical ending had Thomas Jane's character mercy kill his own kid. Bleak. Dark. Perfect. But the DVD added an alternate ending where they all survive and drive off into the sunrise. What a cop out. Who actually prefers that fake happy version? The whole point was the horror of bad luck and snap decisions. Has anyone else seen both and hated the soft one?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy9773d ago

Nah I actually prefer the happy ending. The original was just misery porn for no reason. Sometimes people catch a break.

lilymurphy3d ago

You could look at it that way, but I see the original as more honest than misery porn. Sometimes people don't catch a break, and that's a real part of life too. The happy version feels like someone stuck a band-aid on a deeper wound. The original ending stuck with me because it showed how hard some situations really are, no easy way out. It didn't feel cheap or mean, it felt true to what the story was actually about. Happy endings are fine sometimes, but not every story needs one to be good.