Here Are 17 Unexpected Deaths In Movies That Totally Shocked Viewers
WARNING: Given the nature of the question being asked in this post, there are major SPOILERS AHEAD for every single movie listed.
We recently asked our BuzzFeed Community to share which movie deaths totally shocked them to their core, and they came through with some fantastic answers!
Fox / Via giphy.com
Take a look at what they had to say, and vote on whether you agree:
1.Billy (Leonardo DiCaprio) in The Departed
"The moment shocked me to my core the first time I watched it."
2.Chad (Brad Pitt) in Burn After Reading
"I have never been left slack-jawed before, but that one got me."
3.Seok-Woo (Gong Yoo) in Train to Busan
"It’s towards the end of the movie and you think he might be all right, but then he gets bitten and sacrifices himself to save his daughter. It’s shocking and heartbreaking."
4.Charlie (Milly Shapiro) in Hereditary
"I was so shocked when it happened that I burst out laughing. I watched it years ago and still have the face burned into my brain."
5.Wash (Alan Tudyk) in Serenity
"In hindsight it probably shouldn't have surprised me, Joss Whedon seems to have an almost pathological need to unnecessarily kill off one person in everything he does."
6.Kevin (James McAvoy) in Glass
"I adored the movie Split (and still do), and the Horde has such a special place in my heart as a movie villain. I cried and cried when he was killed! It came out of left field, the way they made you think Kevin was back and taking control of the light? It ripped me apart."
—egg
7.Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds) in Life
"The trailers made it seem like he was going to play a much bigger role."
8.Luke (Ryan Gosling) in The Place Beyond the Pines
"💔"
9.Harry (Colin Firth) in Kingsman: The Secret Service
"Definitely Harry’s death going down like it did. I was absolutely blown away with the 'Freebird' scene preceding it and then as you’re still reeling from that. 'Well, this ain’t that kind of movie.'"
10.Tommy's father (Brian Dennehy) inTommy Boy
"I saw it in the theater and was prepared for mad laughs, so when that happened early on, it caught me so off guard I teared up. I was NOT expecting to get feels from a Farley/Spade vehicle. It was also during a first date that never became a second date, LOL."
11.Malcolm (Bruce Willis) in The Sixth Sense
"Does this one count? I was a kid when it came out and definitely didn't see that coming."
12.Shelby (Julia Roberts) in Steel Magnolias
"Maybe I’m alone on this, but I was shocked. It makes sense to see it coming looking back, but it was just so incredibly sad and tragic, I guess I didn’t think it would really happen."
13.Danny (Edward Furlong) in American History X
"That final scene in the bathroom with his brother Derek floored me to the point that I sobbed for about an hour solid. It was so utterly unexpected after their emotional journey and catharsis and I was definitely not prepared for it to end like that."
14.Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) in Spider-Man: No Way Home
"My husband and I saw that in theaters and it wrecked me. Still does."
15.Will (Sam Claflin) in Me Before You
"When Will decided to continue with his assisted suicide plan, even after he found happiness and love with Louisa."
16.Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
"That death was so out of left field because the movie was already premised on one major death so to have another was really shocking. Plus that left Shuri with no family at all (well, besides her nephew) which is one more heartbreaking direction i wasn’t expecting the movie to go in. [The movie] is still so good but man that death got me."
17.And finally, Dewey (David Arquette) in Scream (2022)
"He seemed like the invincible character for the previous four but got a pretty brutal death."
What other movie deaths genuinely surprised you? Share in the comments!
Some entries were edited for length and/or clarity.
