The device of the "open ending," "cliff-hanger," or "loose end" has been used by many authors throughout history. They are a means to leave the reader thinking about the story, introduce riddles, or set the reader up for a potential sequel. Some readers find this kind of story-writing frustrating, since the author is "playing a trick" on a reader who expects to find a solution at the end of the work. However, if you found the open-endedness of Stockton's story fun and engaging, the following stories, TV shows, and movies are for you!
Warning: this post contains spoilers. The fact that they are on this page means they have an open-ended ending. Proceed with caution!
Literature
"The Discourager of Hesitancy" (1885)
Frank Stockton wrote a follow-up work to "The Lady, or the Tiger?" which is not as widely known, called "The Discourager of Hesitancy." In this story, visitors enter the kingdom from the first story and announce that they have heard about the lady-tiger enigma from far away. They are brought to a high-ranking member of the court who tells them a story with a similarly open ending. In this story, the king blindfolds a foreign prince and marries him to a beautiful lady. He then has the prince's new wife stand among forty other women. The king then removes the prince's blindfold and tells him he must correctly identify his wife. If he fails to do so, he will be immediately murdered. As the prince looks at the women in front of him, one of the women smiles and one of the women frowns. The prince is left to wonder whether the smiling one is happy because she has just been wed or if the frowning one is unhappy because the prince cannot recognize his new wife. The ending is open-ended; it is unclear which lady the prince will pick.
The Turn of the Screw (1898)
This horror novella by Henry James is still widely known today because it has inspired countless adaptions over the years. In the story, an unnamed narrator reads a manuscript by his sister's dead governess. She watches over a boy, Miles, who has recently been expelled from school. She begins to see figures of a man and woman around the estate where she works. She begins to believe that they are ghosts and becomes convinced that the children she watches over know of the ghosts' presence. At the end of the story, it is unclear whether the ghosts are real or if they were all a figment of the governess's imagination.
"In a Grove" (1922)
This short story by Akira Kurosawa leaves the reader imagining the ending. In the story, a corpse is discovered, prompting a murder investigation. Every witness questioned gives contradictory information. Interestingly, none of the three main witnesses are lying in order to evade punishment: they are all claiming guilt. The question of who actually committed the murder is never answered. It is up to readers to decide.
The Handmaid's Tale (1975)
Margaret Atwood's novel follows Offred, who is forced to comply with an authoritarian society called Gilead that uses her fertility as a commodity and offers her no freedom. The ending of the novel suggests that she has been able to escape oppression in Gilead, but the reader is never told what happens to her after she does so. Her fate—until the novel's sequel, The Testaments, was published in 2019—is left up to the reader's imagination.
Movies
Casablanca (1942)
At the end of Casablanca, the viewer has no idea what happens to Rick and Ilsa after they separate in Morocco. The viewer is left imagining how they believe the characters' stories will end.
Limbo (1999)
Like Stockton's "The Lady, or the Tiger?" Limbo ends with two clear choices that are presented as equally probable. Three people stranded in a state of limbo see a plane approach them that could either be bringing them salvation or be ensuring their death. It is up to the viewer to imagine which choice was made after the movie ends.
The Kid (2019)
This movie ends just as the protagonist is about to reconcile with his love interest. The viewer does not see whether or not the protagonist's reconciliation attempt succeeds, nor do they see what happens between the protagonist and his love interest in the future. Instead, the movie suggests what's going to happen and then leaves the viewer imagining it in their heads.
Meek's Cutoff (2010)
This movie follows a group of settlers trying to cross the Oregon Trail in 1845. The film never definitively tells the audience whether or not the group survives or whether their guide has been duping them from the start. The movie's final lines leave the fate of the characters open to interpretation: "We're all just playing our parts now. This was written long before we got here."
