Thriller movies are there to make audiences experience heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, and anxiety – so it’s often unexpected when they take a darker, heartbreaking turn. In the midst of ongoing twists and turns, some thriller movies have succeeded in accurately displaying grief and loss on-screen. In many instances, these demises serve as a catalyst for setting up the film, gearing up viewers to want to watch the hero get revenge for the loss of their loved ones. Here are 10 of the most tragic deaths in thriller movies, that managed to successfully tug on the heartstrings of audiences all over the globe.
10 Mathilda’s Brother – Léon: The Professional (1994)
Despite having barely any screen time, Mathilda’s brothers’ death in Léon: The Professional is easily the most heartbreaking. Both Mathilda and her brother didn’t grow up in an ideal setting for kids, living with an abusive father who was also storing cocaine for corrupt DEA agents. When a higher up agent, Norman Stansfield, realizes that Mathilda’s father has been stealing some of the drugs, they raid the family’s household, killing them all. At the time, Mathilda was out grocery shopping, and evaded them by seeking refuge in Leon’s apartment.
What makes this death so tragic is that Mathilda’s brother was just four-years-old, and yet he knew what kind of danger he was in. The last scene of him shows him running across the apartment’s hallway, attempting to keep away from the bullets. He was a completely innocent child, who had nothing to do with his father’s idiocy, and yet he suffered the consequences of it. Mathilda is shown to be more emotionally scarred by her brothers’ death, as she felt like a mother to him, which leads her to embark on a journey of revenge.
9 Helen – The Fugitive (1993)
Based on the 1963 TV show of the same name, The Fugitive follows a surgeon, Richard Kimble, who has been falsely accused of murdering his wife, Helen. In order to bring justice to who was truly responsible, Richard escapes police custody to find her killer, all while attempting to evade his own re-capture. Despite Helen’s death only shown in brief flashes at the start of the film, it is truly heartbreaking watching her try to escape from her attacker, who then shoots and smothers her. What makes it even worse is that Kimble has to listen to her 911 call during his trial, where she struggles to speak to the dispatcher before eventually passing away.
8 Miranda – Life (2017)
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Life follows a crew aboard the International Space Station, who have set out to try and discover extraterrestrial life. This leads them to find an organism called Calvin, which is shown to be able to change its cells’ specialization. Eventually, they learn that Calvin is a huge threat to them, as it begins to hunt down the crew one by one, devouring them. Towards the end of the film, only two members of the crew remain, David and Miranda. The pair realizes that Calvin could possibly survive re-entering into Earth’s atmosphere, putting the entire world at risk.
In order to prevent the deaths of those on Earth, both David and Miranda plot an escape with the ships remaining escape pods. David is set to launch into deep space with Calvin, while Miranda is to return to Earth safely. It first appears as though they have succeeded in their efforts, but when the pod lands on Earth, the horrifying truth is revealed. Calvin attacked David, changing the pods’ direction to Earth, whereas Miranda was hit by debris, which sent her hurtling towards deep space. The film ends on her harrowing screams, as she realizes that she will be lost forever in the void, making for a truly haunting death.
7 Rachel – The Dark Knight (2008)
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Rachel Dawes was one of the most important people to Bruce Wayne, having known each other since childhood. As the pair enters adulthood, they eventually develop romantic feelings for each other. However, they never truly get the chance to explore this, as Rachel refuses to be with Bruce for as long as he is with Batman. This unfortunately leads to her demise, as in The Dark Knight, the Joker understands how important she is to Batman, and kidnaps her and Harvey Dent.
As Batman interrogates the Joker, he learns that Rachel and Harvey are in danger. The Joker tells him that he can only save one of them, giving him the addresses where they are being held. However, he fails to mention his final trick – that he switched both of the locations around. Of course, Batman doesn’t try to save just one, and the GCPD are sent to what they believe is Harvey’s location. When Batman arrives to rescue Rachel, he realizes the Joker lied, and Harvey is there instead. As a result, Rachel then dies, leading to catastrophic consequences such as Harvey becoming Two Face to blame Batman for her death.
6 Catherine – Memento (2000)
Memento follows Leonard Shelby, who has developed anterograde amnesia following an attack by two assailants. His last memory was of his wife being raped and smothered by the attackers, before they then attacked him. As a result of his condition, he is unable to develop any new memories, leading him to struggle to identify who was responsible.
However, while Leonard continues to try to bring his wife to justice, he discovers that he was actually responsible for her death. It’s revealed that Catherine didn’t actually die in the attack, and struggled to believe Leonard’s amnesia was real. In order to test it, she makes him give her an insulin shot every day, but he started to forget and gave her more than she needed, causing her to die from an insulin overdose.
5 Lenora – The Devil All the Time (2020)
Arvin suffers from a lot of grief in The Devil All the Time, but the death of Lenora is truly what sent him over the edge. The pair were both sent to live with Arvin’s grandparents after Arvin’s father committed suicide following the death of his mother, and Lenora’s father murdered her mother. The duo were bonded by their trauma, and Arvin became very protective over Lenora, defending her from bullies in school. However, Lenora always relied heavily on her faith to cope with her pain, whereas Arvin maintained a cynical outlook on religion.
Lenora eventually becomes close to the town’s new reverend, Preston Teagardin. As a result, the pair embark on a sexual relationship, with Preston taking advantage of Lenora’s vulnerability and loneliness. This leads to Lenora becoming pregnant, though Preston denies any responsibility for the child. As a result, Lenora plots to commit suicide, believing that having the child will shame her family after Preston’s cruel words.
However, she realizes they would support her no matter what, and she decides she wants to live. As she takes off her noose, she loses her footing and accidentally dies. Lenora’s death is easily the most heartbreaking in the film, as she was the purest soul out of all the characters and deserved to lead a happy life.
4 Cassie – Promising Young Woman (2020)
Cassie is an incredibly flawed character in Promising Young Woman, but that’s part of what makes her so believable. Her story throughout the film is a true testament to the suffering victims of sexual assault and their loved ones go through afterward, unable to erase the permanent scars that remain.
Cassie’s best friend, Nina, was one of these many victims, who was failed by law enforcement and institutions following her own sexual assault in college. It’s implied that Nina committed suicide because of this, leading Cassie to take justice into her own hands and eventually come face to face with Nina’s assaulter, Al.
Dressed as a stripper, Cassie sneaks into Al’s bachelor party, where she handcuffs him to a bed and threatens to engrave Nina’s name into his stomach. However, Al breaks free from the cuffs and brutally smothers Cassie with a pillow. The scene is harrowing, and audiences are forced to sit and watch as Cassie slowly dies.
It then seems as though Al will get away with the murders, with Cassie falling into the dead stripper trope and being labeled mentally unstable by her father and ex-boyfriend. However, while her death is heartbreaking, it’s revealed that Cassie has got the upper hand from beyond the grave, notifying a lawyer of her plans, who in turn, makes sure that Al is arrested.
3 Tracy – Seven (1995)
Tracy’s death isn’t shown in Seven, nor are her presumable remains. Yet her husband Mills’ reaction to the contents of the sinister box at the end of the film is enough to make it one of the most heartbreaking thriller movie deaths. After capturing John Doe, he asks Mill’s and his partner, Somerset, to take him to an undisclosed location to find the envy and wrath victims.
While there, a delivery van appears and delivers a box, which Somerset looks horrified at. It’s heavily implied that the box contains Tracy’s severed head, and John Doe torments Mill’s even further by telling him that she plead for hers and her unborn child’s lives. Unable to contain his grief, Mill’s kills him, ultimately becoming wrath and finishing the murder cycle.
2 Teddy’s Family – Shutter Island (2010)
Shutter Island is known for having one of the best plot twists in cinematic history, though beneath its thrilling reveals is a truly heartbreaking tale of loss. Throughout the film, Teddy believes that his wife, Dolores, died in a fire at the hands of Andrew Laeddis. In fact, Teddy only takes on the case at Ashecliffe Hospital to find Laeddis, keen to face the man responsible for his wife’s murder. However, it’s towards the end of the film that Teddy is revealed to be, in fact, Andrew Laeddis, and a patient at Ashecliffe.
Teddy has been placed in Ashecliffe after Dolores drowns their children, leading Teddy to kill her. The scene is shown in a flashback, and is the most heartbreaking moment in the entire film. Viewers have to watch as Teddy runs into the water to hold his dead children, unable to face the reality of what has happened. It’s even more heartbreaking that Dolores is clearly mentally ill, and wouldn’t have carried out the killings had Teddy gotten her adequate help after she attempted to burn their apartment down. As a result, Teddy lives in a delusional fantasy to cope with his grief and guilt.
1 Daisy – John Wick (2014)
Daisy is the only entry on this list that isn’t a human, though her death is arguably one of the most traumatizing in cinematic history. At the beginning of John Wick, John is shown to be grieving the death of his wife, Helen. In order to make sure he doesn’t feel alone, she gives him a beagle puppy, which he quickly develops a bond with.
However, when John won’t sell Russian gangsters his car, they break into his house and kill Daisy with a baseball bat, all while John watches. In a truly gut-wrenching moment, John then strokes Daisy’s head as he cries, losing the last present his wife gave him. Animal deaths always feel more heartbreaking, due to the fact that they can’t protect themselves or understand what’s happening, and Daisy’s death is no exception to that.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
