Top 20 Movie Mysteries That Were NEVER Solved

#20: Who Is Sophie’s Real Dad?

“Mamma Mia” (2008)

We can dance. We can jive. We can even have the time of our lives. But we can’t get over wondering who Sophie’s dad is. By the end of the film, everyone realizes the mystery has brought them all closer together. Because of this, Sam, Bill, and Harry are all happier being 1/3 of Sophie’s dad than risking losing her altogether. Sure, it’s a heartwarming turn, but that doesn’t make the underlying mystery any less burning. After all, the film dangles the truth before us all the way until the climax. And while the overall message of love and acceptance has its own charm, fans have still spent nearly two decades debating and speculating over who it really could be.

#19: What Caused the Time Loop?

“Groundhog Day” (1993)

When it comes to the film’s central mystery, most wonder how long Phil Connors was stuck waking up to Sonny and Cher. But whether it was 10 years or 10,000, the real question is: why was he trapped in the time loop in the first place? While theories have ranged from it being a lesson for Phil to become a better man to him being trapped in Purgatory, the movie never reveals what triggered the loop. And although it’s fun watching him sculpt ice statues or punching the daylights out of Ned, this nagging question has always remained out there. As far as this mystery goes, it really has “got us here, babe.” That’s for sure.

#18: What is the Man’s Name?

“Dollars” Trilogy (1964-66)

Even if you haven’t seen this trilogy, you’re almost certainly aware of Clint Eastwood’s gunslinger as one of cinema’s most recognizable characters. Many even find it difficult to separate Eastwood from the “Man With No Name,” making him an essential part of the filmmaker’s public persona. And yet, each film actually gives him a different alias, including Joe, Manco, and Blondie. None of those names, however, are confirmed to be genuine, and the trilogy never reveals who he really is. We don’t even know for sure if it’s the same character or three different drifters with the same appearance and personality. So, do we feel lucky? Not when we’re still stuck wondering what the Man’s name is after six decades and counting.

#17: How Did the Three Seashells Work?

“Demolition Man” (1993)

Not many people would wonder about using the bathroom after being thawed out. But after watching “Demolition Man,” that’s an important question to have. Here, humanity apparently “evolved” far enough to replace toilet paper with three small shells. The characters seem to have fun messing with John Spartan, never explaining how it works. Screenwriter Daniel Waters gave a simple and “TMI” explanation. His friend, who was using the toilet when he called, told him about a “bag of seashells” that he used for decoration. Speaking with “Ain’t It Cool News,” Sylvester Stallone gave an equally icky suggestion, saying, “Without being too gross, imagine how chopsticks work and use your imagination from there.” With this in mind, we’re probably just better off not knowing instead.

#16: What Was the Flash Warning Batman About?

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016)

By this point, abandoned and repurposed DCEU projects can fill up a whole universe of their own. But the one that still plagues most fans’ nightmares – no pun intended – is the vision of the Flash. Just when Bruce Wayne’s dreams couldn’t get any stranger, the speedster suddenly bursts through a portal. If his job was to be as frustratingly cryptic as possible, then job well done, because Bruce understands none of Barry’s message. While later films and comments from Zack Snyder have indicated it was connected to the Knightmare timeline, the DCEU itself simply swept it under the rug. So, as far as the series is concerned, Bruce probably overreacted after having a bad dream.

#15: What Happened to the Briefcase?

“Ronin” (1998)

Remember the last time you chased people across Europe, manipulating and killing for a briefcase whose contents are never revealed? If you’re Sam from “Ronin,” you most definitely do. Throughout the film, everyone around the protagonist risks their lives in a spiralling turn of events, all for a prize we know nothing about. Keeping the audience in the dark is what makes the briefcase so compelling, as viewers can feel just how high the stakes are. But this also turns the conclusion a bit disappointing. The film itself seems to wink at the audience, deliberately keeping us in the dark right past its final moments. This wasn’t the first time viewers were perplexed about a mysterious briefcase in the ‘90s, but more on that later.

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#14: What’s in the Box?

“Barton Fink” (1991)

We’re not talking about the “what’s in the box!?” that you might be thinking of. This box comes with a warning not to open it, something the titular character honors. Much like the later, more famous box mystery in “Se7en,” some fans have speculated if it might contain a character’s head. Other theories include the box symbolizing Barton’s guilt, writer’s block, or the film casting a larger surreal shadow over the audience. Anyone familiar with the Coen Brothers’ style knows the directors rarely linger on their films past their runtime. Although a box-office disappointment, the mystery of the box has kept “Barton Fink” in cinematic conversation over three decades since its release.

#13: What Happened to Riggan?

“Birdman” (2014)

While we do see the protagonist taking it to the sky earlier in the movie, it was revealed to be part of his overactive imagination. By the end, though, either his thoughts have broken beyond the confines of his mind, or Riggan may have actually mastered the art of flight. After stepping out the windowsill, the main character disappears from view. But does his daughter react with horror? Nope. Instead, Sam has a look of pure elation, looking up at the sky with a smile. We never learn if all of this was literal or part of the film’s symbolism. Even so, it opens more questions than answers, as most fans aren’t sure what triggers the kind of reaction that Sam portrays.

#12: Is Either Man the Thing?

“The Thing” (1982)

If you thought you had trust issues, then wait till you watch this John Carpenter sci-fi horror. After the Antarctic base is destroyed, final survivors, MacReady and Childs, are left in the freezing wilderness. The problem? Neither can be certain whether the other man is the titular alien. The film leaves us with a haunting visual of the pair’s final exchange, with no option but potentially dying next to the monster that started it all. Even decades later, fans continue to analyze and scrutinize every frame to look for answers. So, are the men who they say they are, or is the Thing hiding in plain sight? We’ll leave it to you to “see what happens.”

#11: What is The Narrator’s Name?

“Fight Club” (1999)

In a movie as “out there” as this one, it’s surprisingly easy to overlook that Edward Norton’s character goes entirely unnamed. With the film so obsessed with uncovering the mystery behind who Tyler Durden is, the Narrator’s own identity gets lost in the mix. Then again, that may well be the point, as his identity crisis is ultimately what the story is all about. Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t be curious about who he is and why his name remains conspicuously absent. Maybe apart from not talking about Fight Club, one of the hidden rules is not asking about his name.

#10: How Much Was Real?“American Psycho” (2000)

Plenty of movies are shown through the lens of an unreliable main character. Although we considered choosing the 2019 “Joker” as well, “American Psycho” has seniority. The film follows Patrick Bateman, a materialistic psychopath who commits several murders and other crimes throughout the course of the film. However, at the film’s end, Bateman’s lawyer tells him he recently had dinner with one of his victims in London and a realtor tells him that the apartment he killed the man in supposedly doesn’t belong to him. A notebook Bateman’s assistant finds is full of graphic drawings and other disturbing content, possibly leading to the possibility that Bateman is imagining at least some of his violent outbursts. How much and which ones remain ambiguous decades later.

#9: What Was in the FedEx Box?“Cast Away” (2000)

This film follows Chuck Noland, a FedEx employee who survives a plane crash on a deserted island for several years. While on the island, Chuck makes use of items he finds in the packages he was transporting when the crash occurred. However, he leaves one of these parcels unopened, eventually delivering it to its intended recipient at the film’s end. But we never learn what’s inside the box that Chuck went to such lengths to deliver. A prominent theory is that it contained divorce papers, considering the ranch seen at the beginning and end of the film has one of the names missing from over the entrance. The director, Robert Zemeckis, once joked that it contained a satellite phone.

#8: Bob’s Whisper“Lost in Translation” (2003)

Following the brief friendship and romance of two married American strangers in Tokyo, “Lost in Translation” initially sees Bob and Charlotte part ways with an unsatisfactory conclusion to their time together. However, Bob spots Charlotte on his way to the airport and approaches her, whispering something to her, before kissing her goodbye. Was it a bittersweet reflection on their time together? Or maybe he told her to look him up in the States? Whatever he said, the ambiguity allows for many interpretations, all of which can be tailored to our own opinions on how their romance should turn out, which kind of makes it perfect just the way it is.

#7: Who Was V?“V for Vendetta” (2005)

“V for Vendetta” follows a masked vigilante/freedom fighter/terrorist known only as “V.” While his true identity is a mystery, some things are known about the man. He was once imprisoned, and experiments were performed on him that gave him superhuman strength and endurance. He was kept in “room 5,” denoted by the Roman numeral “V.” A fire there also heavily disfigured him. Some suggest he was once a member of the ruling fascist party. Others suggest he was once a she, at least biologically, citing the story Evey finds in a cell about a lesbian actress named Valerie as being V’s own story. But the end of the movie tells us it doesn’t matter: V is anyone and everyone being oppressed.

#6: How Much of Verbal’s Story Was True?“The Usual Suspects” (1995)

The bulk of this neo-noir crime film is told in flashback by Verbal Kint, a criminal who describes the circumstances that led him and his colleagues onto a boat where a drug deal went horribly wrong, leaving most of the people there dead. By the film’s end, it’s clear that Verbal changed some of the names and contents of his story, drawing them from words he saw in the room around him, but was he merely changing the surface of what occurred, or did he obscure or lie about everything that happened? Granted, most of what they did in public probably happened, but in private? We’ll never know. It may not be the greatest trick the devil ever pulled, but it’s certainly up there.

#5: The Joker’s Scars“The Dark Knight” (2008)

“Do you wanna’ know how I got these scars?” Yes, yes we do! The Joker in “The Dark Knight” is a complete mystery to both the characters and the audience. He’s like a storm that drops on Gotham with no concrete goal other than to sow chaos and demonstrate that everyone is just like him. However, the Joker tells several stories about the origin of his facial scars. In one, he claims his father gave them to him, in another he claims he did it to himself. The mystery of how he got them will never be resolved, and that’s kind of the point of his character. Batman is defined by his past, which motivates his present, while the Joker doesn’t care where he came from, just like he doesn’t care about anything else.

#4: Is Cobb Still Dreaming?“Inception” (2010)

Sticking with Christopher Nolan’s oeuvre, “Inception” is perhaps the director’s most mind-bending work. It follows a team of criminals who usually extract information from others’ dreams attempting to implant one instead. The team’s leader, Cobb, seeks to perform the job so he can return to his children in the states. At the film’s end he does, but he also sets a top spinning. This top will keep spinning if he’s still dreaming, and while Cobb walks away without seeing it, the top does wobble before the film ends. Many have theorized that Cobb is still dreaming, citing his absent wedding ring and the children still being young, despite his long absence, as evidence, but the ending remains deliberately ambiguous.

#3: Is Deckard a Replicant?“Blade Runner” franchise (1982-2017)

Rick Deckard is a blade runner – a hunter of rogue synthetic replicants, or androids. That much is clear. But it’s been theorized that Deckard is a replicant himself, having been tasked by humans to hunt his own kind without even being aware of it. This is supported by his recurring unicorn dream and finding an origami unicorn left at his apartment by his partner. You might think Denis Villeneuve’s sequel would clear this up, given that Deckard is still alive and replicants have a limited lifespan, but he also apparently had a child with a replicant, though we suppose they could’ve crossbred. Even the director and star have had disagreements, with Harrison Ford claiming Deckard is human, while Ridley Scott believes him a replicant.

#2: The Photo“The Shining” (1980)

Although almost everyone knows the plot of “The Shining,” namely that the caretaker of a remote hotel, Jack, goes crazy and tries to murder his family, the movie remains a dense enigma. The film concludes with Jack freezing to death after getting lost in the hotel’s maze. However, a final shot inside the hotel shows a party from the 1920s with Jack front and center. Director Stanley Kubrick stated that Jack was the reincarnation of a previous caretaker. This aligns with the ghost of the previous caretaker telling Jack that Jack has “always” been the caretaker. However, others have theorized that everyone in the photo has been absorbed into the history of the hotel by the dark force that haunts it.

#1: What’s Inside the Briefcase?“Pulp Fiction” (1994)

This anthology crime movie follows a group of interconnected criminals. One of the storylines follows Vincent and Jules, two hitmen who work for crime lord Marsellus Wallace who are tasked with retrieving a briefcase. The case is only opened a few times and while its contents are never named or explained, a golden glow appears to emanate from within. Essentially, it’s just a MacGuffin, a plot device. However, that hasn’t stopped much speculation as to what it could be. According to co-writer Roger Avery, it was originally meant to be diamonds, but this was scratched. The theories range from valuable objects like gold, or even radioactive material, to more arcane items like the Holy Grail, or even Marsellus Wallace’s soul. Whatever it is, it’s beautiful.

Which other movie mystery lives in your mind rent-free? Let us know in the comments.