Content Warning: Suicide
It may not be one of Stephen King’s most popular stories, but The Mist is still a surprisingly influential piece of genre fiction. From Half-Life to Silent Hill, several horror properties have openly drawn inspiration from this eerie novella. That’s why it’s surprising that it took so long for the story see an adaptation, with frequent King collaborator Frank Darabont championing the project for nearly three decades before finally releasing his take on The Mist in 2007.
Starring genre favorite Thomas Jane as artist David Drayton alongside a talented ensemble featuring names like Marcia Gay Harden and Andre Braugher (as well as several actors who would later become popular in Darabont’s The Walking Dead series), the film is a decidedly faithful adaptation of King’s original tale, right down to the disturbing creature descriptions and multiverse references. Taking place in central Maine, the plot follows a group of people who become trapped in a supermarket after a mysterious mist rolls into town, bringing with it otherworldly horrors. Isolated and besieged by primitive monsters, some of the survivors slowly begin to devolve into religious fanaticism, leading to an unsettling single-location thriller.
Despite the film keeping most of its source material intact, with King even citing the first screening of the flick as one of the happiest moments of his career, Darabont’s take on the story ends on a much more sinister note. In fact, the film’s final moments were the subject of major controversy among horror fans upon release, with audiences accusing the uncomfortable climax of ruining everything that preceded it and being an example of shock for shock’s sake.
While I agree that the ending of The Mist might be a bit too mean-spirited for some viewers, I’d argue that the downer finale is a perfect counterpoint to the film’s overarching themes. That’s why I’d like to discuss how it was a perfect ending back in the day, and even more impactful a decade and a half later, making the movie a memorable classic by ending it on a dramatic gut-punch. And just in case you’ve yet to witness this tragic masterpiece: there are major spoilers ahead, as we’ll be discussing the ending of both the movie and the novella…
Not exactly 2007’s feel-good movie of the summer.
Overall, the original narrative played out in pretty much the same way as the film, with slight variations in character deaths and a few extra subplots like David having a stress-induced affair with Amanda. Once the group finally escapes the madness of the supermarket, the story concludes with David noting that death would be preferable to becoming lost in the mist and realizing that there aren’t enough bullets for suicide. The group then rides off towards an uncertain fate, though a faint radio signal ends the tale with a glimmer of hope.
However, the final act of the movie is where Darabont took some serious creative liberties, seeing our traumatized protagonists escape the supermarket only to find themselves stranded in the middle of the mist once their jeep runs out of gas. After a moment of resigned silence, the group agrees to mass suicide despite not having enough bullets, with David being forced to shoot his own son and then face the extra-dimensional horrors on his own. Moments later, the lone survivor witnesses a military operation clearing out the mist as trucks transport people to safety, realizing that his friends and only child died for nothing.
Not quite a “happily ever after”.
Naturally, this ending is incredibly dark even for a Stephen King story, especially when the author is known for coming up with some of horror’s most absurd deus ex machinas in order to provide his readers a reasonably satisfying conclusion (though fans of Pet Sematary and Revival know that this isn’t always the case). While the movie had some pretty disturbing stuff up to that point, like the sacrifice of Private Jessup and that entire pharmacy sequence, there was nothing this downright mean. That’s why it makes sense that some viewers thought the scene came out of nowhere, though I don’t think that’s the case.
If you keep in mind the film’s meditations on hope and faith and how that influences people’s reactions during a crisis, it becomes clear that these misguided deaths were more than just a gratuitous expression of nihilism. While it makes sense that our lead characters would reject the notion of hope after everything they’ve seen (which is what makes the story a great example of cosmic horror), I believe that this tragic ending to The Mist is meant to criticize the complete rejection of faith in the same way that the supermarket’s religious insanity is meant to criticize the fanatical embrace of faith.
Even gloomier in the Black & White version!
As we’ve seen throughout history, while an excess of faith can make dire situations worse and even lead to man-made atrocities, a complete lack of it can often result in the same kind of well-intentioned destruction – with faith not necessarily meaning “religion”. While it wasn’t quite as apocalyptic as the Arrowhead disaster, the Covid-19 pandemic serves as a grim example of this. Since 2020, several groups devolved into political fanaticism after becoming trapped in confined spaces due to a worldwide threat. Meanwhile, mental illness took its toll on the population as folks began to lose faith in each other, often motivated by awful stories in sensationalist media. It’s this kind of decidedly human horror that makes The Mist such a timeless experience (especially when some political groups were so keen on “sacrificing” certain demographics to the virus in real life).
With that in mind, it’s clear that Darabont’s version of The Mist ends in a more nuanced manner than King’s original story, functioning even better as a cautionary tale. In fact, Darabont only agreed to direct the film for Dimension if they promised not to make him change his script’s horrific ending, with the studio even offering double the budget if he changed that simple detail. The director obviously refused, having planned this passion project for decades and knowing that the story needed this added balance.
Like all good art, the exact intention behind Darabont’s ending to The Mist is still up for interpretation, though the director has gone on record stating that he sees the film as a thematic companion piece to The Shawshank Redemption. This makes sense, as that story was about hope and this one is about hopelessness. That being said, I particularly enjoy the grisly theory that Mrs. Carmody was right about everything, as salvation only comes after a malevolent God has received a bloody sacrifice.
Personally, I appreciate the finale as a poignant parable about not despairing during dark times, as this tragedy wasn’t inevitable. That’s why I think The Mist‘s ending isn’t quite as bleak as it initially appears, and is part of the reason why this brilliant little monster movie continues to age like a fine wine.
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