I’ve watched shows, movies, read comics or listened to podcasts where there is a lot of build up around a mystery, only for the end to be lackluster. In these the journey itself was more riveting than where we ended up. What are some instances where the answer lived up to the hype?
I always enjoy the payoff of Lucky Number Slevin even after watching it a few times.
I know there are more but I’m struggling to think at the moment, I might have to come back to this…
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell comes to mind. A Jesuit priest is the only survivor of a first-contact flight to an alien world and returns horribly disfigured in mind and body and refuses to talk about what happened. We slowly learn what happened to everyone as the story unfolds. Great SF novel and not religious, although it explores religion.
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul G. Tremblay comes to mind.
I don’t know that the payoff is necessarily better than the mystery, but the show Dark is a great mystery story as well.
The man from earth (2007). Low budget but a great movie, particularly if you know nothing about it beforehand.
And whatever you do, don’t watch the sequel. It’s quality is the exact opposite of the first movie.
Primer
The mystery is working out what’s going on. The answer is a way cooler outcome than what you thought going in.
The only time travel movie i would describe as “realistic”. One of my favorite movies overall.
The best movie about time travel is Back to the Future. The best depiction of time travel in a movie is Primer
Eh. You’re allowed to disagree, and I wasn’t even born when those movies came out so I didn’t really experince it as a cultural moment.But personally I don’t find 'em that fun or interesting. I’ve watched primer at least half a dozen times, but I’ll never choose to watch Back again.
