I just watched The Old Guard 2, sequel to The Old Guard, a 2020 movie.

The Old Guard is about a group of immortal mercenaries that are, par for the course, trying to fight the good fight and make the world a better place.

The Old Guard 2 focuses on the relationship between the 'boss' of these mercenaries (portrayed by Charlize Theron) and her right-hand woman, who'd been stuck inside an iron maiden somewhere at the bottom of the ocean for 500 years.

After some initial drama, the two reunite to fight a common enemy who wants to kill every other immortal and remain the only immortal (portrayed by Uma Thurman).

All good, except for the fact that movie drags itself a bit, and ends with a cliffhanger.

In movie jargon, a cliffhanger is when the story (chapter, episode, movie) ends with a suspenseful and unresolved situation.

The problem is that this might work in a TV show, because it means next week I'll be eager to watch the next episode, but it doesn't really work in a movie.

The Old Guard was released in 2020, and The Old Guard 2 was released this year.

Even in the best-case scenario, let's assume The Old Guard 3 is released in 2026, most people will have forgotten by then.

And it gets worse.

Remember what happened with Fast X?

Released in 2023 after several delays, Fast X was supposed to be part one of a two-part finale for the saga.

It ended with a massive cliffhanger, with Dom (Vin Diesel) driving down a dam.

Cool. And so what now?

Because the problem is the next Fast and Furious, which if everything goes to plan will be released in 2027, will be written from scratch and probably ignore the cliffhanger.

This is because Fast X didn't go down too well with critics and fans, partly because the special effects were really a bit much, but also because this used to be a movie about cars, and that's what people want.

Ah yeah, the fact that it didn't really perform that great at the box office certainly didn't help.

What do you think? Do you think cliffhangers work?