Cliffhanger

This article is about the 'cliffhanger' plot device in works of fiction. For the movie of the same name, see Cliffhanger (movie).

A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in which a movie or novel contains an abrupt ending, often leaving the main characters in a precarious or difficult situation (for instance, hanging from the edge of a cliff).

Although a cliffhanger can be enjoyable as a page turner at the end of a chapter in a novel, a cliffhanger at the very end of a work can be frustrating. Cliffhangers can build anticipation for (and, subsequently, profits of) sequels. However, if no sequel follows, effective suspension of disbelief can leave the audience or readership wondering what happened in the work's fictional realm.

Cliffhangers were especially popular in 1930s serials when movie theaters filled the cultural niche now primarily occupied by television.

Cliffhanger are often used in Television Series, in the last episode of a series, to be continued in the first episode of the next series. This is to ensure consistant viewer ratings in the new series. They are sometimes deliberately inserted by writers uncertain of whether a new series will be commissioned, in the hope that viewers will demand to know how the situation is resolved.

An unusual literal movie cliffhanger occurs at the end of The Italian Job.

See also: Zeigarnik effect.

ja:クリフハンガー (海外ドラマ用語)