“The ending of one story can be the beginning of the next.”

The idea being: if all of a story’s constructed narratives are properly layered, then any perceived resolution will, if you look closely enough and think deeply enough, trigger new complications capable of sustaining and worthy of being the subject of another piece of art.

And yet, the new movie Out of the Blue illustrates the downside to such an approach:

What happens when that next story seems more interesting than the story the movie has just told?? Worse yet, even the backstory to Out of the Blue’s late-game twist sounds like a juicer tale than the actual plot!

It’s not ideal when your primary response to an ending is, “Well, I would’ve rather seen THAT movie.”