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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/32742
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I recently saw the film _Reversal of Fortune_. Of course, the answer spoils it, so don't read further if you want to avoid that. But, as the question sets, the mystery doesn't get resolved.

This film literally starts with the mystery, almost with a dead body. And the mystery is never solved, but the film is highly rated and usually considered to be good (having 94% at tomatoes and 7.3 at IMDb). The current top review at IMDb says:

> [..] By the end of the movie, we don't really care whether or not Claus is guilty [..].

So, how did they achieve this?

First, there is a slight difference from your story - the mystery is not driving the plot. The plot is driven by consequences of the mystery. The main characters are not trying to find who and how did it - they are trying to prove that Claus didn't do it. Equally, you might focus your overarching goals to something that can be concluded. For example, your character might simply try to survive or get away from it all instead of trying to solve it.

Secondly, the film ends with revealing what one or another character _thinks_ actually happened. Thus we are shown that no one knows the answer and there will be no solution. The mystery doesn't just remain unsolved, we even get explicitly told that the solution is unknown. The victim says at the end:

> This is all you can know. All you can be told. When you get where I am, you will know the rest.

Lastly, it's just a good film. Of course, we wanted to know the solution. Of course, we were a bit unsatisfied after it ended. But it was a good enough film to just show the middle finger to our expectations of solution and just leave it like it actually happened (the real life mystery remains unsolved). I watched it with my SO and she said after the movie:

> Yup, it seemed to be too good of a movie to simply reveal a true solution.

Thus implying that the "solution" or "happy-ending" is kind of a cheap way out, the common Hollywood style to satisfy the viewer. A good enough movie may do it otherwise, be it must be done good.

Original score: 6