Cliffhangers

Cliffhangers are sometimes, although not always used in film. They often feature a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation. This can entice the audience to keep watching in order to see how the situation resolves itself.

A well known example of a cliffhanger is in the British film the Italian Job. At the end of this film it shows the characters face a dilemma of how to escape from the bus they are on with their gold while the bus is on the edge of a cliff.