Saddest ending of a movie

I'm not ashamed to admit that this film also brought me to tears when I first saw it too. I'm not big on crying at films, even the real tearjerkers from The Green Mile to Dancer In The Dark left me dry-eyed, but for some reason this really struck a chord. I think although the ending is quite predictable, Belén Rueda's acting is superb and I think this is possibly what draws empathy from the viewer, her grief is very believable.

The ending was definitely sad, but it was also a little heartwarming that her old friends were so happy to be with her. If you want a truly sad ending that made me literally weep, not just cry or shed a tear, you should watch a Korean horror called "The Cat". Not sure why I would expect someone to want to watch a sadder ending but I wasn't thinking about logic when I started writing this. (lol)

Someone called the ending "a gothic elegy", I think this describes it right.
Not only is the ending sad and touching, but the way the mood is created is really striking. The imaginary life and the reality interweaving, just think of the moment in the basement when Simon has already been discovered by his mother as dead, and still, behind a wave of a hand, he is alive and speaks to her!

This kind of ending is actually borrowed from Asian cinematography where it is quite often seen. A tragic accident that went undetected, usually involving children, which propels the entire movie, is revealed at the end making you feel sad on top of the previous scare, which is a powerful psychological cocktail.

Its only that Asians do that much much better.