What do I want from a film? An ending, not a surprise cliffhanger | Joel Snape

Just when you're braced for emotional resolution, you get the dreaded words: To be continued ...' Hollywood needs to stop this now

I'll never forget my experience of taking my seven-year-old to see. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in the cinema, and I don't mean that in a good way. The little fellow enjoyed it enormously - we devoured a half bucket of pick'n'mix and cheered at the spidey-dino - and then, right at the climax, decided he needed to go to the loo. We rushed out, did the thing as fast as a seven-year-old can, rushed back - and everyone was leaving. It finished just after you left," said a sympathetic fellow parent, as the cinema staff vacuumed up popcorn. I think there's going to be a sequel."

Maybe I'm an idiot - I definitely still don't understand how a multiverse works - but I sort of think this ought to be illegal, or at least a matter for trading standards. As far as I can remember, it was heavily implied that this was going to be a self-contained story. To make matters worse, this trend seems to be gathering steam - Dune got away with it because nobody expected Denis Villeneuve to cram all that delicious spice into one film, but when even Fast X is leaving you without any emotional resolution, you know something's rotten in Hollywood. And now there's Wicked - famously based on a show that's already split into two parts but still lasts less than three hours. I'm not sure who's to blame for this - Kevin Feige? George Lucas? - but at least I know going in that Star Wars and Marvel are never, ever going to end.

Joel Snape is a writer and fitness expert