It's so bleak and depressing and just fits right in with the entire tone of the movie. It's perfect.
So many stories, so little time.

It's a great, terrible ending, and it's the reason why people remember that movie.

"The ending set it apart, and ensured that nobody ever forgets The Mist."
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Agreed!

Yes it did.
MAGA! FAFO! Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. Dumbocraps: evil people who celebrate murder.

IRL endings are not always happy.
MAGA! FAFO! Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. Dumbocraps: evil people who celebrate murder.

True.
And it also created a lot of discussion and controversy for those who like their happy endings.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

The ending set it apart, and ensured that nobody ever forgets The Mist.

This reminds me of how shocked I was at the ending. It was both powerful, shocking and so sad, the farthest thing imaginable from a happy ending. It's the most stunning twist ever at the end of a movie. I did NOT see that coming.
I cannot even begin to comprehend his anguish, and I'm sure he will either go insane or commit suicide or both. He actually did desperately try to shoot himself, but there were no more bullets left.
On the other hand, this demonstrates why I would never commit suicide, because there's always some hope that the situation will be resolved successfully. Or at least I would want to take some of the bastards with me.
MAGA! FAFO! Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. Dumbocraps: evil people who celebrate murder.

Here it is with my thoughts on it…
I can feel his anguish and how awful that must feel that it is something he cannot reverse or ever change.
That regret, I suspect, will do him in and he will not be able to live with it for the rest of his life and will commit suicide at some point.
I doubt there is any counseling that will ever help at all.
How can anyone get over that?
It looks like the caravan is going into town to clear the way and to kill all the monsters.
So why are they risking taking in towns people near the front or at all?
I get we want to see the woman who left the store earlier is safe with her kids but maybe they could have shown it differently.
I never noticed the dead monsters/giant spiders cooking on the side of the road.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

it is refreshing to see something that kills (Ha!) the old cliche of the happy ending.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

Yes it was! The ultimate twist, which left me thinking
"I did not see THAT coming!"
MAGA! FAFO! Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. Dumbocraps: evil people who celebrate murder.

I loved the novella, and I loved the movie. They stayed pretty faithful to the novella, and I liked the movie ending better. Don't know why this movie gets so panned.

Oh so the pandemic is over?? It's over???

I share some thoughts on that, which are in line with yours, along with the clip of the ending.
Excellent acting to make me/us feel his anguish and deep regret.
I think it helps that even though he knows the gun is empty he still pulls the trigger on himself.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

For me, I liked the movie ending because, having read the King story, it was totally unexpected to me. King’s ending looked pretty bleak for mankind, and I assumed the Lovecraftian monsters in the mist would eventually overrun the planet, but there wasn’t that up close and personal tragedy for the main character. Although he wouldn’t have come to a good end, I imagine, but it was left up to us to picture what happened after the story concluded.

People preferred the movie ending more because it was optimistic. The military saved the world whereas Stephen King left the characters lost navigating through the dangerous world and without hope whatsoever.

The book's ending was fine. The movie's was just better.

Which tells you
just how pitiful the book's ending was.

I heard that Stephen King actually liked the Movie's Ending a lot more than the Ending that he wrote in the book.