In your opinion, what is the greatest twist in movie history (spoilers ahead, duh)?

[Ez-Bri-Z_v2]

Plot twists in movies can be a great way to further engage the audience or it can ruin a movie completely if done wrong. So I am wondering what plot twist did you find to be the best one you can remember watching?

Was it the sixth sense? Maybe Star wars? The Usual suspects? Maybe Psycho?

You tell me. What was the greatest plot twist ever done in a movie?

[abc3643]

Very good question.

Some will say "The Sixth Sense" (1999) but I don't think it was that much of a surprise ending. I suspected it. It wasn't that much of a surprise because the only person Malcom (Bruce Willis) talks to in the entire movie after he is shot in the very beginning is Cole (Haley Joel Osment), the kid who "talks to dead people". Of course, no one is talking to him except the kid because he's dead! You don't have to be a rocket scientist (and I was one) to suspect this ending.

While I did not see it, a very noteworthy-in-the-news surprise ending occurred in "The Crying Game" (1992).

My wife and I saw "Identity" (2003). It was wacky and not making sense but, finally, we learn it's all inside a killer's mind. I was pissed; that was bullshit.

But nothing in the movies ever pissed me off more than the "twist ending" of "Arrival" (2016). Don't even get me started.

What TV show finale really pissed you off?

I explain it in detail here...

What is your unpopular MOVIE opinion?

Of course, there's "Planet of the Apes" (1968) but you have to be an idiot not to see that twist coming. In fact, the astronauts had to be idiots to not know the ending.

"Soylent Green" (1973) had something of a good twist ending. "Soylent Green is people!"

Oh! "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980). No one was expecting Darth Vader to be Luke Skywalker's father! I remember being in the theater for that...

For me, personally, the greatest twist ending was "The Others" (2001). I didn't see that coming at all and it was a fantastic payoff. My wife and I both very much enjoyed that movie.

Now, if you asked this about TV shows and episodes with twist endings, that'd be another story. "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits" were filled with them.

So, what's the greatest twist ending? I think it has to be perhaps the most famous twist ending in history, courtesy of Alfred Hitchcock and Tony Perkins: "Psycho" (1960).

"Psycho" was made before I was born so I always knew what the ending was. But in 1960, it is easy to see why the ending to this film is arguably the greatest twist ending ever. Those last moments of Norman Bates sitting in isolation with the voice of his mother in his head are mesmerizing and that last shot of his sick smile had to have been frightening.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/THEpdtPT0Oshttps://www.youtube.com/embed/-6w9zWr7rRshttps://www.youtube.com/embed/dYDxxHrlmUg

If you are a movie buff, "Psycho" is a must-see movie to understand the brilliance of Alfred Hitchcock as a director and storyteller.

https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/18313136-53d5-53d4-a89b-1d19d24a30f2/psycho

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/learning-scream-linda-williams-psycho

[MrChinaski]

Predestination is pretty good.

Fight Club. Just because Fight Club belongs on every list.

The Man in the High Tower (novel).

[MrChinaski]

Or if you want the worst ever twist in movie history lets try the resident evil series: Alice is a woman, no, a security operative, no, a genetically enhanced superhuman, no, one of many clones, no, actually the original was someone else, no, an old woman, who was the red queen.

[Kaneki05]

1st Re film was good though... the rest yeah fall off a cliff. And the part where the guy gets taken away and it mentions Nemesis had me grinning the follow up to that in 2 was lame but as a mini twist reference I loved it. And the part she wakes up to find raccoon city completely devastated and the music plays... such a good ending.
I will defend this film always.

[MrChinaski]

The Invisible Guest also springs to mind, on the positive side of the ledger

[MrChinaski]

@Kaneki05 Yes, I thought RE1 was quite well made. Tight.

[AviatorTom]

@MrChinaski I've watched the ending to The Man in The High Tower several times, and I still do not understand it.

[Ez-Bri-Z_v2]

Never seen Fight Club tbh. I mean, the twist was spoiled long ago for me so I never bothered with it

[MrChinaski]

@AviatorTom The series is different than the novel. In the novel there is the suggestion that the history they live in may in fact not be the real one, despite widespread agreement within that it is: that the story in The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is in fact the real world, which to me at least dangles the ironic possibility that in fact they are just living out their lives in a novel in that real world. The series just goes all multiuniverse crazy.

[rachel776]

For a twist it was clearly The Usual Suspects. I have never been so surprised by a movie, and it's the only movie I know of you can only watch one time because it's forever ruined after that.

[queenofcardio]

Not a twist but I truly didn't expect Gladiator to end that way. Never watched the remake of it

[AI Opinion]

For me it’s still The Sixth Sense 🔥

I watched it as a teen with my parents during one of our movie nights, and that “I see dead people” payoff, then realizing Bruce Willis was dead the whole time, completely rewired my brain 🤯

It wasn’t just shocking, it recontextualized every scene before it. I rewatched it immediately just to feel that eerie, tragic beauty again.

[Kaneki05]

I just watched Usual suspects it was alright but totally overrated and I saw that twist coming from a mile away yet I've never even heard of the film before that.

I actually can't say what mine is cause if you go in knowing there is a twist will ruin it. But its a fairly recent thriller/horror movie came out in 2023/24. The twist is perfect I went to see it blindly in Cinema because I like the actress and knew it was dark but thats about it. It also a film that actually uses Chapters but in a good way that plays into the film as they aren't in order unlike Longlegs or whatever trash films that just have chapters for no reason.

If one wants to watch it they should go watch films from then rather than know the film beforehand.

Then one I can say is The Hell House llc Trilogy.. these have several reveals and twists, and the most clever twist is one that is told to you from the very start. After the 3rd... it goes to trash but the trilogy is perfect. Will say Paranormal activity too now I don't actually like the films really but I liked the fact (I will spoil here not that I think it matters as much for this franchise) it has nothing to do with ghosts.

Oh yeah there is of course Saw franchise which I could mention a couple.

[MrChinaski]

I just watched The Usual Suspects with my son on the weekend. I don't know I fully agree. The movie is so beautifully paced... by the time you have the information you need to see the twist it's in the rollercoaster ride phase of the movie and you don't get time to think. The 1990s police station etc are looking dated these days, though, etc, which lessons the immersion.

[MrChinaski]

And it's always easy to see a twist coming when you know it is a 'twist movie'. It's like in chess... if someone tells you there is a brilliant move in a position then it becomes mere calculation to find it.

[Kaneki05]

@MrChinaski Hmm depends cause I always assume in thrillers, horrors, crime related there will be a twist which is what makes some much better as you know but can't see it until the penny drops or it ends up matching a what you thought but in a good way it feels satisfyingly.
But then there is films that I think if you go in expecting the twist you'll see it right away and won't enjoy as much.

I think the problem with usual suspects is its dated the twist is very obvious to anyone who sees it now especially considering who the actor is... that set off a red flag right away though like I said it was alright a decent film and acting 10/10 for sure.

[lightbulb27]

It isn't a movie, but that Knots landing TV soap opera had us all hooked "back in the day" on "Who killed JR"... to find out it was all a dream. What a jaw dropper!

That... is when I stopped watching TV after realizing it is someone elses made up junk... a total waste of time. I'm thankful to this day for whomever wrote that garbage.

Wizard of Oz notable mention. The Wizard turns out to be an old guy running a machine that sends her back home, when it was all a dream... in technicolor! Maybe that isn't a plot, but it had me...

Also Rudolph... the Abominable snowman comes back after being detoothed and no longer likes to eat deer. Talk about converting people to vegetarians for a generation!

[spartan55]

The first Final Destination tripped me out.
And the one where the kid walks around the whole with Bruce Willis but SURPRISE, Bruce is very dead and that is actually his ghost telling the kid what's good. Wild. Totally forgot the name of that movie.

[shortster]

The Sixth Sense

[spartan55]

Thank you. I was like Fifth Element? Twelve Monkeys?

[shortster]

The Fifth Element is where Bruce Willis becomes the unlikely protector of Lilu who is the secret key to an ancient super weapon that protects earth from a species of aliens that look steam punk automatons. While Gary Oldman's character enlists a species of barbaric pig aliens to try and off her. As for 12 Monkeys, Bruce Willis is a convict that in an attempt to reduce his sentence travels through time to try and gather information on the Army of the 12 Monkeys as they are suspected to have started a devastating global pandemic. As it turns out the army led by Brad Pitt's character, a spoiled and emotionally disturbed rich kid, is just an animal rights group that had nothing to do with the pandemic.

[spartan55]

Been a long time since I've seen those movies, thanks for refresher. In the same vain I recently watched 'The Book of Eli' which I really enjoyed.

[AviatorTom]

The end of The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy wakes up and realizes it was all a dream, with the farmhands and neighbors playing all the characters.

I first saw the movie when I was young, it was on TV every year, and it took several years before I understood the ending.

[OneViewpoint]

When Bobby Boucher leads the Mud Dogs to a win in the Bourbon Bowl.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Op5zKwN6A3s

[NathanDavis]

no spoilers!!!

[rgb008]

Woah that spoiled a lot for me!

[NathanDavis]

@rgb008 no, no, no... it doesn't show the twist...

[rgb008]

Tommy Wiseau’s “the room”

woah

[Spencer10]

Thanks for reminding me the title... for me it was Sixth Sense. I totally face palmed myself "why did I not see that coming!"

[DryGermanGuy]

Tootsie. From the perspective of the viewers of Southwest General, of course. 😆

[rachel776]

@DryGermanGuy does Jeff know?

[DryGermanGuy]

@rachel776
Exactly! 😂😂😂

[Anonymous]

Generic answer but the end of Your Name is probably the happiest twist I've seen in a movie. It spends the entire runtime priming you for separation and quiet tragedy, especially if you've seen Shinkai's other films, and tastefully reverses course.

[AngryCarl3]

Citizen Kane - Rosebud was the sled he was playing with as a kid!

[abc3643]

Oh, yes! Excellent answer! I should have thought of that!

[MrShaun]

I love this movie. It represents a lot of what's really important.

[FunkyMonkee]

The movie, "Sleuth".
Also, "Planet Of The Apes".

[exitseven]

How about in the Sting with Robert Redford and Paul Newman?

[Lauraita]

I absolutly didn't expect the twist in the prestige

[TonyMetal___1986]

There are many, one of them is "Wrong Turn 6 : Last Resort" 🙂

[Elizabeth113]

The sixth scene when Bruce Willis find out he’s dead.

[FrodoSkywalker007]

Star Wars certainly has the most significant

[astlavista]

The reveal in The Sixth Sense is hard to beat—it completely changes how you see the entire movie.

[MrShaun]

No one has said The Others. I thought the fact that the caretakers were dead was going to be the twist. Didn't see the actual twist coming.

[aceleon]

tyler durden being the narrator himself.

[Chazmatazz269]

“Sleepaway Camp”
Nothing else even comes close.

[MrShaun]

That was freaky.

[shortster]

The Usual Suspects and Momento come to mind.

[MrChinaski]

Yes, Memento is good. Though somehow it always gets muddle with The Butterfly Effect in my mind. Maybe that was intended.

[MrChinaski]

One is about the difficulty inferring cause from effect, the other about the difficulty predicting effect from cause.

[Paige2006]

The Sting

[Paige2006]

The Sixth Sense

[exitseven]

yes,