This article contains spoilers for numerous movies, including Fight Club, Psycho, The Prestige, Last Night in Soho, Parasite, Saw, Hidden Window, and Split.
Spoilers can't always be avoided, but I'm glad I got to experience all of these movies without the twist being spoiled. I adore gross-out movies that defy expectations, but the downside is that many of these movies are spoiled by their eager fans. Moreover, when a movie with a twist really makes waves and stands out, the endings continue to be discussed for years to the point where they are common knowledge.
movies like The Sixth Sense, Planet of the Apes, The Usual Suspectsand Return of the Jedi are classic hits with a big twist that most people will know whether they've seen the movies or not. However, I still enjoyed many incredible movies with a twist that I didn't know about from the start. The sensation that such twists bring is unforgettable and precious because you only get it once in every movie.
8 Fight club
This movie came out in 1999, when I was 5 years old. As a result, I did not watch the film until many years later. Nevertheless, I somehow managed to avoid learning about the incredible twist ending, and it was a brilliant surprise. Throughout the film, I was captivated by the ideology, themes and wild ride that Tyler Durden and the Narrator threw.
In addition, the casting of Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter in the lead roles is absolutely inspired. The stark differences between the enigmatic Durden and the cowardly Narrator also helped create a chasm between the protagonists that seemed utterly impossible to cross. But when the film ends and reveals that the Narrator is alone most of the time, that Durden exists only in his imagination, it's a glass-breaking moment. The entire film has been reframed and it is truly magnificent to watch.
7 Psycho
Going even further back, the Alfred Hitchcock classic, Psychois another movie I can avoid spoilers for, even though the movie was around for over 30 years before I was born and almost half a century by the time I was old enough to watch it. I think that's part of the reason the twist ending stuck out to me despite the respectful pop culture references. Psychohow engaging and moving the rest of the film was.
Yes, seeing Norman Bates dressed as his dead mother for the first time is a highlight of the film, but beyond that, there are many other scenes that have taken on a life of their own. The shower scene, Norman's smile at the camera at the end of the film, and several other moments have been adapted and parodied in countless other works. But discovering the true depths of her mental state and seeing Norma in clothes is crucial to understanding Psycho on a deeper level than the parodies it inspired.
6 Prestige
Fortunately, the past 20 years have also provided numerous iconic twists that have become modern classics. Among them is the famous Christopher Nolan film. Prestige. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman star side-by-side in the story of two competing magicians who want to become the biggest and most famous man in their trade, Prestige he sees that these people push the boundaries to achieve greatness at any cost. Folds inside Prestige comes doubly so, as the final act unravels multiple mysteries that become increasingly disturbing and illustrate the blind devotion of these performers.
While Bale's character is revealed to be a twin who chooses to live as one person in public and goes to great lengths to fit in in every way, Jackman's character makes an incredibly greater sacrifice. His gimmick is only made possible by using a machine that clones him, and thus requires him to brutally destroy the other version with each performance, as his wife dies no less. The ending is heartbreaking, but also brilliantly set up in a way that only Nolan could pull off.
5 Last Night in Soho
Even recently, Last night in Soho depicts a dramatic and thrilling mystery unfolding over time. As the film builds in intensity with a young woman who finds herself transported back in time while sleeping, there is an eerie sense of confusion between what is real and what is a dream. Things start out fun and exciting for young Eloise, but quickly turn into something much darker. He then tries to use his imagination to solve the mysterious crimes that baffle the community.
However, as the film moves towards its finale in the third act, Eloise discovers that a dark secret that seemed reliably out of reach in the distant past is in fact still present. The woman Eloise stays with turns out to be behind the murders, and her victims lie rotting within the walls of her house. This shocking twist is all the more poignant because Eloise has developed such a deep and personal connection to the figure in her dreams, but it turns out that he was to blame all along.
4 A parasite
A parasite is an incredible film from South Korea that played an important role in the wider distribution of foreign language films. Thanks to the films outstanding performance at film festivals, winning four Oscars and many other awards, and widespread global releases, this thriller has become a must-see phenomenon. Given Bong Joon Ho's incredible direction as well as an engaging story, it was easy for everyone to enjoy.
This seems to be the premise of the story as the film slowly establishes the Kim family as a family of impoverished individuals who seek to rise up the economic and social ladder by trickery. However, as the film progresses, it becomes clear that the Kims are not the first to take advantage of the more fortunate and insert themselves into the lives of the wealthy in ways that cross boundaries and create significant tension. The ending is something that has to be seen to be believed as it gets more and more disturbing and strange.
3 i saw
i saw is another one I missed in theaters because I was too young at the time of release, but when I finally saw the first entry in the franchise, it was incredibly compelling. I prefer horror that is more psychological and less graphic, but i saw the franchise provides both at a high caliber. The film's villain remains hidden throughout, but when he is finally revealed at the end of the film, it comes as a complete shocker.
Locked in a hideous room, two men are put through a brutal ordeal that tests their spirituality and humanity, while they are in the presence of a corpse that appears to be a former victim. There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the body, the conditions in the room and the brutality of their captor, who speaks through the recording, make it clear that death is a game. But as the film ends, the body suddenly moves, then stands up. All the while, their tormentor lay a few feet away, and the pair were none the wiser.
2 Hidden Window
Hidden Window stars Johnny Depp in one of his lesser-known roles, but the thrilling story of a writer who locks himself in a lonely house in the woods is worth watching. I was in the middle of researching Depp's work when the movie came out Sweeney Todd, Edward Scissorhands, Chocolate just a few of the titles I watched for the first time. I was intrigued by Depp's versatility and usually being drawn to roles that are a bit outside the norm, which led me to check out this little-known Stephen King adaptation.
Also being a fan of Stephen King and his adaptations, Hidden Window it was probably going to be my movie, but the psychological turmoil and excitement took it to another level. As the film progresses, Depp's character becomes increasingly unstable as the stories he writes begin to take shape in his real life. In the end, he is revealed to be the main character of the story and a secret killer, although he was unaware of his criminal activities.
1 divide
Finally, I watched when I was younger Unbreakable with my father and became a lifelong M. Night Shyamalan fan. Of course, the director has his ups and downs, his films have plenty of flaws, but his signature twists elevate his work to cult status. However, when I look UnbreakableI certainly didn't expect the story to continue more than 15 years later.
But that's exactly what Shyamalan did when he made it divide and includes an end credits scene that reveals its protagonist, David Dunn Unbreakableas part of this same shared universe. It was a great and unexpected twist that was instantly satisfying and created incredible anticipation for the final chapter of the trilogy. Glass. However, I was lucky enough to watch Shyamalan's universe unfold in real time, while newcomers to the series will already be spoiled for that twist knowing it's a trilogy.