A plot twist is a sudden reversal in the early stages of a film, usually occurring at the climax of the first act. It’s a surprise that everything we thought we knew about the story changes.
In some cases, the plot twist is one of many turns that keep us interested throughout the story.
Highlights
- The Old Guard is an American superhero film that follows a covert team of immortal mercenaries who are suddenly exposed.
- Netflix released Forgotten after its local release and made it available to 190 countries.
- Alfred Hitchcock directed an American horror film, Psycho, based on the 1959 novel by Robert Bloch.
Whether it’s a classic twist, a mid-twist, or a double twist, these unexpected turns can elevate a story and leave a lasting impact on viewers.
So, if you love twists in movies that enhance the story and keep things interesting, here is a top 10 list of movies you don’t want to miss.
Note that there may be differences in available movies depending on where you live.
10. Spiderhead (2022)
| Director | Joseph Kosinski |
| Writer | Paul Wernick Rhett Reese George Saunders |
| Release Date | June 17, 2022 |
| Casts | Chris Hemsworth Miles Teller Jurnee Smollett |
| IMDb Rating | IMDb |
Spiderhead is a sci-fi psychological thriller film based on the dystopian short story “Escape from Spiderhead” by George Saunders.
It is a cutting-edge penitentiary where research chemicals are tested on volunteer prisoners to reduce their sentence time.
The facility is overseen by Steve Abnesti and his assistant, Mark. The inmates experience daily test runs of various drugs that alter their emotions and perceptions.
Inmate Jeff is given N-40, a “love drug,” which leads to sexual encounters with fellow inmates.
Steve asks Jeff to choose which inmate should receive Darkenfloxx, a drug that induces intense fear and psychological pain.
However, Jeff refuses after the love drug’s effects wear off.
The “higher-ups” want to inject Heather with Darkenfloxx, and she commits suicide while under its influence.
Moreover, Steve and Jeff get high together, sharing personal confessions. Jeff discovers the true purpose of the program: testing a compliance drug called B-6.
Jeff forces Steve to free Lizzy, and they escape Spiderhead.
Meanwhile, Mark and the police approach the island as Steve crashes his floatplane while high on his damaged MobiPak.
Jeff reflects that no drug can bestow self-forgiveness; instead, it must be actively worked on and consciously chosen.
9. Apostle (2018)
| Director | Gareth Evans |
| Writer | Gareth Evans |
| Release Date | October 12, 2018 |
| Casts | Dan Stevens Richard Elfyn Paul Higgins |
| IMDb Rating | IMDb |
Apostle is a gothic folk horror film about a British man who attempts to rescue his sister from a cult on a remote island.
In 1905, Thomas Richardson embarks on a risky journey to a remote Welsh island to rescue his kidnapped sister, Jennifer.
The captors are part of a mysterious cult led by Malcolm Howe, who claims that the island’s fertility is maintained through blood sacrifice. Thomas infiltrates the cult, discovering secrets and dark rituals.
As events unfold, Thomas faces danger, betrayal, and supernatural elements. He encounters an older woman imprisoned in tree roots, who is the island’s deity.
Thomas’s faith is tested, and he grapples with his past as a Christian missionary.
Meanwhile, Ffion’s pregnancy leads to tragedy, and a masked figure, The Grinder, plays a sinister role.
Ultimately, Thomas’s actions determine the island’s fate and its inhabitants. His transformation into the new guardian signifies a powerful and unexpected twist.
The story weaves together suspense, horror, and themes of faith and sacrifice.
8. The Guilty (2021)
| Director | Antoine Fuqua |
| Writer | Emil Nygaard Albertsen Gustav Möller Nic Pizzolatto |
| Release Date | September 24, 2021 |
| Casts | Jake Gyllenhaal Riley Keough Peter Sarsgaard |
| IMDb Rating | IMDb |
The Guilty is a crime thriller remake of the 2018 Danish film of the same name.
Officer Joe Baylor is a demoted police officer assigned to the call dispatch desk.
His job involves handling emergency phone calls, but things take an unexpected turn when he receives a call from a kidnapped woman.
One night, he receives a call from Emily Lighton, who reveals that she has been abducted. She is in a white van, but the call is cut short before she can provide more details.
Baylor investigates further and discovers that Emily has been abducted by her ex-husband.
Armed with limited information, he keeps her on the line while contacting the California Highway Patrol to track down the vehicle.
Baylor also contacts Emily’s young daughter, Abby, who provides additional details about her parents.
The situation becomes increasingly urgent, and his determination to save Emily intensifies.
However, as Baylor delves deeper into the case, he uncovers a web of deceit and realizes that nothing is as it seems.
The truth he uncovers is far from what he expected, and facing it becomes his only way out.
7. The Old Guard (2020)
| Director | Gina Prince-Bythewood |
| Writer | Leandro Fernandez Greg Rucka |
| Release Date | July 10, 2020 |
| Casts | Charlize Theron KiKi Layne Matthias Schoenaerts |
| IMDb Rating | IMDb |
The Old Guard is an American superhero film based on the comic of the same name. It follows a covert team of immortal mercenaries who are suddenly exposed.
Andromache of Scythia (Andy) and her fellow immortals Booker, Joe, and Nicky use their regenerative healing abilities to work as mercenaries.
Breaking their rule of never working for the same employer twice, they accept a job to rescue kidnapped girls in South Sudan.
However, the mission turns out to be a trap, and they are ambushed and killed. To their surprise, they quickly regenerate and realize that Copley set them up and remotely filmed their healing process.
They’ve fought to protect the mortal world for centuries, but as they uncover more about their existence, they face challenges as immortals.
6. The Platform (2019)
| Director | Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia |
| Writer | Pedro Rivero David Desola |
| Release Date | September 6, 2019 |
| Casts | Ivan Massagué Zorion Eguileor Antonia San Juan |
| IMDb Rating | IMDb |
The Platform is a Spanish social science fiction horror film.
The film takes place in a vertical prison divided into levels, each containing prisoners. There is a hole in both the ceiling and floor of each level.
Every day, a platform filled with immaculately prepared food descends through the holes, stopping at each level. Prisoners can only eat when the platform is on their level.
However, the lower the level, the less food remains. The system inevitably leads to conflict.
Residents on the top levels gorge themselves, leaving only leftovers for those below. Prisoners are randomly reassigned to different levels each month.
The Platform premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), winning the People’s Choice Award for Midnight Madness.
It secured a worldwide streaming deal with Netflix and was released on the platform in March 2020 to generally positive reviews from critics.
5. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)
| Director | David Slade |
| Writer | Charlie Brooker |
| Release Date | December 28, 2018 |
| Casts | Fionn Whitehead Craig Parkinson Alice Lowe |
| IMDb Rating | IMDb |
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is an interactive film.
In July 1984, a young programmer, Stefan Butler, adapted a “choose your own adventure” book called “Bandersnatch” by Jerome F. Davies into a revolutionary video game.
He pitched the idea to Tuckersoft, a video game company Mohan Thakur and Colin Ritman run. However, Stefan must choose whether to accept or reject the company’s help.
If he accepts, the game is released but receives poor reviews. Likewise, if he rejects, he works on the game alone and becomes increasingly stressed.
Stefan’s life starts mirroring Davies, who had a similar experience. He sees recurring imagery of a “branching pathway” symbol.
As the deadline approaches, Stefan feels controlled by external forces. The viewer can guide his actions, leading to various endings.
He may fight his therapist, discover he’s on a film set, or even revisit his past to “die” with his mother in a train crash. Other paths involve killing his father and facing the consequences.
The film concludes with an adult Pearl, a programmer for Netflix, attempting to adapt “Bandersnatch” into an interactive film.
The viewer decides whether to pour tea over her computer or destroy it, hinting at a fate similar to Davies and Stefan’s.
4. Forgotten (2017)
| Director | Jang Hang-jun |
| Writer | Jang Hang-jun |
| Release Date | November 29, 2017 |
| Casts | Kang Ha-neul Yeon Je Hyung Kim Mu-yeol |
| IMDb Rating | IMDb |
Forgotten is a South Korean mystery thriller film. Netflix released Forgotten after its local release on November 29, 2017, and made it available to 190 countries.
Jin-seok moves into a new home with his family, including his older brother Yoo-seok.
One night, Yoo-seok is kidnapped and dragged into a car. After 19 days, he returns home without memory of his time away.
Jin-Seok starts noticing discrepancies in his brother’s personality and suspects he is not his real brother. Yoo-seok attributes this to missing medication.
He discovers signs of deception in his parent’s behavior and flees the house. At a police station, he learns that it’s 2017, not 1997, as he believed.
He enters the forbidden room in their house and finds a depiction of a murder crime scene. Yoo-seok reveals the truth: 20 years ago, a teenage girl and her mother were murdered in that room.
The victim’s family has been searching for the killer, and they believe Jin-seok is responsible. They abduct him and torture him for a confession, but he claims no recollection of the murder.
A psychiatrist suggests that Jin-seok has repressed memories due to dissociative amnesia. They hypnotize him back to 1997, hoping to reenact the events and recover his memories.
3. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
| Director | Anthony Minghella |
| Writer | Anthony Minghella Patricia Highsmith |
| Release Date | December 25, 1999 |
| Casts | Matt Damon Gwyneth Paltrow Jude Law |
| IMDb Rating | IMDb |
The Talented Mr. Ripley is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel of the same name.
In 1958 New York City, Tom Ripley was approached by shipbuilding magnate Herbert Greenleaf to convince his son, Dickie, to return to the United States from Italy.
Pretending to be Dickie, Ripley befriends American socialite Meredith Logue during an ocean liner voyage.
In the seaside village of Mongibello, he becomes entangled in Dickie’s extravagant lifestyle and forms an obsession with him.
As tensions rise, Ripley kills Dickie during an argument on a small boat. Assuming Dickie’s identity, he forges letters and fabricates communications to maintain the illusion that Dickie is still alive.
However, his deception is threatened when he encounters Marge, Dickie’s girlfriend, and her friend Peter. To protect his secret, he commits further crimes, including murder.
Ultimately, Ripley escapes the consequences of his actions and boards a liner to Greece with Peter. The story ends with a chilling twist, leaving readers pondering the depths of Ripley’s dark psyche.
2. The Sixth Sense (1999)
| Director | M. Night Shyamalan |
| Writer | M. Night Shyamalan |
| Release Date | August 6, 1999 |
| Casts | Bruce Willis Haley Joel Osment Toni Collette |
| IMDb Rating | IMDb |
The Sixth Sense is a psychological thriller film.
In Philadelphia, child psychologist Malcolm Crowe is haunted by his past failure to help a former patient, Vincent Grey, who ultimately took his own life.
Months later, Malcolm begins working with Cole Sear, a nine-year-old boy who shares similarities with Vincent.
Cole confides to Malcolm that he sees dead people, spirits who walk among the living, unaware of their deaths.
Malcolm is doubtful at first but learns that Cole does have the ability. He encourages him to communicate with the ghosts and help them find closure.
One night, Cole encounters Kyra Collins, a child ghost who reveals her mother’s dark secret through a videotape. This revelation saves Kyra’s younger sister from a similar fate.
As Cole improves socially and personally, he participates in a school play with guidance from a ghostly director.
Meanwhile, Malcolm tries to connect with his estranged wife, Anna, who is suffering from depression.
During a traffic jam, Cole reveals his secret to his mother, Lynn, who eventually accepts his unique ability.
In a surprising twist, Malcolm realizes that he is a ghost. He locates his gunshot wound and understands that he died when Vincent shot him.
Malcolm confesses his love to Anna, allowing her to find peace. His work with Anna and Cole is complete, and he departs as a spirit.
1. Psycho (1960 film)
| Director | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Writer | Joseph Stefano Robert Bloch |
| Release Date | September 8, 1960 |
| Casts | Anthony Perkins Vera Miles John Gavin |
| IMDb Rating | IMDb |
Psycho is an American horror film based on the 1959 novel by Robert Bloch.
Marion Crane, a real estate secretary, steals $40,000 from her employer after her boyfriend, Sam, complains about their financial situation delaying their marriage.
While driving to Sam’s home in Fairvale, she stops at the Bates Motel during a heavy rainstorm. The motel is run by Norman Bates, who invites her to eat in the motel’s office.
Norman discusses his taxidermy hobby and his mother’s “illness.” Marion suggests institutionalizing his mother, which offends him.
Marion is stabbed to death while showering. Norman discovers her body and cleans up the murder scene.
Marion’s sister, Lila, and Sam are concerned about her disappearance. Furthermore, private investigator Arbogast questions Norman and becomes suspicious.
Arbogast is killed after investigating Norman’s mother. Afterward, Sam and Lila search for answers.
Lila finds Norman’s mummified mother in the fruit cellar, and Norman attacks her.
A psychiatrist reveals that Norman killed his mother and her lover years ago. He now lives with an alternate personality, “Mother,” who takes over when he’s attracted to women.
Nonetheless, Norman is arrested, and Marion’s car, containing her remains and the stolen money, is found in a swamp.
Conclusion
Plot twists can enhance our movie-watching experience and keep us returning for more.
The films which are listed above exemplify the art of plot twists, challenging assumptions and exploring complex themes.
So, if you’re a fan of cinematic surprises, don’t miss these thought-provoking movies.
Lastly, I hope this article has helped you find some of the most interesting plot twist movies that will blow your assumptions. Keep updated for more similar content.
