The 10 biggest movie plot twists of all time that are still blowing people's minds
The plot twists of all plot twists are here with UNILAD RANKED revealing some of the biggest mind-bogglers to grace the big screen.
We're now closer to 2050 than we are to the year 2000 and if that's got your head feeling scrambled then how about distracting yourself by baffling yourself even further with some of the biggest plot twists in movie history instead?
Warning: Heavy plot-hinting ahead.
10) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
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Now, I know what some of you are thinking - Twilight? In a top 10? The franchise is an iconic one but it's hardly known for being a cinematic masterpiece.
In a way, how it's bad is exactly why it's so good - Millennials and Gen Z'ers know - however, ultimately this week's RANKED isn't judging films based on their general reception but instead, their plot twists.
And even if you're not Team Jacob or Edward you have to admit the plot twist in the final movie of the Twilight franchise is a hand-flying-to-the-facer.
Based on the 2008 novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2's screenplay was written by Melissa Rosenberg and the film directed by Bill Condon.
It sees the Cullens and werewolves go up against the Volturi and off pops Carlisle's head - if your jaw didn't drop you're made of sterner stuff than me. Thankfully, the fight scene is revealed to be one of Alice's visions into the future so it turns out everything she saw can ultimately be avoided and Carlisle's head lives another day.
Now, if adding Twilight into the top 10 riled you up, bear with me, because next up is a true cinematic icon.
9) Psycho (1960)
The minor major seventh chord - which has since been dubbed the Hitchcock chord - from that shower scene probably lives rent free in your head if you've seen the 1960 release.
Psycho's screenplay is written by Joseph Stefano, based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch and the film was produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Psycho is not only visually striking featuring impressive camerawork and stellar performances but its score - composed by Bernard Hermann - is what makes what happens to Marion even more toe-curling.
However, it's not even the shower scene but the revelation about Norman Bates and his 'mom' which is ultimately the biggest plot twist of the movie - it's not hard to see why the movie's obtained a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer score of 97 alongside a popcornmeter of 95.
So determined was Hitchcock to make sure the plot twists were kept under wraps, it's reported he anonymously bought the rights to the novel and purchased as many copies of the original as he could so no one would have any foresight into the movie released the following year.
The director even made the cast and crew swear an oath to not reveal any parts of the story and Hitchcock reportedly withheld the end of the script from the cast until nearer the time of shooting, IMDB Pro reveals.
8) Primal Fear (1996)
The crime thriller's screenplay was written by Steve Shagan and Ann Biderman and is based on the 1993 novel of the same name by William Diehl.
Featuring an absolutely stellar cast including the likes of Richard Gere (Pretty Woman), Laura Linney (Ozark), John Mahoney (Frasier) and Edward Norton (Fight Club), Primal Fear's plot twist comes right at the end.
It's revealed altar boy Aaron Taylor, who's accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago, is a lot less - or lot more, depending on how you look at it - complicated than viewers were initially led to believe, one fan resolving it's 'one of the best endings ever'.
It's no surprise the film has gone on to achieve a solid Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer score of 77 and popcornmeter of 89, dubbed 'one of the greatest thrillers ever brought to the screen' and 'a masterpiece'.
7) Citizen Kane (1941)
An oldie but goldie, the plot twist in Citizen Kane is less of a hand-flyer-to-facer and more of a sad pang of realization.
Written by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles, seeing Welles take on the titular role alongside the role of director and producer, the movie was the triple threat's first feature film.
Along with having what's considered one of the most incredible opening sequences in the history of cinema and its optical effects shots remarkable for its time, the final scene twists the plot in an ironic way which throws into question the actions and meanings of all that's come before with a sombre symbolism.
Despite being a box office flop when first released - so much so it was vaulted and then re-released in the mid-1950s, IMDB says - Citizen Kane has gone on to achieve a Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer score of 99 with a popcornmeter of 90 making it one of the highest rated films ever.
6) Gone Girl (2014)
Written by Gillian Flynn, based on her 2012 novel of the same name, the film is directed by thriller mastermind David Fincher.
It sees the character of Amy Elliott Dunne (Rosamund Pike) go AWOL on her fifth wedding anniversary to husband Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck). Nick ends up the prime suspect but it turns out someone even closer to home is to blame.
"Once you know you can’t unsee it as it changes everything," a Twitter user wrote, the film obtaining a Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer score of 88 percent and popcornmeter of 87.
It stars the likes of Affleck (Air), the legendary Pike (Saltburn) alongside Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), although Pike almost didn't end up playing the role of Amy after Reese Witherspoon obtained the film rights from Flynn in 2012 with the intention of taking it on. Witherspoon later withdrew from the project after meeting with Fincher about his vision for the movie, IMDB reports.
Keep an eye out on the opening and final shot of the film if you want to appreciate just how much of a 'genius' Fincher is too.
5) Shutter Island (2010)
Granted, its Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer score of 68 and popcornmeter of 77 leaves something to be desired, but the plot twist tops many thriller fans' lists, dubbed by one as featuring 'the biggest plot-twist in cinema'.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of US Marshal Teddy Daniels and Mark Ruffalo as his partner, the action is set in an asylum on a remote island centring around a woman who appears to have vanished from a locked room.
Similarly to Daniels struggling to make out what's real and what's not, a viewer reflected on the plot twist: "I still don't know what to believe honestly."
Some have argued Shutter Island is massively predictable from the get go, a social media user writing: "I've never understood this one, I figured out the twist in the first 10 minutes so the rest was just tedious." However, I was left questioning my whole existence and having to rewind to certain sections again.
If that wasn't mind-bending enough to get your head around, the title is actually an anagram of 'truth and lies' or also 'truths/ denials,' IMDB notes.
4) Oldboy (2003)
With a screenplay written by Hwang Jo-yun, Lim Jun-hyung and Park Chan-wook, Oldboy is based on the Japanese Manga series of the same name by Garon Tsuchiya and illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi. The 2003 release was also directed by Chan-wook.
Imprisoned in a cell resembling a hotel room for 15 years, Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is released and vows to track down the person who resulted in him being there, alongside finding his long lost daughter who ends up being a lot closer by than he realizes.
With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 82 and popcornmeter of 94, the film has been praised as 'one of the most bizarre and mind boggling experiences of [a viewer's] life'.
"I really wish I hadn’t watched it at 2am, but the final sequence is undeniably one of the greatest moments ever , with the most gut wrenching and distressing plot twist I have ever seen," they added.
Another wrote: "I was watching the movie thinking it’s a John Wick revenge type of movie never in a million years could I have seen that twist coming."
Oh and if that isn't enough to draw you in, Min-sik did the majority of his own stunt work in the movie too, IMDB adds.
3) The Sixth Sense (1999)
Mentioned in Scrubs and The Simpsons, The Sixth Sense's plot twist caused a cultural stir making it more than worthy of taking a spot in the top three, also obtaining a Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer score of 86 and popcornmeter of 90.
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, it stars Bruce Willis as child psychologist Malcolm Crowe who ends up treating a nine-year-old boy Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) who claims he can not only see but also talk to the dead.
The plot twist has been praised for its emotional resonance with star Toni Collette saying she initially didn't even realize it was a horror movie because of how moving she found the story, IMDB notes.
Indeed, a viewer took to Twitter to write: "Not many horror movies can make you cry. This scene, even out of context, is incredibly powerful. The acting from Toni Collette and 10 year old Haley Joel Osment is off the scale. It really doesn't get any better than this."
"The shocking twist in the final scene completely re-contextualizes the entire movie, making it unforgettable," another added.
The only reason it comes after the next movie up is because of how the plot twist aligns slightly more closely with the whole 'and it was all just a dream' concept.
2) The Usual Suspects (1995)
Written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer, the movie stars Stephen Baldwin (Fred Claus), Gabriel Byrne (Hereditary), Benicio del Toro (Sicario), Kevin Pollak (A Few Good Men), Chazz Palminteri (A Bronx Tale), Pete Postlethwaite (Alien 3) and Kevin Spacey (House of Cards).
The plot twist is extraordinarily clever and executed in Sherlock Holmes-style, one Twitter user resolving: "It puts the twist in plot-twist with perhaps the most famous of movie line-ups and one of the all time twist-reveal in film history!"
And it wasn't just viewers who were left flabbergasted at the revelation in The Usual Suspects, but the actors too.
During an appearance on The Colbert Report, Spacey - who was charged, but later acquitted of nine sexual offences against four men - revealed: "Bryan Singer, who directed that film, had managed to convince every one of the major actors in that movie that they were in fact Keyser Söze. I remember when we screened it for the company of actors, ****** ***** was stunned that he wasn't Keyser Söze. Went out into the parking lot and had an argument with Bryan Singer. For a half an hour."
The film was shot over a period of just 35 days as per IMDB, which makes it all the more impressive, obtaining a Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer score of 87 and popcornmeter of 96.
Now, drum roll please...
1) Star Wars - Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
It's the most iconic of all time, so iconic that even if you haven't seen the film, you'll have heard it referenced in multiple others and discussed all over the universe.
The film's obtained a Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer score of 95 and popcornmeter of 97 and has been praised as 'a revolutionary game changer'.
"It has one of the greatest plot twists in cinema history, one of the greatest villains of all time in Darth Vader and wasn't afraid to go dark or mature," a Twitter user argues.
An original Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back script reveals the plot twist was hidden from actors with the iconic line omitted from copies completely. The script given to David Prowse (who played Darth Vader) read, as quoted by CNN: "Luke, we will be the most powerful in the galaxy. You will have everything you could ever want… do not resist… it is our destiny."
Only the film's producers, director Irvin Kershner and Mark Hamill (who played Luke Skywalker) knew the actual line which was later added in, voiced by James Earl Jones.
Granted, Se7en should've definitely gone in the tenth spot instead of Twilight, but what would a UNILAD RANKED about plot twists be without one of its own, eh?
UNILAD RANKED is a weekly series with a new article released every Friday.
Topics: Film and TV, UNILAD RANKED
Poppy Bilderbeck