Did you see that coming? Because I certainly didn't with these excellent plot twists.
There comes a time in everyone's life when we watch a movie, and it's going all fine and dandy, and then a twist happens so suddenly that it's something we would never expect.
Perhaps it's someone's true origins that finally reveal themselves or who the murderer is in some of the best horror movies. Regardless, these twists will sit with you for days, making you think about how you didn't see that coming. These are some of the best.
And obviously, this article is full of spoilers, so there’s a movie on the list that you haven’t seen, you might want to skip that section.
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Director: Irvin Kershner
Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Plot Twist: Luke finds out that his enemy, Darth Vader, is actually his father.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: This not only sets up the rest of the Star Wars franchise but also sets Luke on an even more determined path to beat the Empire, which he does in the next movie with the help of his allies. It's from this twist that we get to know who Anakin Skywalker is, and years later, people still regard him as one of the best Star Wars characters.
Psycho (1960)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Janet Leigh
Plot Twist: Norman Bates had already killed his mother before the main character arrived.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: The twist is as classic as it can get, and is considered one Alfred Hitchcock’s best movies. It still hits, even now, if you’ve never seen the film before.
Get Out (2016)
Director: Jordan Peele
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landy Jones, Stephen Root, Catherine Keener
Plot Twist: The Armitage Family lures Black people into their home in order to transfer the brains of wealthy people into their bodies in order to have their physical traits.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: I don’t know what the world I was expecting when Jordan Peele made his directorial debut, but it was most certainly not Get Out and its crazy twist. Out of everything, this is one of those twists that legit no one ever saw coming and when it does, all you can hope for is that Chris somehow finds his way out.
Fight Club (1999)
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter
Plot Twist: The Narrator and Tyler are actually the same person, and the Narrator did everything Tyler did.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: There are so many cool behind-the-scenes facts about Fight Club, but the twist truly makes you want to rewatch the film over and over again to see all the little hints that you missed that lead to it. Such a good one.
Us (2019)
Director: Jordan Peele
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker
Plot Twist: The doppelgänger is actually the real Adelaide.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: I feel like a lot of people say this twist was predictable but I distinctly remember sitting in the movie theater, shocked that this was what was going down. I legit did not know who to root for at the end, or if any of the feelings I had during the film were valid towards the main character, knowing what I know. That’s the sign of a good twist.
Parasite (2019)
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeaon, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam
Plot Twist: The former housekeeper of the Parks has kept her husband living in a secret bunker under the house for years.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: Parasite won Best Picture at the Oscars in 2020, and it deserved every award, and its twist is just as good. It turns the film into a much different one, pivoting down a darker road that none of us expect – but it’s great either way.
Friday The 13th (1980)
Director: Sean S. Cunningham
Cast: Betsey Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram
Plot Twist: The killer is actually Jason’s mother.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: Fun fact – the Jason that we all know from the Friday the 13th movies didn't even appear in the first film. He wasn't the person killing all the teenagers in the first film. Of course, we see him later on, but the fact that there was just a vengeful mother that killed all these teenagers truly makes you gasp each time.
Saltburn (2023)
Director: Emerald Fennell
Cast: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan
Plot Twist: Oliver orchestrated his meeting with Felix at Oxford in order to get close to his family and take them out one by one so he could take Saltburn for himself.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: Ya’ll, say what you want about Saltburn and some of the super gross moments that this film has – its twist is pretty great. Oliver seemed like such a really weird but socially awkward guy but to find out he’s really just this mastermind behind legit everything, it definitely shakes you to your core. Although I could have done without the bathtub scene.
Scream (1996)
Director: Wes Craven
Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, David Arquette
Plot Twist: The killer is actually two people – and they are the boyfriend and friend of Sidney.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: We had plenty of interesting villains prior to Scream, but the idea of two killers both working together so effortlessly while also being so close to the victim was such a great idea at the time, and spawned the entirety of the Scream franchise.
Orphan (2009)
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett
Plot Twist: Esther is actually an older woman who suffers from a hormonal disorder that stunts her growth, and poses as a little girl to kill people.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: Orphan was so successful in its twist that the series itself has inspired a prequel, which I’m not even sure how you do that considering the actress who played Esther is now much older. Either way, the twist still gets you and instantly makes you wary of literally any child.
Citizen Kane (1941)
Director: Orson Welles
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Dorothy Cominore, Everett Sloane, Ray Collins
Plot Twist: Rosebud is Kane’s childhood sleigh, the last thing that brought him true happiness.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: It’s a profound twist that truly teaches you that sometimes, money and fame isn’t what you want, but just pure memorable moments, and those of which that we can’t ever experience ever again.
Atonement (2007)
Director: Joe Wright
Cast: James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan
Plot Twist: Cecilia and Robbie were never reunited, and both died due to incidents that occurred during World War II. Their love story and happy ending was just a novel.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: You never expect this as the film goes on, and when it hits, it is so hard and breaks your heart in the best way possible – and then makes you want to rewatch to see what the clues were that lead to this twist, paired with great acting.
Seven (1995)
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, John C. McGinley
Plot Twist: David Mills’ wife has been killed as part of the serial killer’s plan.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: This is a brilliant twist, because not only does it shock the viewer, but it completes the story too, where the sins killer gets his envy sin, as well as his wrath sin before he is killed.
American Psycho (2000)
Director: Mary Herron
Cast: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas
Plot Twist: Bateman might not have actually killed his victims and they might still be alive.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: As someone who loves American Psycho and had her friends watch it, it's great to see how people react to this twist. It makes you rethink the entire film, wondering if you imagined him killing those people as well. Were they killed? Are they alive? You never know.
Longlegs (2024)
Director: Osgood Perkins
Cast: Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Nicolas Cage
Plot Twist: Lee’s mother has been Longleg's accomplice for years in exchange to let her daughter live.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: As someone who still stands by the fact that Longlegs is one of the best movies of 2024, this twist was one that I think I expected but not to the extent that it was given. I knew that Lee’s mother had something to do with this but the amount of bloodshed she spread was almost too much for me to handle. It gets you rethinking the entire movie and all the little hints that she dropped throughout the film.
Interstellar (2014)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anna Hathway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin
Plot Twist: The ghost trying to help Murphy is actually her father from another dimension.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: Interstellar is my favorite Christopher Nolan movie; a big reason is this moment. Not only does it speak to the love between a father and a daughter, it’s a great way to tie up the film and take the sci-fi nature to the next level.
Oldboy (2003)
Director: Park Chan-wook
Cast: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung
Plot Twist: Mi-do is actually Dae-su’s daughter – and they had fallen in love.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: This twist is like ten levels of gross but also heartbreaking in a lot of ways, but way more horrifying when you think about it. Like, I don’t even know how to explain why this is a great twist – it just is because this is the kind of stuff you legit never expect in any film, and yet, Oldboy gave it and more.
Planet Of The Apes (1968)
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Cast: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter, James Daly, Linda Harrison
Plot Twist: The planet isn’t new – it’s Earth, and it’s been taken over by apes.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: I mean, this is probably one of the most classic twists of all time, and it spawned an entire franchise surrounding this premise. The idea of believing you’re on a different planet because it’s so different from yours, but discovering it’s the same one but just changed…terrifying.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Haley Joel Osment
Plot Twist: The psychologist that was helping Cole was actually dead the entire time.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: We can't have a twist article without mentioning at least one M. Night Shyamalan movie, and The Sixth Sense is undoubtedly the one that ranks the highest. You never see this coming when you first watch the film, and the twist is so iconic that so many people parody it now.
The Descent (2005)
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder
Plot Twist: Sarah, seems to find a way to escape, but then at the very end, it's revealed that she hallucinated her escape and that she is still stuck in the caves – and the crawlers are coming closer and closer to kill her.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: I think for anyone who is terrified of horror movies, this is your worst fear. You think you’re going to get out, and then you reach the end but it’s actually not – you’re still stuck in this same mindless pattern of mazes. That’s terrifying and renews a sense of dread for the viewer.
Shutter Island (2010)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams
Plot Twist: Teddy is Andrew Laeddis, who was imprisoned after killing his manic-depressive wife after she drowned their children. His delusion came from the guilt he felt over killing his wife, and for his children's deaths, so he created this persona inside his head to cope.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: I could go on for hours about this twist. There are plenty of signs that lead to it, but only if you rewatch the film after. And the moment it hits, it’s heartbreaking and intriguing all the same because it makes you want to figure out if you could pick up the twist before it’s revealed.
Gone Girl (2014)
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry
Plot Twist: Amy orchestrated her disappearance after she discovered that Nick was having an affair. It was all a scheme to get back at him for what he did.
Why It’s The Best Plot Twist: Wow, who would have thought another David Fincher movie would be on this list? But really, guys, this twist takes you by surprise because all of a sudden, in the middle of the film, it really switches gears, and then you really don’t know who to trust anymore. I love it.
These twists have truly blown my mind repeatedly, and I think you should get other people to watch these movies because they are unlike any experience you could imagine.
