Murder mystery fans are already anticipating the plot twist of the new release See How You Run but these ten movies set the bar very high.
The recent release of See How You Run excited movie sleuths who were awaiting the latest addition to the murder mystery genre as they armed themselves with a notebook to jot down any clues. The movie is set in a theater and takes the usual format of a mystery movie alongside a star-studded cast that creates a series of unique and quirky characters, synonymous with the genre.
The announcement of its release a few months ago encouraged fans to remember those great movie twists that even the toughest of sleuths didn't see happening.
Memento follows Leonard Shelby, who adopts the attitude of a detective when he seeks to piece together who killed his wife, despite suffering from amnesia. The thriller toys with mystery due to Leonard's memory, mirrored in its confusing narrative structure that offers viewers an insight into living with amnesia.
Memento's distinctive structure saw Leonard take the role of a grieving victim, so when he is revealed as the killer, viewers felt as though they had been cheated into solving an already solved case. This made the majority of their notes pointless, resulting in some fans like mymumsaysno to state that they "can't think of anything else quite like" Memento.
American Psycho is famous for having one of the weirdest movie endings of all time, leading to the film becoming something of a cult classic as Christian Bale takes on the role of an egotistical banker who suddenly goes on a killing spree.
Throughout the movie, viewers are given a front-row seat into Patrick's life, and whilst some are jealous of his wealth, others think of it as his downfall. His character's delusional thought process convinces viewers that he is a cold-blooded killer until the end when some of his victims are said to be alive, in a shocking plot twist that "even the audience doesn't quite believe", according to rebeccasmileyface.
Crazy Stupid Love received a lot of attention when it was released in 2011 due to its star-studded cast that saw the genius pairing of Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell. The pair's budding friendship is the main storyline and encourages viewers to become invested as both characters learn valuable life skills from each other.
But in the final scenes, their friendship almost comes to an end when the characters are revealed to be connected, including Jacob, who is dating Cal's daughter. This stunned fans like walsh06 because "who expects a twist in a rom-com", especially one that already abandoned standard conventions by creating a solid friendship with a significant age gap.
Last Christmas was marketed as a sweet and funny festive flick, accompanied by the wonderful sound of George Michael, which is why it set viewers up to experience one of the biggest plot twists ever. Kate explodes on to screens as an expressive soul who is lost in life after experiencing a bill of ill health, but when she meets Tom, she gets a new lust for life.
Last Christmas employs the love story as the main plot before adding a subplot surrounding illness that hints at a tragic third-act climax. The movie swiftly averts being predictable when Tom divulges he is a ghost whose heart was donated to Kate in what one Redditor called "a sad but interesting twist" that hasn't been done before.
Interstellar is destined to become a classic within the cinematic world and helped to put science fiction adventure films back on the map. The movie takes place in the future and showcases an uninhabitable world that threatens existence until Joseph Cooper and his trusty research group seek to find a new planet.
The movie's complex plot resulted in it being re-watched several times by fans who sought to make sense of its intricate storyline, but fans were especially hooked when the ghost who helped Murph solve the equation turned out to be her dad. The movie cleverly combines its employment of time with the connection of Murph and Cooper to create what one Redditor called "the masterpiece of all masterpieces" as viewers wept while being rendered speechless.
Remember Me is one romance drama that left a lasting impact on fans, especially its final scene, which proved that love stories don't always have happy endings. The film already situates itself as a unique viewing experience by creating two complex characters whose relationship goes against the easy romance commonly employed within cinema.
However, it was the final scene that left many viewers audible gasping, with the movie being the first to use 9/11 as a plot twist that, according to rebeccasmileyface, "sensitively represented the grief the world felt", showcasing that in real life happy endings aren't always possible.
The Girl On The Train is one of the greatest mystery movies led by a badass female lead known to viewers as Rachel Watson. Adapted from Paula Hawkin's novel, the movie recounts the story of Rachel as she becomes captivated by a couple she passes every day on the train, but things go south when one of them disappears.
By employing Rachel as an unreliable narrator due to her relationship with alcohol in The Girl On The Train, the audience consistently questions the lapses in Rachel's memory which helps to blank out clues, leading her and cinema sleuths down the wrong track. This encouraged viewers to miss that her ex-husband Tom was responsible for Megan's death, which made for a "surprisingly great" but unpredictable ending, according to KatMot.
Fight Club is considered the ultimate 90s classic and continues to have a large following even today that often sees the film at the center of many online movie recommendations. A pair of unhappy capitalist workers create a fight club where the only rule is to not talk about what goes on in the underground club, which eventually leads to chaos.
Throughout the movie, fans watch the pair grow closer and convince themselves that they are two separate people until the truth is revealed. The truth that Tyler is a figment of Edward Norton's character and in fact, an embodiment of himself has become a well-known twist that viewers like foxsable labeled as "masterful" due to its references to the impact of capitalism, insomnia, and authority that still hold up today.
Knives Out invites its viewers to solve the mystery alongside its characters and is responsible for reigniting the murder mystery genre. The movie opens with Harlan Thromby being found dead and in a bid to find his killer Benoit Blanc is employed and soon begins pointing fingers at Harlan's 'doting' family.
Due to Knives Out being a murder mystery, fans anticipated the plot twist and began trying to solve his murder themselves but instead of just having one unexpected ending, the movie actually had two. At first, it looks as though Marta has been framed for his murder until Harlan is revealed as his own killer, with many fans, including one Redditor sharing that they "felt like [they] had no time to recover before the next plot twist".
Shutter Island is one film that dominated 2010 and the thriller mystery genre for many years after as it tells the story of Teddy, who is sent alongside Chuck to a remote island to uncover the mystery behind a patient's disappearance. Aside from being beautifully shot, the movie relies heavily on dialogue, encouraging its audience to pay close attention.
Although viewers accumulated a series of notes that pointed to the potential ending, many fans explained how their "minds [were] blown when the reveal happened", disrupting everything viewers knew about Teddy as he is labeled a murderer. The chilling flick saw viewers leave movie theaters labeling the film as a facade that tricked not only them but also Teddy, highlighting just how impressive its twist was.
Amy is a freelance list writer for Screen Rant where her content covers a variety of genres within the world of Film and Televsion. In 2020, Amy graduated with a first class BA Honours degree in English, Film and Television, majoring in Film and Tv. In her final year of study, Amy completed her dissertation which focussed on the representation of disability in horror films, specifically whether the new sub genre of sensory horror was replacing outdated cultural scripts with a more positive representation. Amy lives in the UK and is often found at the latest cinematic release or glued to a book in true introvert style!
10 Movies With A Massive Plot Twist That Even Reddit Sleuths Didn … – Screen Rant
