The Best Plot Twists I’ve Ever Seen

Spoilers ahead!

Hereditary (2018)

I went into Hereditary expecting a horror film about grief. And technically, it is.

But it’s also so much more than that.

For most of the film, you’re led to believe you’re watching a family slowly falling apart after an unimaginable tragedy. Then the film completely pulls the rug out from under you.

It turns out that Ellen, Annie’s mother, wasn’t just an eccentric old woman. She was the leader of a cult devoted to the demon Paimon, and the horrifying events throughout the film were all part of a plan that had been unfolding for generations.

They were pieces on a chessboard from the very beginning.

Prisoners (2013)

Prisoners is one of those films that had me constantly changing my mind. Every time I thought I’d figured it out, the film would throw another clue at me and send me in a completely different direction.

For most of the story, Alex is presented as the obvious suspect. The audience is encouraged to view him with suspicion, and so are the characters.

Alex isn’t the villain.

He’s another victim.

The real mastermind behind the kidnappings is Holly Jones, a woman who has spent years abducting children as part of a twisted crusade against God. The real monster was hiding in plain sight the entire time.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Some plot twists are so famous that even people who haven’t seen the film know them. This is one of those twists.

Throughout the entire film, we’re focused on Cole and his ability to see dead people. Dr Malcolm Crowe appears to be helping him work through his fears.

Pretty straightforward, right?

Wrong.

Malcolm has been dead the entire time. He was killed in the opening scene and never realised it.

The second you know the twist, you immediately want to watch the film again. And that’s usually the sign of a great one.

Frozen (2013)

I know this one seems completely different from everything else on this list. But honestly, I think it’s one of Disney’s smartest twists.

For years, Disney trained us to expect the same ending.

Princess meets prince, Princess falls in love, Prince saves the day.

The end

So when Hans appears, most viewers naturally assume he’s going to be Anna’s true love. After all, that’s how these stories usually work.

Except it isn’t.

Hans doesn’t love Anna at all. He’s manipulative, selfish and willing to let her die to achieve his goals. I remember being genuinely gagged the first time I watched the almost-kiss scene…

Not because the twist itself was particularly dark, but because Disney had spent decades teaching us to trust characters like Hans.

Then they used that expectation against us.

American Psycho (2000)

For most of the story, Patrick Bateman appears to be living a double life.

By day he’s a wealthy investment banker. By night he’s a brutal serial killer.

Simple enough, I suppose.

Until the ending completely destroys your certainty. When Bateman finally confesses his crimes, his lawyer has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about. Some of the people Bateman claims to have murdered appear to still be alive.

By the end of the film, you’re left wondering whether any of the murders happened at all.

Was Bateman a killer?

Was he fantasising?

Was the entire film exposing how shallow and disconnected the world around him had become?

Friday The 13th (1980)

Ask most people who the killer in Friday the 13th is and they’ll immediately say Jason Voorhees. Which is funny because Jason isn’t actually the killer in the original film.

For almost the entire movie, the identity of the murderer remains hidden. We’re expecting some terrifying masked killer to emerge.

Instead, the reveal is Pamela Voorhees.

Jason’s mother. A grieving woman driven mad by the loss of her son.

Looking back, it seems obvious. But the first time I watched it, I genuinely wasn’t expecting it.

The reveal became even more iconic because of what happened afterwards. Jason eventually became the face of the franchise, causing many people to completely forget that his mother started it all.

Get Out (2017)

Get Out contains one of my favourite twists because there are actually multiple layers to it. At first, Chris simply feels uncomfortable around Rose’s family. The behaviour of the household staff is strange. The guests at the party seem oddly interested in him.

Then the truth starts to emerge. Rose’s family have been transplanting the brains of wealthy white people into black people’s bodies.

It’s already an incredible reveal. But then comes the second twist.

Rose herself has been involved the entire time. The woman Chris trusts most isn’t trying to save him. She’s helping trap him.

That reveal completely changed how I viewed every interaction she’d had throughout the film.