Most Complex Yet Well Executed Time Travel Movies

12 Most Complex Time Travel Movies Executed Well

Hi, this is Barry, and welcome to my site. How a time travel movie is conceived and executed establishes how complicated it can become. Some filmmakers avoid the complexities, others attempt it and make a mess of the timeline(s), but a few embrace the convoluted nature of time travel and do a fantastic job with the execution. Before we go into the list, let me be clear on how I define a time travel movie. So long as there is one person experiencing time in a non-linear fashion, the film makes it into the category. Here is my list of the most complex time travel movies that are well-executed (in no particular order).

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For the complete list, do check the 50+ Best Time Travel Movies of all times.

Back To The Future: Part 2

complex time travel Back to the future part 2

I’m talking specifically about the second part. And why is that? Because a significant portion of the film’s events happens on the same date as the first movie. You see two of Martin and Doc Brown, and they have to make sure they achieve their objective without disturbing any of the events from the first film. This complexity does nothing to affect the film’s humour and quirky characters.

The timeline diagram that Doc Brown draws on the blackboard is iconic and is used by almost everyone to explain complicated time travel movies today. Watching many of the scenes from the first part in the backdrop of this sequel is what makes it extraordinary. Many other time travel movies have emulated this idea in their plots.

Durante la tormenta vera nico

Oriol Paulo’s films are a pleasure to watch. He’s got a real talent for non-linear storytelling in the genre of murder mysteries. Mirage combines a crime-thriller with science fiction and time travel in one movie. This time travel movie follows a multi-timeline approach and keeps you on edge with multiple plot twists. A mysterious storm causes a TV to become a bridge across 25 years, enabling characters to communicate with the past. Information that is shared with the past results in different decisions and thereby creates an alternate timeline. Facts and events from each timeline are aggregated to solve the case of murder. It’s enjoyable to watch other subtle pieces of information getting unearthed due to the altered timeline and how they feed into the plot.

The ending of the film wraps up all the time-complications very well, leaving almost no plot holes. Placing a murder mystery within the container of time travel and the movie’s non-linear narrative really make Mirage quite unique.

You can find a detailed explanation with a timeline diagram here – Mirage Explained .

The Infinite Man

infinite man dean vs terry

You have probably not heard of this low budget Australian film, but it’s a pretty wicked time travel movie. A man wants his girlfriend and himself to relive their anniversary of the previous year. When they do so, they end up encountering multiple versions of themselves travelling back various times into the past. You really need to not blink when you watch this film, as the same events are revisited time and over from different perspectives. The Infinite Man follows a single timeline model and handles the time-complexities superbly. Each character loops back a different number of times. The execution challenge then becomes how to let the who is who and what the reason was for travelling back in time. This complexity was handled excellently in the film.

Infinite Man really deserves more attention considering something this complicated was achieved in a tiny budget with three actors and no special effects. Oh, did I mention some scenes are damn funny too?

For a detailed breakdown of the film and a timeline diagram, read this – The Infinite Man Explained .

Avengers: Endgame

Avengers Endgame Time Travel Mechanics

The fate of 20+ films was riding on Avengers: Endgame. We had already witnessed X-Men: Days Of Future Past, which was otherwise a good film, mess up the timeline so badly it erased the events of the original movies and left the fate of future films in the dark. Endgame needed to revisit multiple films of the MCU to temporarily borrow Infinity Stones. To achieve this, the multiple timeline approach was strategically adopted. Meaning travelling to the past of the prime MCU timeline cannot alter it, and all past events occur in alternate timelines. This ensured that all of the prior 20+ movies were preserved. It also provided a clear direction for future MCU films which will be set in the prime MCU timeline. Using this setup, they took the liberty to mess around with the events of previous movies to introduce repercussions of time travel. Examples of this are when we see two Caps fighting and Loki disappearing with the Tesseract.

The best part of this is if future directors choose, they can explore tinkering with plots set in any of the five alternate timelines created in Endgame. Considering the time travel movie wrapped up revisits to older movies in a smart way, learning from the small mistakes in Back To The Future, Endgame definitely deserves mention in this list.

For an extensive analysis of the time travel, plot and characters with a timeline video, go here – Avengers: Endgame Explained .

primer main characters

Primer is centred on two guys who discover time travel accidentally while experimenting with gravitational effects on objects. While the first couple of trips to the past make the film look easy, it soon escalates into a web of timelines folding onto themselves in an extremely convoluted manner. Primer also sports one of the most creative mechanics of time travel using the simple logic that you cannot travel back to before the time machine was switched on or  primed . The movie smartly uses this limitation to show how the characters need to come up with ingenious ideas to travel back multiple times. The fascinating bit is that the reason for time-travel comes from pure scientific curiosity and not to achieve a grand purpose. While there might appear to be a few loose ends, the film wraps it up nice and tight. Do pay close attention to everything in this film, and yeah, you’ll need to watch it twice.

No time travel movies’ list is complete without the mention of Primer. The film was produced within a teeny tiny budget of $7000 and yet presents one of the most complicated sets of timelines one can imagine.

Here’s a detailed timeline-wise explanation of this movie – Primer Explained .

asylum 12 monkeys

12 Monkeys is too close to the COVID-19 virus epidemic for comfort. This time travel movie sees a dystopian future trying to identify the original strain of a virus that took out most of the living beings on the planet. The scientists of the future rely on time travel to identify the source of the infection. The film sports a single faultless timeline with every event tying up beautifully at the end. Small pieces of apparently isolated incidents begin connecting and come together as a whole to reveal the planned solution for the epidemic.

Wading through the misdirections, and the way Cole slowly narrows down and locates the source and how his actions affect the timeline (or rather don’t) makes this film an excellent piece of time travel thriller.

Here’s a detailed plot analysis and explanation of the film – 12 Monkeys Explained .

Predestination

predestination barkeep

Predestination is the mother of all time complexities that one can witness in a time travel movie. When you try to mentally visualize this single timeline’s flow of events, you will have a couple of nosebleeds. Based on the short story All You Zombies, Predestination extrapolates the book brilliantly. The character development, their interaction and how their stories merge into a larger scheme of events is intriguing and surprises you continually. Every time you think you are getting a hold on what’s happening, the film takes it up a notch and in the end, brings it all together and leaves you talking to yourself. 

Predestination is perhaps the most flawless execution of an extremely complex time travel plot while establishing that everything about the movie is one giant paradox.

Here’s everything you need to understand and untangle this film’s plot (yes, there’s a timeline diagram) – Predestination Explained .

complex time travel deja vu

Déjà Vu is the classic tale of hunting down a bomber before he strikes again. The catch, however, is that the team uses a time device to follow the life of one of the victims to get the bomber. While the folks of science, who believe in paradoxes, believe that the victim’s fate is sealed, Agent Doug finds it impossible to ignore the obvious that apart from nabbing the bomber he can save the lives of many, but this requires messing with time and rewriting history as they know it.

Though the execution of the film does introduce mild plot holes, the timelines in the movie are wrapped up pretty convincingly at the end. The really innovative sequence is the car chase taking place between two vehicles in entirely different times.

bandaged man girl timecrimes

Timecrimes is a fun Spanish time travel movie happening over the duration of one day and a single timeline. What’s unique about this film is that the lead character who travels through is an average Joe. Typically the person travelling through time intends it and is well versed with the science behind it. Not in Time Crimes though. Héctor fumbles his way through most of the plot, and it’s the nature of time that seems to iron things out automatically. The entire film is a giant series of accidents complicating matters for the central character as he gets through his extra-long day.

Multiple Hectors cluelessly running around and amplifying time complications provides for a good deal of humour. Timecrimes is well-executed, and the end of the film wraps up any loose ends and maintains the timeline integrity beautifully.

To read a detailed explanation of this movie, go here – Timecrimes Explained .

Butterfly Effect

complex time travel The Butterfly Effect

Butterfly Effect toggles back and forth, repeatedly creating multiple futures based on small yet significant actions. The story is thought through well and lays out the prime timeline with strategically placed voids in the first half. The latter half revisits these pockets of missing memories, offering a choice to the protagonist to execute a different action.

The protagonist making a small change to a single event causes a cascading effect over years leading up to a drastic and unexpected change to the future. True to its name, Butterfly Effect plays off on Chaos Theory fantastically.

Last Pic time lapse explained

This is a low budget film showcasing an innovative angle to non-linear events via the means of a mystical camera that takes pictures of the future, of the next day. Time Lapse lacks quality characters but makes up for it by executing a single timeline well. At the beginning of the film, we are shown one picture weeks into the future, while the remaining photos are 24hrs into the future. The characters witnessing the pictures of their future creates a chain of events leading up to that final photograph. What’s more, is that the camera possibly takes photos as close as 12 hrs into the future. Regardless of the characters’ intentions and actions, they keep feeding into their fate which refuses to get altered. 

Despite a complicated chain of events, the film manages the timeline accurately. It leaves no room for flaws in the execution and hence Time Lapse finds its way into this list despite its poor character development.

Here’s a detailed plot analysis for the film with each of the pictures from the camera – Time Lapse Explained .

jess vs Jess triangle explained

Triangle is not strictly a time travel movie. But as I mentioned before, as long as one character experiences time non-linearly, the film qualifies. The film contains time loops that have three versions of the lead at any given moment on a abandoned ship. The film is quite complicated and yet manages to deliver an airtight sequence of events looping on itself wonderfully.

Placed in the slasher genre, Triangle has brilliantly conceived time loops. The cherry on top really is the ending which discloses the reason why the loops have come into existence.

Here’s a complete numbered loop-wise detailed breakdown of the movie – Triangle Explained .

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'12 Monkeys' Ending Explained: How That Time-Travel Twist Worked

One of the more perplexing elements of the film is its ending, which provides a fair share of ambiguity even to viewers paying careful attention.

Terry Gilliam 's 12 Monkeys remains one of the director's most compelling films, packed to the gills with bizarre scenery, narrative switchbacks, and fascinating performances. One of the more perplexing elements of the film is its ending, which provides a fair share of ambiguity even to viewers paying careful attention. For those confounded by the sudden delivery of the gun or the role of the scientist on the plane, let this article serve as an explanation of the time travel in 12 Monkeys and its role in this film's gripping conclusion.

What Is 12 Monkeys About?

One of the reasons that 12 Monkeys is interesting to revisit with a modern lens is its post-apocalyptic future. The film begins with James Cole ( Bruce Willis ) imprisoned in a bleak looking cell within an underground prison in the year 2035. James is forced into "volunteer duty," which requires him to brave the planet's surface. After the outbreak of a virus in 1996, living above ground is no longer safe for humankind, though it is apparently quite hospitable for fearsome creatures like bears and lions, both of which James encounters on his visit to the surface. Because of his reliability, James is chosen by a bizarre group of scientists for a special mission: he will travel back in time to the year 1996 and locate a group known as The Army of the 12 Monkeys, who are believed to be responsible for releasing the virus. The scientists' overall goal is to pinpoint the location of the virus in its purest form so that they can study a sample and thereby devise a cure for the people of 2035.

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Unfortunately for Cole the time travel device that the scientists use is a bit imprecise, resulting in him occasionally being sent to the wrong year. At one point he even finds himself in the middle of a World War I battlefield, thereby ensuring his place in history books as an example of what psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly ( Madeleine Stowe ) dubs "Cassandra syndrome," a reference to the Trojan priestess of Greek myth whose doomsaying was never taken seriously. Cole also has the habit of suddenly disappearing whenever the scientists of the future decide that he needs to return, bewildering the people of the past in the process. Cole is drugged and flung across time and space, often reducing him to a drooling, erratic mess. It should be unsurprising that, like Cole, many viewers of 12 Monkeys have struggled to keep track of what exactly happened, which events (if any) were pre-destined, and how many of these misadventures were figments of Cole's imagination.

Understanding How 12 Monkeys Ends Is All About Remembering How it Begins

In order to understand the ending of 12 Monkeys, it is important to keep Cole's dream from the beginning of the movie in mind. While asleep in his prison cell in 2035, Cole dreams of a scene at an airport in the 1990s. The dream begins with the sound of a gunshot. A young boy watches a bloodied long-haired man fall to the ground. A woman shouts, "No!" and charges toward the long-haired man, cradling him. The film cuts from a shot of the boy watching the shooting to Bruce Willis's adult Cole asleep in his cell, implying that Cole was the child in the dream and that the dream is based on his memories. Thanks to the time travel complexity in 12 Monkeys , it turns out that Cole is both the child watching the shooting at the airport and the long-haired man gunned down by airport security. In attempting to elope with Dr. Railly, his newfound lover and former psychiatrist / kidnapping victim, Cole dons a wig and Hawaiian shirt, thereby disguising himself from the police as well as the viewers, who might have otherwise recognized him in the dream at the movie's beginning. Dr. Railly is likewise wearing a blonde wig in the dream, her face only shown briefly before being partially blocked by Cole's hand. In this way Gilliam cleverly foreshadows the film's ending in a way that prevents the audience from understanding its full impact.

Even though the film forms a bit of a narrative ouroboros, there are clues that in spite of adult Cole's demise, there is still hope for ending the virus's reign of terror in the future. One of those clues comes in the form of the Astrophysicist ( Carol Florence ), one of the scientists from 2035 who appears on the plane next to the villainous Dr. Peters ( David Morse ), the virologist responsible for releasing the deadly plague. The Astrophysicist introduces herself as Jones and says that her business is "insurance." Her lack of animosity toward the man who doomed the world suggests that her presence was meant as insurance for the virus to be released. After all, the scientists' goal is not to prevent the release of the deadly virus but simply to locate a sample of its purest form so that a cure can be made for the people of the future. Though their motivation for wanting to ensure the pandemic rather than prevent it is never explained, the Astrophysicist's final scene confirms that this is indeed their goal.

When Cole and Dr. Railly arrive at the airport, their plan is to slip away together and enjoy a new romantic life. This changes when Dr. Railly spots Dr. Peters at the airport, recognizing him as both a creepy attendant of the Cassandra syndrome lecture she gave and a prominent virologist featured on the cover of a nearby USA Today newspaper. She determines that Dr. Peters is the person planning to release the deadly virus, and so she rushes to find Cole and tell him. Meanwhile, Cole has been contacted by a friend of his from the prison in 2035, Jose ( Jon Seda ), who tells Cole that the scientists want him to follow orders and outfits Cole with a handgun. Though Cole is mystified by who exactly the scientists want him to shoot, the scientists' plot becomes a bit clearer once Cole charges through airport security with a gun in his hand.

Dr. Peters makes a break for his boarding gate and Cole runs after him, aiming to kill him. Dr. Railly shouts, "No!", giving Cole pause. When he turns to look at her, he is immediately gunned down by airport security and falls bloodied to the floor while another airport visitor, young Cole, watches, thereby creating the exact situation from the dream at the beginning. If the viewer takes this sequence of events into consideration along with the Astrophysicist's mention of "insurance," it seems likely that the scientists gave Cole a gun so that Cole would be treated as a threat by security, thereby ensuring that the virus would be released worldwide. Again, the movie never explains why the scientists prefer this outcome to potentially preventing the pandemic altogether, but it makes things abundantly clear that given the choice between preventing the virus or releasing it, they desire the latter outcome at any cost.

Was the Ending of 12 Monkeys an Inescapable Fate?

Some interpretations of 12 Monkeys suggest that the events at the end of the movie were inescapable, that they were set in stone by fate and that the movie's characters could never have prevented the release of the virus. If one takes into account the Astrophysicist's mention of insurance and the fact that the scientists gave Cole the gun, one may arrive at an alternate conclusion. Had Cole and Reilly merely been fulfilling their destiny, acting as helpless pawns doomed to repeat a vicious cycle of violence and disease, the scientists never would have needed to intervene in the airport. Though it could be argued that the scientists themselves are at the mercy of fate and had no agency of their own in these matters, the fact that the Astrophysicist says she works in "insurance" suggests the exact opposite: her presence on the plane was to ensure that the virus was released worldwide whether by Dr. Peters or herself.

When Cole and Dr. Reilly decide to run away together, Cole removes some of his teeth, having been told previously that the scientists use his teeth to track him. This is confirmed when Jose appears at the airport to deliver the gun to Cole. Jose chastises Cole for removing his teeth, suggesting that the scientists had difficulty finding Cole as a result of that decision. The scientists were only able to find Cole because he called them and left a voicemail before entering airport security, a mistake that allowed them to send Jose through time to his location and outfit Cole with the weapon that would lead to Cole's death. It is evident from their behavior that the scientists believe that changing the past is possible. The unpredictability of Cole's behavior made them worry that history might be rewritten. If deviation from history was impossible, the scientists never would have needed to send anyone to ensure the virus's release, let alone send the Astrophysicist as "insurance."

In 12 Monkeys, How Does Changing the Past Impact the Future?

What is unclear in 12 Monkeys (among other things) is whether changing the past would have a direct result on the future inhabited by the scientists, i.e., following Back to the Future rules, or instead if changing the past would create a new, distinct timeline in a potentially infinite sea of parallel universes with various differentiating outcomes. As much of this movie's charm is its assortment of mysteries, misdirects, and red herrings (like the titular 12 Monkeys themselves, who turn out to be nothing more than a slapdash animal rights brigade hellbent on releasing zoo animals), it is unlikely that Gilliam wanted to make such things explicit. What is clear is that 12 Monkeys depicts a time travel cycle in which it may be possible to change the past but that the scientists are continually conspiring to ensure that things play out exactly as they wish, likely for their own benefit. That being said, if the scientists were at least honest about their end goals, it is possible that they might use their newfound knowledge to concoct a cure and save the underground people of 2035. The same cannot be said for James Cole, who is apparently doomed to be a sacrifice, at least so long as the will of the scientists is fulfilled.

film time travel plot twist

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13 Movies Where The Big Plot Twist Is WHEN It Takes Place

Sean Migalla

Plot twists are an interesting way to shake up what might otherwise be a straightforward plot. Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan essentially made a career for himself by coming up with some of the most memorable twists ever . That being said, twists also have to be handled carefully so as not to ruin the movie or undermining the story .

Twists come in many different forms. As is often the case with  Star Wars , the twist can be that the hero is somehow related to the villain , giving the story’s conflict a more personal touch. Twists can also come in the form of surprise villains, a variation that Disney films have been so fond of since  Toy Story 2 ’s Stinky Pete.

One type of plot twist that has been used to mixed effect is the time-based plot twist. These are movies where the twist is not what’s happening in the story, but when the story is taking place.

Pandorum

The sci-fi film  Pandorum  takes place some time in the future when Earth has run out of resources. As a last hope for humanity, a large ship has been sent into space on course toward an Earth-like substitute called Tanis. The journey is supposed to take 125 years, so most of the passengers remain in sleep pods for the entire trip.

While passengers get to sleep, there are rotating crews that are meant to wake up and do routine maintenance on the ship to make sure it gets to Tanis in one piece. The film follows a few crew members who wake up to find the ship overrun by violent mutated cannibals. While audiences are led to believe that most of the film takes place during the 125-year trip to Tanis, this is not the case. In actuality, the ship has been on Tanis for about 800 years, and has crash-landed in its ocean. What characters believed to be empty space outside of the window is actually the dark depths of the alien sea.

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Final Destination 5

Final Destination 5

Like all of the  Final Destination  movies, the fifth installment of the franchise starts with a premonition of the main characters’ deaths. While the characters are able to initially avoid their fate, thanks to main character Sam’s vision, death slowly comes for them all in a series of tragic accidents and even intentional murders by some of the main friend group.

Sam and his ex-girlfriend Molly eventually seem to have survived it all. After all, they were initially going to survive the incident that killed their friends in Sam’s premonition, so it would seem as though they really are safe. The two board a plane to Paris at the end, only to reveal that this is the same plane from the original Final Destination film - a plane that is destined to explode, claiming the lives of everyone on board. The surprise twist that the film is actually a prequel doesn’t end well for Sam or Molly, who are unable to leave the plane before they are killed.

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Arrival

Arrival  is a very unconventional film about aliens coming to Earth. Instead of the central conflict being a violent one, the struggle is all about trying to understand the enigmatic visitors and their even more mysterious language. The film focuses on linguist Louise Banks and physicist Ian Donnely as they work together to try and communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors.

Throughout the movie, the audience is shown what appear to be flashbacks of Louise’s daughter, who died young from a disease. However, the movie’s twist is that Louise has actually gained the ability to see time the same way the aliens, called heptapods, do, which is in a continuous circle. What the viewer believes are flashbacks are actually flash forwards, and Louise’s daughter is actually her and Ian’s daughter, born after the events of the movie. In the end, Louise still chooses to pursue a relationship with Ian, even knowing how things are fated to end.

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Dark City

The setting of  Dark City  is strange, made stranger by the anachronistic design that makes the city seem both contemporary and like the film is taking place in the 1940s. It is also perpetually night-time in the city, and a group of strange pale people called “The Strangers” seem to be able to manipulate physical space as well as people’s memories.

Throughout the film, protagonist John Murdoch keeps trying to return to his childhood vacation town of Shell Beach, but nobody can help him find his way. The best he is able to do is reach a billboard advertisement for the town. In his frustration, John breaks through the billboard, only to reveal that he - and everyone - is in outer space. The city is actually an experiment being perpetrated by the Strangers, a race of aliens trying to save their own kind, and using humans as guinea pigs to do it. This explains why the time period is hard to nail down, because it isn’t taking place in a real city on Earth.

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Jacob's Ladder

Jacob's Ladder

Many of the events in  Jacob’s Ladder  are initially unclear to the audience. This puts viewers in much the same place as the protagonist, Jacob (Tim Robbins), as he tries to discover why he is experiencing terrible hallucinations following his return from Vietnam.

Most of the film seems to take place in 1975, four years after Jacob has returned from the war. After a series of strange events, Jacob finally gets the answers he was looking for. His military unit was given an experimental drug meant to increase their aggression with the hope that it would make them more effective fighters. Instead, it drove many of them to lash out and attack their own allies, Jacob included. As Jacob ascends a staircase with his deceased son, it is revealed that it is actually still 1971. The “present” we've been seeing has been nothing more than a hallucination. In truth, Jacob has been mortally wounded by a fellow soldier and dies in a medical tent in Vietnam.

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The Village

The Village

The king of twist endings himself, M. Night Shyamalan, delivered a time-specific twist in 2004's The Village.  The film initially seems like a period piece set in the 19th century. The small isolated village where the film takes place is plagued by strange monsters hovering in the surrounding woods. Throughout the film, characters from the village wish to live only to be rebuffed by the village’s leadership, warning that the monsters won’t allow anyone to leave. 

At first, it seems like the film’s main and only plot twist is that the monsters in the woods are actually members of the village leadership dressed in costumes. However, a second twist comes when it’s revealed the film is actually taking place in modern day. The village was actually just a strange cult-like commune organized by those who wish to avoid the outside world they'd come to see as corrupted.

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Charlie St. Cloud

Charlie St. Cloud

Charlie St. Cloud  is a drama that focuses on its title character as he deals with the death of his younger brother. Charlie and his brother Sam were both in a car accident, and both died before Charlie was revived by paramedics. After coming back to life, Charlie is able to communicate with the spirits of the dead. He derails his plans for college to stay home and be with his brother’s spirit.

Throughout the film, Charlie begins developing a relationship with a young woman named Tess, who plans to sail around the world. However, near the end of the film it is revealed that Tess has already left for her trip. Charlie realizes that he hasn’t been interacting with the real Tess, but instead with her spirit. Tess has actually been lost at sea and is badly hurt, drifting between life and death, which is how Charlie has been communicating with her this whole time.

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Saw II

Following the success of the first  Saw  movie, a much more high-budget sequel was released with more characters and more of an insight into why the events were taking place. Much like the first movie,  Saw II  has a ticking clock element to its plot; the characters in Jigsaw’s house of traps must escape before the timer runs out and the building is flooded with a deadly nerve agent.

As the timer ticks down, Detective Eric Matthews loses patience and assaults Jigsaw, demanding he reveal the location of the house. Matthews’s son is inside, and he doesn’t want to wait for the game to be over to go and get him. As Matthews arrives at the house, it is revealed that the video footage of the game was pre-recorded a few days earlier. The countdown on the clock was actually to test if Matthews himself would have the patience to wait the game out. As punishment for failing, he’s taken and put in a new Jigsaw trap.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is an iconic comedy film from the legendary British sketch comedy troupe. The film is a loosely connected series of scenes parodying Arthurian legend - and such, the movie presumably takes place in medieval times.

The one exception to this time frame is a running joke throughout the film of two police officers investigating the violence left behind by Arthur and the gang. This at first just seems like a bit, but just before the film’s climactic battle, police cars pull up to arrest Arthur and his knights. They also walk right up to the camera and tell the operator to turn it off. This reframes the movie as being an over-the-top historical re-enactment by presumably insane people, ultimately broken up by the police.

Vanilla Sky

Vanilla Sky

The opening to  Vanilla Sky features a framing device in which main character David is talking to a psychologist about the events leading up to his current undisclosed situation. In flashbacks, audiences are shown how David was disfigured when his girlfriend Julie intentionally crashed her car as revenge for David’s infidelity.

Things begin to get strange when David’s disfigurement is miraculously cured and he even experiences a god-like level of control over his life. These strange events are explained when it is revealed that David has actually been lucid dreaming in suspended animation following the initial car crash. He is being kept alive by a company called Life Extension that puts patients into suspended animation until a cure can be found for their ailments. It turns out that David has actually been asleep for 150 years since his initial injury, leaving him with the choice of either waking up or continuing to dream.

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Antebellum

Even the trailers for  Antebellum  made it clear that there would be some time-bending element of the film’s story. At first, it isn’t clear what exactly is going on and how the same characters present on a plantation during the American Civil War are also present in modern day America.

The film may have audiences believing that there is some strange time travel element involved, especially when cell phones start popping up in what seems to be the 1800s. The movie’s big time-related twist comes when it reveals that the entire film was actually taking place in the modern day. What seemed like a plantation is actually just a twisted reenactment park owned by a US senator, who would kidnap Black Americans to keep in enslavement. The film’s twist is meant to serve as a jarring reminder of enduring legacy of chattel slavery and the attitudes that remain to this day, even in the face of more than a century of social progress.

Don't Worry Darling

Don't Worry Darling

Olivia Wilde’s second outing in the director’s chair,  Don’t Worry Darling  was as steeped in hype as the trailers were in 1950s aesthetics. While many of the conversations leading up to the film centered around the movie’s sex scenes,  much to the chagrin of star Florence Pugh , the movie is much more focused on its central mystery: What, exactly is the mysterious work the men of the town are doing every day?

Once Pugh’s character, Alice finally manages to slip past the many watchful eyes of her neighbors and make it to a mysterious domed building on the outskirts of town, the audience learns the shocking truth. The film is actually taking place in the present day, and Alice and the other women in town are all being held hostage in a vegetative state by men who wish for subservient significant others. While the twist is surprising, it doesn’t have the same shock factor as watching Harry Styles seemingly spit on his co-star Chris Pine during the Cannes premiere, and the movie ultimately failed to live up to the hype.

  • Dig Deeper... 24 Chaotic Posts About The 'Don't Worry Darling' Premiere That Are As Unhinged As The Alleged Drama
  • # 2 of 3 on The Best Harry Styles Movies Of All Time
  • # 79 of 79 on The 75+ Sexiest Thriller Movies, Ranked

Remember Me

Remember Me

2010’s  Remember Me  seems to be a basic romance with the archetypal premise of one character pretending to date another before falling for them. The first time watching the movie, the only surprises seem to be that the characters in the film get into way more physical fights than anyone could expect from a romantic drama. However, anyone familiar with this film knows that the ending features a genuinely offensive temporal plot twist.

Near the end of the film, everything seems to be wrapping up to a happy ending. The confusion over the main couple’s true intentions has been cleared up and the two seem destined to reconcile, and Robert Pattison’s Tyler has finally made up with his father. But as Tyler waits for his dad in his office, the camera pulls back to reveal he is in the World Trade Center… and the date is revealed to be September 11, 2001. While making a movie about the traumatic impact of the 9/11 attacks isn’t unheard of or inherently disrespectful, using a major national tragedy for a shock-factor plot twist definitely is. This twist took what would have been a forgettable romance story and made it so much worse.

  • # 8 of 26 on The 25+ Best Movies About 9/11
  • # 70 of 167 on The 150+ Best Teen Romance Movies, Ranked
  • # 6 of 55 on The Saddest Romance Movies That Will Make You Cry
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Ranking the plot twists that got us good. Warning: Spoilers ahead.

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The 25 Best Time Travel Movies of All Time, Ranked

film time travel plot twist

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Time travel movies have been done to death, and many time travel movies suck because they rehash the same old predictable tropes and cliches. But there's still a lot of potential left to be mined in the genre!

Despite the vast number of lackluster time travel movies, there have also been many notable films that came out in the past few decades—and that's on top of the sci-fi classics that still hold up.

At the end of the day, all movies are meant to deliver an entertaining experience for the viewer. With that in mind, here are what I consider to be the best time travel movies of all time.

Warning: I hate spoilers as much as anyone, so I've taken care to exclude spoilers from all movie descriptions in this article. However, knowing that a movie involves time travel could itself be a spoiler! Read on at your own risk.

25. Project Almanac (2015)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Dean Israelite

Starring Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Virginia Gardner

Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi (1h 46m)

6.3 on IMDb — 38% on RT

Project Almanac is an underrated time travel movie that probably flew under your radar. Don't let the fact that it seems like a teen drama deter you from checking it out.

A group of high schoolers find something strange in an old home video, which spurs them to investigate—and uncover secrets plans for a time machine. They build it, of course, and that's when the trouble starts.

film time travel plot twist

24. ARQ (2016)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Tony Elliott

Starring Robbie Amell, Rachael Taylor, Shaun Benson

Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller (1h 28m)

6.3 on IMDb — 43% on RT

A strange energy-providing device causes a couple to be stuck in a time loop while being forced to defend the device against a group intent on stealing it. The setup is strange, the ending is stranger.

This low-budget film is really nothing more than a popcorn flick, but it's a fun ride as long as you don't think too deeply about it. Compared to other thought experiment-type time travel movies, this one's pretty good.

23. Click (2006)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Frank Coraci

Starring Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken

Comedy, Drama, Fantasy (1h 47m)

6.4 on IMDb — 34% on RT

Using a magical universal remote, a workaholic finds himself able to skip ahead or rewind back to various points in his life. During those skipped times, his body continues to live on autopilot.

Don't be turned away by the fact that this is an Adam Sandler movie. In one of his best performances ever, Sandler effectively carries this funny-but-heart-wrenching story on his back.

film time travel plot twist

22. Time Lapse (2014)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Bradley King

Starring Danielle Panabaker, Matt O'Leary, George Finn

Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi (1h 44m)

6.5 on IMDb — 74% on RT

When three friends discover a machine that can take photos 24 hours in the future, things take a dark turn as each photo reveals more than they could've anticipated.

Smart writing makes up for the mediocre performances in Time Lapse . If you go into this indie film without much in the way of expectations, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

film time travel plot twist

21. The Endless (2017)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead

Starring Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Callie Hernandez

Drama, Fantasy, Horror (1h 51m)

6.5 on IMDb — 92% on RT

Sci-fi horror done well tends to be pretty rare, but The Endless is a shining example of when it goes right.

The film centers on two brothers who used to belong to an alleged UFO death cult when they were young. Years later, after they'd escaped, they both have different memories of what the cult was like—so they agree to return for one day to set the record straight.

What they find is that the supposed UFO death cult is nothing like how either of them imagined, and they end up embroiled in all kinds of mysterious happenings, including a time loop.

20. The Adam Project (2022)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Shawn Levy

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Mark Ruffalo

Action, Adventure, Comedy (1h 46m)

6.7 on IMDb — 67% on RT

The Adam Project stars Ryan Reynolds as Adam Reed, a man from the future who goes back in time to save his wife. He's injured and takes refuge in his childhood home, but is accidentally discovered by his younger self. They work together to complete Adam's mission of saving his wife.

It's a simple story with Ryan Reynolds basically playing Ryan Reynolds—which is great, if you're into that—but what sets The Adam Project apart is the deeply moving emotional threads that undergird the characters and weave together into a surprisingly cathartic climax.

film time travel plot twist

19. Primer (2004)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Shane Carruth

Starring Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Casey Gooden

Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller (1h 17m)

6.8 on IMDb — 73% on RT

Four entrepreneurs accidentally invent a time travel machine, which ends up ruining their lives when they decide to give it a spin. Primer is the quintessential time travel film and a must-see movie for time travel fans who love poring over the tiniest details.

It's short (only 77-minute runtime) but insanely dense—the kind of movie you have to watch multiple times to really understand what actually happened, and even then you may not fully get it.

film time travel plot twist

18. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Colin Trevorrow

Starring Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson

Adventure, Comedy, Drama (1h 26m)

6.9 on IMDb — 91% on RT

Safety Not Guaranteed is a comedy romance film centering on three magazine staffers who go out to interview a strange man who's looking for a partner for his upcoming time travel mission. They think it's all a joke, but the truth slowly shows itself to be something more.

While the actual act of time traveling doesn't play a huge role, Safety Not Guaranteed is a must-watch for anyone who's looking for a heartfelt drama that's well-written and infused with depth by a solid cast.

17. Triangle (2009)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Christopher Smith

Starring Melissa George, Joshua McIvor, Jack Taylor

Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi (1h 39m)

6.9 on IMDb — 80% on RT

In the wake of a yachting accident, a group of friends are rescued by what appears to be a mysteriously empty cruise ship. As they further explore the ship's interior, they encounter horrors unknown.

Again, well-done science fiction horror films are hard to come by, and Triangle stands out for its premise and execution, particularly in how time travel is revealed and incorporated. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but it's certainly interesting and memorable.

16. The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Robert Schwentke

Starring Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston

7.1 on IMDb — 39% on RT

In The Time Traveler's Wife , Henry is a man who has a genetic anomaly that causes him to time travel. The thing is, he can't control when or where he travels to, and thus struggles to keep his marriage alive.

Based on the novel by the same name, The Time Traveler's Wife may not be able to capture the full magic that made the book so great—there's just too much content to fit into one movie—but it's still a stirring romantic drama with several twists and moving moments.

15. Timecrimes (2007)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Nacho Vigalondo

Starring Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernández, Bárbara Goenaga

Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi (1h 32m)

7.1 on IMDb — 90% on RT

In the Spanish-language Timecrimes , an average man accidentally travels back in time one hour, unleashing a series of disastrous events. That's all you really want to know about this film before diving in.

More to the tune of mystery than action, Timecrimes is a flawless example of a "What actually happened?" narrative that asks you to puzzle things together as events unfold before you. The twists are plentiful here.

14. Palm Springs (2020)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Max Barbakow

Starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J. K. Simmons

Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery (1h 30m)

7.4 on IMDb — 94% on RT

Palm Springs takes place at a wedding in Palm Springs, California. Two guests inadvertently get stuck in a time loop, reliving the same exact wedding day over and over, and try to find a way to escape.

The premise may not seem like anything special, but the performances by Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti elevate this film to new heights. Infused with comedy, drama, and romance, Palm Springs makes full use of its time loop situation to tell an impactful story.

film time travel plot twist

13. Predestination (2014)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig

Starring Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor

Action, Drama, Sci-Fi (1h 37m)

7.4 on IMDb — 84% on RT

A time-traveling agent's final assignment is to track down the one criminal who he's never been able to capture. But the further down the rabbit hole he goes, the more mind-bending the truths become.

Predestination isn't just a time travel film. What sets this film apart from most sci-fi movies is how deftly it handles its deeper themes, how deep it's willing to go with its characters, and how expertly the narrative unfolds. It's truly one of the most complex time travel movies ever made.

12. The Butterfly Effect (2004)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber

Starring Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Melora Walters

Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller (1h 53m)

7.6 on IMDb — 34% on RT

A man discovers he has the ability to change the present by traveling back into the mind of his younger self, but around every corner await unintended consequences.

You've heard of "the butterfly effect" before, and The Butterfly Effect effectively takes that concept and turns it into a dark thriller. Ashton Kutcher stars in this film against type and delivers a surprisingly great performance in this gripping film about regret and control.

film time travel plot twist

11. About Time (2013)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Richard Curtis

Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy

Comedy, Drama, Fantasy (2h 3m)

7.8 on IMDb — 70% on RT

A man who can travel through time decides to use his power to woo the girl of his dreams, but things aren't as easy as they seem—and the limits of his power cause him to make a tough and important decision.

With Domhnall Gleeson and Rachel McAdams taking the lead, About Time ends up being a romantic comedy that's far better than it has any right to be, complete with a superbly moving ending that's completely earned.

film time travel plot twist

10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

Adventure, Family, Fantasy (2h 22m)

7.9 on IMDb — 90% on RT

It's Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts and this time Lord Voldemort isn't his main concern. Instead, Sirius Black—the one who was suspected as betraying his parents—has escaped from Azkaban Prison and rumor has it that he's coming to finish Harry off.

Often praised as the best film in the Harry Potter franchise—thanks to impeccable direction by Alfonso Cuaron— The Prisoner of Azkaban isn't just a standout for its time travel subplot but also for its cohesive narrative that combines numerous themes with stellar cinematography.

9. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Doug Liman

Starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi (1h 53m)

7.9 on IMDb — 91% on RT

In the face of an alien invasion, a soldier somehow ends up reliving the same day over and over every time he dies. He must somehow use this to his advantage and defeat the invading aliens while also finding a way to escape the endless loop in which he's trapped.

As far as time loop movies go, Edge of Tomorrow is one of the better executed ones. Not only is the tight story well-paced, but stars Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt put in excellent performances that carry the narrative forward from start to finish.

film time travel plot twist

8. The Man From Earth (2007)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Richard Schenkman

Starring David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley

Drama, Fantasy, Mystery (1h 27m)

7.8 on IMDb — 100% on RT

During a retirement party, an aging professor reveals that he's been alive longer than his colleagues can imagine.

The Man From Earth is best described as a "play caught on camera," delivering an engaging mystery that's built on the foundation of an interesting thought experiment.

Not many dialogue-only films are this riveting, which is why you should definitely give this one a watch.

film time travel plot twist

7. Arrival (2016)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker

Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi (1h 56m)

7.9 on IMDb — 94% on RT

When aliens arrive on Earth, a linguist is brought to the frontlines to decipher their language and establish communications.

Easily one of the most cerebral science fiction movies ever made, Arrival takes things to the next level by exploring deep themes and ideas that few other films have dared to touch. You won't ever forget this one.

film time travel plot twist

6. 12 Monkeys (1995)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Terry Gilliam

Starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt

Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller (2h 9m)

8.0 on IMDb — 88% on RT

In the year 2035, a convict is sent back in time to 1996 with one mission: to investigate the cause of a man-made virus that decimated the world. But his mission is sidetracked when he's sent back to the wrong time period and ends up in a mental hospital.

Featuring one of Bruce Willis's best performances, 12 Monkeys starts off slow but ends with a bang. There's a lot to love about this mind-bending movie if you can get through the slow but necessary setup.

film time travel plot twist

5. Donnie Darko (2001)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Richard Kelly

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell

Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi (1h 53m)

8.0 on IMDb — 87% on RT

A high schooler begins to see visions of a man in a deranged bunny suit who warns him that the world is going to end in a few days—and convinces him to commit all sorts of crimes and unsavory deeds to prevent the oncoming apocalypse.

Donnie Darko is a strange film with time travel elements that aren't as overt as in other time travel films. But if you're itching for a uniquely surreal film experience, it doesn't get much weirder than Donnie Darko .

4. Groundhog Day (1993)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Harold Ramis

Starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott

Comedy, Drama, Fantasy (1h 41m)

8.0 on IMDb — 94% on RT

An insufferable weatherman finds himself caught in a time loop, reliving the same mundane day over and over again with seemingly no way out of it—and after thousands of repeats, it starts to take its toll on him.

Groundhog Day is a hilarious comedy that's also surprisingly deep if you're willing to unpack it, acting as a lesson in what really brings about happiness and self-improvement. If you're a fan of Bill Murray and haven't seen this yet, what have you been waiting for?!

film time travel plot twist

3. Your Name (2016)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Makoto Shinkai

Starring Michael Sinterniklaas, Stephanie Sheh, Kyle Hebert

Animation, Drama, Fantasy (1h 46m)

8.4 on IMDb — 98% on RT

One day, a high school boy in Tokyo and a high school girl in the countryside start swapping bodies, seemingly at random but only when they go to sleep. But then the swapping stops. The boy is compelled to find the girl, but investigating leads to a heartbreaking answer.

Your Name isn't just one of the best animated movies of all time, nor simply one of the best Japanese movies of all time, but one of the best, period. It's incredibly heartfelt with a climax that'll hit you in the gut.

2. Back to the Future (1985)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson

Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi (1h 56m)

8.5 on IMDb — 93% on RT

A teenage boy from 1985 accidentally goes back in time thirty years with his mad scientist friend. Not only does he need to find a way home, but he accidentally puts his own existence in danger and must make sure his future parents end up falling in love.

Back to the Future is a classic time travel movie and you owe it to yourself to make it the next movie you watch if you've never seen it. Look past the 1980s cheesiness and you'll see an engaging story beneath it all.

film time travel plot twist

1. Interstellar (2014)

film time travel plot twist

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain

Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi (2h 49m)

8.7 on IMDb — 73% on RT

With Earth on the brink of extinction, a team of astronauts must travel through a wormhole to find a new planet for humans to colonize. But journeying through outer space comes with all kinds of complications, and finding a habitable planet isn't going to be so easy.

For all its flaws, Interstellar packs a thrilling story on top of dazzling visuals and one of the most moving soundtracks of any film, period. This is the kind of film that'll have you thinking long after the credits roll, and for many reasons beyond just time travel.

film time travel plot twist

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The 25 Greatest Time-Travel Movies Ever Made

film time travel plot twist

It must say something, surely, about humans, how often time-travel movies are about returning to the past rather than jumping to the future. As Mark Duplass’s forlorn character says in Safety Not Guaranteed , “The mission has to do with regret.” With all the potential to explore the unknown world of the future, so often when our minds conspire to bend the rules of time it’s instead to rehash the old. It’s compelling to watch a character in a movie do what we cannot — right past wrongs or uncover the reason for or meaning behind the events in their lives, whether they be emotionally catastrophic or merely geopolitically motivated.

So absent is the future from the canon, in fact, that when it is involved, typically future dwellers are leaving their own time to come back to the present. Back to the Future Part II aside, it seems as if there’s something about going forward in time that just doesn’t track for humans. (Of course, you could argue that this is because the present-day concept of bidirectional time travel would infinitely multiply or change beyond recognition any future that may occur, but that’s a knot for another article.)

In any case, the time-travel stories deemed worthy of Hollywood budgets aren’t always straightforward in their mechanics. Some films on this list barely qualify as time-travel movies at all; others could hardly qualify as anything else. There are movies about trips through time but also ones about the bending and fracturing and muddying thereof; then there are those about, as Andy Samberg aptly puts it in Palm Springs , “one of those infinite time-loop situations you might have heard about.” There’s even a movie in which we get only 13 seconds’ worth of time travel, when it functions more like a joke whose punch line hits at the film’s climax.

What these films all do have in common is a fascination with changing the way time works. That being said, the list leaves out movies in larger, more extended franchises in which time meddling is a one-off dalliance thrown into a sequel with little by way of foreshadowing: think Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , Avengers: Endgame , and Men in Black III . (It also leaves off perhaps the Ur-time-travel movie, Primer , and the quite good Midnight in Paris because their directors don’t deserve the column inches.) We’re looking at self-contained stories using time mechanics from the start, with preference given to those that involve themselves more intently with the ins and outs of time travel; that ask questions about time, aging, memory and so forth; and that try to succeed at it in new and interesting ways. So let’s get to it.

25. Galaxy Quest (1999)

Does Galaxy Quest really count as a time-travel movie? Some compelling reasons argue that it doesn’t: Time travel isn’t a major factor in the plot, and the time traveling that does occur is, yes, only a 13-second jump. But its use of time travel is meaningful insofar as the movie itself is a loving spoof of Star Trek , which makes use of time travel in three films ( one of which made this list ), not to mention dozens of episodes across its various TV iterations. Tacking on time travel as a deus ex machina for the actors in a Star Trek– like show pressed into service as an actual space crew by an endangered alien race is the exact right amount of ribbing in a movie that’s as on point as it is hilarious.

Galaxy Quest is available to rent on Amazon .

24. Happy Death Day (2017)

Pick away at the surface of a time-loop movie and you find a horror movie. Most of the entries on this list are covered in enough feel-good spin to land as comedies, but Happy Death Day stares the horror of the time-loop phenomenon right in the face. (It’s also quite funny.) Reliving the same day over and over is an unimaginably potent form of psychological torture, and adding murder to the equation does little to dull that edge. The film follows a college-age protagonist struggling to escape from a masked slasher hell-bent on killing her again and again while she tries to solve the mystery of how she got stuck in a time loop.

Happy Death Day is available to rent on Amazon .

23. Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Seriously, this may be the only good movie in which the film’s whole focus is using a time machine to travel into the future. The fact that it’s a sequel is telling — the characters already traveled into the past in the first movie , and the filmmakers decided to save “traveling even further into the past“ for the third film in the trilogy. Still, Back to the Future Part II is a fun time that makes great use of sight gags and references, recasting scenes from the first film in the distant future year of 2015 with all its hoverboards and self-lacing Nikes.

Back to the Future Part II is available to rent on Amazon .

22. See You Yesterday (2019)

It’s a dirty little secret of time-travel movies that they tend to be, well, pretty white. Tenet ’s Protagonist aside, if Hollywood’s sending someone through time, they’re almost certainly not a Black person, and for obvious reasons: Most of post-contact North American history is deeply unfriendly to people of color, and the problems a person running around out of time and place is going to encounter are deeply compounded if they’ll likely be the target of racist abuse or violence — which makes See You Yesterday all the more compelling. Produced by Spike Lee and featuring one of filmdom’s most famous time travelers in a cameo role, it follows a Black teenage science prodigy who uses a time machine to try to save her brother from being killed by a police officer.

See You Yesterday is streaming on Netflix .

21. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

No offense to the Back to the Future franchise, but time travel never looks more fun on film than it does in the first Bill & Ted movie. It’s a concept that feels distinctly of a different era, so pure is its zaniness, that it’s hard to imagine anyone concocting it today. The titular duo, Californian high-school students in the ’80s, travel through the past looking for historical figures in order to ace a history project, then bring them all back to the present. High jinks ensue! We get Genghis Khan in a sporting-goods store and Mozart on an electric keyboard. What more could you want?

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is streaming on HBO Max .

20. Source Code (2011)

Time-travel-film aficionados know this won’t be Jake Gyllenhaal’s only stop on this list, but no matter. Source Code finds him repeating the same eight minutes over and over as he struggles to find the culprit in a train bombing — with each replay ending in his own death by explosion. For some reason, a romantic subplot is shoehorned into this, along with a bunch of frankly unnecessary technical mumbo-jumbo, but the core idea is a compelling mix of the time-loop movie and the train whodunit that Gyllenhaal is a perfect fit for.

Source Code is available to rent on Amazon .

19. 12 Monkeys (1995)

Some sort of law of nature dictates that every genuinely good idea and/or piece of true art has to at some point be turned into a Hollywood movie. Thank God La Jetée was adapted into something that can stand on its own feet artistically. 12 Monkeys may not retain its source material’s black-and-white look or stripped-down, static-image presentation, but it is a rollicking good time nonetheless. That’s in no small part due to director Terry Gilliam getting the best out of Bruce Willis and a young Brad Pitt, and recasting World War III as a planet-decimating virus. Which, like at least one other movie on this list , “speaks to the present moment,” or whatever.

12 Monkeys is available to rent on Amazon .

18. Run Lola Run (1998)

Unlike almost all of the other films on this list, the terms time travel and time machine don’t show up anywhere in Run Lola Run . Rather, it’s a sort of de facto time-loop scenario in which the protagonist tries repeatedly to pay a ransom to save her boyfriend’s life. In fact, if not for a few key details, it could easily be characterized (and often has been) as an alternate-endings movie rather than a time-travel film. But the fact that Lola seems to be learning from her past attempts with each successive one suggests that she is, indeed, using knowledge gained from previous loops to bring a satisfactory end to this situation.

Run Lola Run is available to rent on Amazon .

17. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

One of the most striking things about Groundhog Day is the mutability and replicability of its core conceit. Perhaps the best case in point is Edge of Tomorrow , sometimes known as Live. Die. Repeat. after its original tagline. It’s the kind of physically grueling movie only an actor as genuinely unhinged as Tom Cruise could pull off. A noncombatant thrust into a war against invading aliens, Cruise’s character finds himself reliving day one of combat over and over, slowly but surely refining his techniques in order to survive the extraterrestrial onslaught. Like the central twosome in the much less violent Palm Springs , he winds up with a partner in (war) crime, teaming up with the similarly time-trapped Emily Blunt, and the explanation for the replay glitch here is actually pretty satisfying.

Edge of Tomorrow is streaming on Fubo TV .

16. Star Trek (2009)

If you could create some sort of an advanced stat to measure controversy generated per unit of interesting filmmaking decisions, J.J. Abrams would have to be near the top in terms of his ability to rig up movie drama from almost nothing. This is a guy whose filmography is like Godzilla rip-off, Spielberg homage, safe reboot of cherished IP, repeat. Star Trek may be his best film, though, a sure-footed reinvention of a dorky sci-fi franchise that made it, well, cool. Somehow, the beauty of Spock and Kirk’s bromance being woven through chance encounters with future selves kind of … works?

Star Trek is available to rent on Amazon .

15. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

There’s a relative dearth of time travel in animated film, which perhaps is a function simply of the fact that it’s less impressive to stage in a world that’s already unreal. If you can Looney Tunes your way through physics, what’s so special about grabbing the flow of time and tying it into a bow? Still, the original Girl Who Leapt Through Time deserves mention here. It’s a beautiful story that interlaces the complexity of time leaping with the intensity of teenage emotion and the thorny process of growing up where the opportunity to redo things leads, over time, to growth — a less shitty Groundhog Day , in a way.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is available to rent on Amazon .

14. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

She may not be the most famous, decorated, or emulated actress of her generation, but Aubrey Plaza is someone whose personality spoke to the irony-soaked 2010s in a way that simply could not be denied. Her character on Parks and Recreation , April Ludgate, was, by all accounts, created specifically to channel Plaza’s real-life personality to the screen, and she plays essentially the same character in Safety Not Guaranteed . Here, she’s a sarcastic intern at a magazine working on a story about a would-be time traveler and using her feminine wiles to slowly gain his trust. The chemistry between Plaza and Mark Duplass is probably the film’s high point; the subplot about the FBI feels like it was clipped out of a bad X-Files episode.

Safety Not Guaranteed is streaming on Tubi .

13. La Jetée (1962)

At only a 28-minute run time, La Jetée is arguably too short to merit inclusion on this list. However, what it lacks in content (and in, well, moving images; it’s almost exclusively a collection of static black-and-white shots set to voice-over), it more than makes up for in inventiveness and influence, and it would be a travesty to leave it out in favor of more recent by-the-book fare. Tracing the tale of a man held prisoner in post-WWIII Paris being used in time-travel experiments as his captors seek to remedy the postapocalyptic state of the world, he’s sent into both the future and the past and ends up unraveling a lifelong personal mystery while he’s at it.

La Jetée is streaming on the Criterion Channel .

12. Planet of the Apes (1968)

Unlike the worse but more straightforwardly time-traveling Tim Burton remake, the relationship between the original Planet of the Apes and time travel is inexact — technically, the astronaut crew that lands on the titular planet does travel forward 2,000 years, but it’s not done via a time machine. The travel isn’t instantaneous: It literally does take them 2,000 years to get there; they’re just unconscious and on life support. Still, the way the film’s ending handles the iconic reveal is exactly in line with the best of the time-travel canon, the telescoping, mise en abyme feeling of the world shifting in front of your very eyes without your moving an inch.

Planet of the Apes is available to rent on Amazon .

11. Groundhog Day (1993)

The famous Bill Murray vehicle essentially invented the infinite-time-loop genre (and it’s hardly a movie that succeeds on the strength of its concept alone), but the idea at its core is so steeped in the casual misogyny of late-’80s and early-’90s cinema that it’s hard to watch today without cringing. Murray’s character employing what amounts to PUA-style techniques over and over and over in a desperate bid to fuck his hapless co-worker just doesn’t hit the way it did back then. If the story arc didn’t present a guy detoxifying himself of the worst aspects of masculinity in order to be worthy of a woman’s love as the primary way for a 20th-century white man to achieve full personhood, this would be much higher on the list.

Groundhog Day is streaming on Starz .

10. Predestination (2014)

This is probably the most complicated film on the list. Following a “temporal agent” (played by Ethan Hawke) who’s trying to prevent a bombing in 1970s New York, it’s based on a Robert A. Heinlein short story and features Shiv Roy herself, Sarah Snook, in a star-making turn as someone with a complicated backstory and a secret. Like the best sci-fi, the film’s premise raises all kinds of fascinating questions about the titular concept and throws in some interesting musings on sex, gender, and the self in the process.

Predestination is streaming on Tubi .

9. Looper (2012)

Wes Anderson gets a lot of flak for his overwrought twee visuals, but Rian Johnson has a knack for making movies that feel and function like dioramas even if they don’t look it. Narratively speaking, everything here is constructed just so — and there’s a certain beauty in that — but who ever had a profound experience of art by looking at a diorama? Looper was probably Johnson’s least precious pre– Star Wars film, which is nice because the temptation to drastically overmaneuver the mechanics of a time-travel story can lead to disaster. The tech used to Bruce Willis–ify Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s face is distracting, and the third act’s retreat from the postapocalyptic city of the future to the postapocalyptic corn farm of the future is a brave choice that the film struggles to land. Still, Johnson’s vision of a future in which organized crime runs time travel is compelling and well worth a watch.

Looper is streaming on Netflix .

8. Donnie Darko (2001)

Donnie Darko is a bit of a genre mash-up. Part high-school movie, part sci-fi flick, part bleak meditation on the soullessness of late-’80s America, it’s nevertheless a weirdly successful piece of filmmaking that makes fantastic use of a young Jake Gyllenhaal, a great supporting cast (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Jena Malone, and Patrick Swayze among others), and an absolutely iconic haunting cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World.” Watching high schoolers navigate parallel universes, wormholes, and time travel is a dicey proposition, but director Richard Kelly makes it work, somehow.

Donnie Darko is streaming on HBO Max .

7. Back to the Future (1984)

While it’s clearly superior to the sequel (and leagues ahead of the final film in the trilogy), the original Back to the Future is a bit of a mess (John Mulaney was right , to be honest). Its racial and gender politics are cringey, and the incest subplot is weird (“It’s your cousin Marvin. Marvin Pornhub . You know that new plot element you’ve been looking for?”), but there’s a clear interest in time travel beyond its shimmering surface: the very real addressing of the “grandfather problem” in time travel via the slow disappearance of Marty from his family photo, the accidental invention of rock music, and a genuine curiosity about the nuts-and-bolts mechanics of time machines. Ahh, what the hell. It’s a romp.

Back to the Future is available to rent on Amazon .

6. Palm Springs (2020)

No offense to Gen-Xers and boomers, but the best time-loop movie of all time is Palm Springs . The film isn’t without its missteps, but it’s much more curious about life than Groundhog Day was through the eyes of Murray’s misanthrope. Cristin Milioti and Andy Samberg‘s characters, stuck in the loop together, are a perfect comedic match, and their shared humanity makes for a beautiful arc. The film raises questions about what’s worth doing in life when nothing lasts and how to stay sane when every day is the same. Of course, as a sort of polar opposite of Tenet , it benefited from coming out during the pandemic by speaking, as it does, to the experience of lockdown.

Palm Springs is streaming on Hulu .

5. Tenet (2020)

Interstellar wasn’t enough for Chris Nolan, apparently. Tenet ’s legacy may end up being little more than that of the COVID action movie no one saw — a bloated thriller that Nolan fought to get into theaters and bar from home viewing reportedly to swell the size of his own pockets. It really did suffer from bad timing, though, because this is genuinely a quintessential big-screen popcorn movie whose absurdity is all the more palatable when it’s given the audiovisual bombast it deserves. Ambitious in scope as it traces a war on the past by the future (yes, you read that right), Tenet is as enamored of action tropes as it is in bucking them, and its investment in rendering visible the brain-bendingly knotty mechanics of moving through time is laudable, even when the movie itself remains opaque — as impenetrable as the future, as hazy as the past.

Tenet is streaming on HBO Max .

4. The Terminator (1984)

A partner to Blade Runner in the mid-’80s invention of sci-fi noir, The Terminator is a stunning film in many ways, despite the third act’s now-iffy visual effects. While it’s not James Cameron’s debut, and it would go on to be bested by its sequel , it functions as an incredible showcase for an emerging young director who would exclusively make big stories for the rest of his career. Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast as the relentless, unemotional killer cyborg sent back from the future to terminate the mother of the eventual resistance leader, and the film’s romantic subplot has just the perfect amount of time-travel-induced cheesiness for it to work.

The Terminator is streaming on Amazon Prime Video .

3. Interstellar (2014)

It’s not inaccurate to say Christopher Nolan is a director who’s more interested in scale and scope than in expressing the minutiae of the human experience in its purest form. But in Interstellar, a Nolan movie in its titular ambitions, there’s a core element of time travel wrought not as sci-fi fireworks but as a paean to the sheer force and will of the power of love. It both does and doesn’t work, depending on your capacity for cheese in space, but even besides that, Nolan’s use of time as story arc — the way Miller’s planet functions, in particular — is conceptually masterful in the best kind of time-travel-movie way.

Interstellar is streaming on Paramount+ .

2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Whereas the franchise’s first movie spends more time on the question of time travel, in the second it takes a bit of a back seat to the action itself. It’s hard to fault director James Cameron for this decision; T2 remains one of the best action movies of the ’90s and — along with Jurassic Park and The Matrix — one of the decade’s best when for special effects. The groundbreaking T-1000 would honestly be enough to get this movie on the list; a tween John Connor grappling with questions of predestination and the fact that he is vicariously responsible for his own conception feel almost like icing on the time-travel cake. Much as in 12 Monkeys , time travel here is mistaken for delusion, as valiant Sarah Connor, in a Cassandra-esque nightmare, has to battle against the future only she knows is coming. Of course, Cassandra never had access to any firepower stored in underground desert arsenals.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is streaming on Netflix .

1. Arrival (2016)

It’s fair to wonder whether Arrival really is, in fact, a time-travel movie. The Ted Chiang short story it’s based on isn’t about time travel per se; rather, it’s an exploration of alternate forms of temporal understanding. The linguist protagonist, played by Amy Adams, doesn’t travel through time so much as come to experience it differently. Still, the plot ends up hinging on foreknowledge that she is granted not via visions but by actually experiencing her future simultaneously with her present and past. For our purposes, though, that’s time fuckery enough to merit inclusion, and boy howdy does the film deliver in overall quality. Partly, that’s simply a question of the source material. Chiang is arguably the most talented (and possibly the most decorated) American sci-fi writer of his generation. But the source story is not especially Hollywood friendly, and director Denis Villeneuve has adopted it lovingly, borrowing a plot device from another of Chiang’s stories, the more straightforwardly time-travel-based “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,” in order to add some third-act blockbuster flavor. The result is a beautiful meditation on love, choice, and courage that packs art-film ethos into a genuine sci-fi blockbuster.

Arrival is streaming on Hulu and Paramount+ .

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Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991.

The 20 best time-travel movies – ranked!

As Adam Driver accidentally winds up 65m years ago , facing not just dinosaurs but an asteroid, we count down the best films about going backwards, or forwards, through the ages

20. Timecop (1994)

Regardless of what anyone says, I believe in my heart that Timecop was greenlit because someone showed a studio executive a picture of Jean-Claude Van Damme and said the word “Timecop” out loud, at which point they had to throw a script together as quickly as possible. Nothing about Timecop makes sense. It is the most 90s film ever made.

19. Tenet (2020)

I have to be careful here, because Tenet might not be a time-travel movie. Certainly time passes in it and some of the people are going backwards in time in it. But I’ve seen this movie twice now, and it mainly just seems to be about people mumbling everything, except for Kenneth Branagh, who gets to shout very loudly three times. Anyway, here it is.

18. Cavegirl (1985)

Finally, a film that uses time-travel for the correct reason; to allow a horny 1980s high school student to go back to prehistory so that he can convince a smoking hot, bikini-wearing cavegirl to have it off with him. You will note I’ve ranked this above Tenet.

17. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Heather Graham and Mike Myers in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

Weird to think that Austin Powers was originally a fish-out-of-water comedy, in which the promiscuous titular character had to navigate the (then) uptight world of the 1990s. That all fell apart for the sequel, where Powers was sent back to the 60s to shout his catchphrases at people who actually appreciated them. That makes it a time-travel movie, right?

16. The Butterfly Effect (2004)

God, this film. In summary: Ashton Kutcher plays a man who experiences blackouts, only to learn some years later that he can travel back in time and inhabit his younger self’s mind during the blackouts. But in doing so, he unleashes a world of unintended consequences. He becomes a murderer and loses limbs. Seek out the director’s cut if you can, because it ends with Kutcher’s character deliberately strangling himself in the womb with his umbilical cord. No, really.

15. The Tomorrow War (2021)

Wherein Chris Pratt is drafted into a war that takes place 26 years later, because the invading aliens have already killed all the soldiers who were alive at the time. It’s a great premise for a film – we all pay the price for the actions of other generations – let down by a truly confusing ending. Admit it, you forgot this film even existed, even though it cost $200m to make and only came out 18 months ago.

14. The Time Travelers (1964)

A 1964 movie made on the cheap with genuinely terrible effects, The Time Travelers is about a group of scientists who travel to the future, fight some mutants and then return. What sets it apart, though, is its crazed ending. The film ends with the scientists venturing into the distant future, whereupon the film plays through again, faster and faster and faster until it cuts away to a still of the galaxy. Are they trapped in a loop? Is free will an illusion? Did the producers just run out of money? We may never know.

13. The Adam Project (2022)

A buddy movie where the buddies are the same person … Walker Scobell and Ryan Reynolds in The Adam Project.

In which a young boy’s life is turned upside down when he is visited by an older version of himself from the future. The good news? He grows up to be a fighter pilot. The bad news? He also grows up to have all the cadences and surface-level snarky patter of Ryan Reynolds. What follows is a buddy movie where the two buddies are the same person.

12. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

So seminal that it was namechecked in Avengers: Endgame. A flat-out comedy that primarily exists to allow a bunch of middle-aged men to act like teenagers, Hot Tub Time Machine is a film about an enchanted Jacuzzi that sends people back to the mid-1980s. Possibly a bit too bawdy for its own good, there’s a hint of a message about the unreliability of nostalgia here.

11. Flight of the Navigator (1986)

This family film involves a young boy who goes missing in a Fort Lauderdale ravine, only to show up eight years later having not aged. There are UFOs and rubbery little creatures and whatnot, but there’s a real emotional wallop to the moment when the boy realises that the world has moved on without him, right down to the scene (that plays out like a horror movie) where the boy realises that his parents have become unrecognisably ancient, even though they are probably only in their early 40s.

10. Primer (2004)

Some see Shane Carruth’s Primer as the gold standard of what a time-travel film should be. It’s the sort of movie that seems unnervingly realistic, from the down-at-heel engineers to the unshowy nature of time travel itself, where people in effect just get in and out of some boxes. Almost entirely unwilling to explain itself, for years Primer fans have come to rely on a series of graphs and charts to figure out what the film actually is.

9. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

A time-travel movie that may or may not have any actual time-travel in it, Colin Trevorrow’s Safety Not Guaranteed is a delicate wonder of a thing. A man places an ad in a magazine asking for a time-travel companion – “Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before” – and the respondents slowly come to realise that all is not quite as it seems.

8. Planet of the Apes (1968)

Maurice Evans and Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes.

If you haven’t seen Planet of the Apes, then the fact that I’ve put it on a list of time-travel movies is probably quite a heavy spoiler, and for that I’m sorry. But what a reveal this is – what seems at first like a silly movie about Charlton Heston being persecuted by some monkeys quickly becomes something darker and much more sinister. That new Adam Driver movie probably could have achieved something similar, if it hadn’t blabbed its big secret in the trailer.

7. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Endgame is a lot, so much so that it is effectively a time-travel movie bookended by two entirely separate movies. And, yes, it takes a lot of liberties with time-travel, from Tony Stark’s “Huh, I did it” invention to the lazy referencing of other time-travel movies as a shorthand for what the characters can do. Nevertheless, when they get to it, the film nails it. The Battle of New York is the obvious highlight, with Captain America fighting Captain America and the Hulk embarrassed by his unreconstructed former self, but the heart of the film really comes when Tony meets his father as a man and learns to let go of the past.

6. Interstellar (2014)

Interstellar is also a lot. But at its core is a simple ethical quandary: would you try to save the world if it meant missing your children’s entire lives? Matthew McConaughey has to touch down on a planet during a space trip. The problem is that every hour he spends there is equal to seven years on Earth. Is the trip important enough for him to miss seeing the wonder of his children grow into adults? Technically, if you want to be fussy about this, Interstellar is a time dilation movie rather than a time-travel movie. But it gets a pass, largely because McConaughey sells the agony of the moment so beautifully.

5. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

A hilarious example of predestination … George Carlin, Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

There are times when Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure feels like it was written by a toddler off his face on pop. But that’s a deliberate ploy, a way to camouflage all the careful rigour that underpins the script. The lead characters are initially reluctant to embark on their time-travel adventure, until they’re visited by versions of themselves from the near future who compel them to do it; a beautiful and hilarious example of predestination in action. Extra points are awarded thanks to the film’s total lack of interest in consequences. Swiping Abraham Lincoln and Napoleon from their respective eras has no bearing on world history whatsoever, which is probably quite lucky.

4. Looper (2012)

One problem with time-travel movies is that the rules always need to be explained upfront. In lesser hands, this can lead to all manner of clunky, stilted exposition. But when Rian Johnson dabbled in the genre with Looper, he gave us a masterclass in “show, don’t tell”. The sequence where poor Paul Dano’s character is tortured at two different points in time simultaneously, with the older version following instructions carved into the younger version’s arm, is arguably one of the most inventive uses of time-travel in the entire history of cinema. All that plus this is Bruce Willis’s last truly great performance.

Bruce Willis as Joe in Looper.

3. The Terminator (1984)/Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

The lure of the first two Terminator movies were the killer robots running around murdering everyone. But they were very smartly built around a framework of pure time-travel. We only see the future in brief flashes, but what’s important is the present. It is very, very important that Kyle Reese (a guy from the future) has sex with Sarah Connor (a woman from the present), because only that will save humanity as we know it. It’s a hell of a pickup line, but the device also elevates what could have simply been a shonky B-movie into the realm of the classics.

2. Idiocracy (2006)

The smartest time-travel movies use the device as a mirror, telling us more about the times we live in now than the times the characters visit. Enter Idiocracy, Mike Judge’s stinging satire about modern times. An average person is cryogenically frozen and wakes up in the future, shocked to discover that the global IQ has fallen off a cliff in the intervening years. Surrounded by aggressive stupidity, he single-handedly saves the US from famine by suggesting that they use water – and not an electrolyte drink – to grow crops. We are conservatively 15 years from this happening in real life.

1. Back to the Future (1985)/Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Prescient … Michael J Fox and the Hoverboard Girls in Back to the Future Part II.

The only conceivable first choice. The first two Back to the Future films (the third, which is basically just a western, is far less imaginative) have come to define time-travel as a genre. They deliver a complex set of hard sci-fi rules about what can and cannot happen during time-travel and – miraculously – manage to do it in a way that kids can understand. Good music, cool clothes, a million catchphrases and, in the case of the second film, an unnervingly prescient prediction of how Donald Trump would turn out. Just perfect.

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The 60 Best Movie Plot Twists

Warning: spoilers ahead!

Collage, Photography, Art, Selfie, Photomontage,

Barbarian (2022)

best plot twist movies

The Plot: In town for an interview, Tess arrives at her Airbnb to find it’s been double-booked and is currently occupied by Keith, a kinda nice, but kinda creepy dude who refuses to leave.

The Twist: Mid-movie, there is a slight genre-shift that adds to the film’s intrigue and layers of twists, but ultimately, the biggest reveal is that it’s not Keith who Tess should fear. It’s the deformed mothering creature being held captive in the dungeon under the rental.

Decision to Leave (2022)

best plot twist movies

The Plot: While investigating the murder of a man who was found at the base of a mountain, married detective Jang Hae-jun falls in love with Song Seo-rae, the dead guy’s wife.

The Twist: Yes, Song is the killer, and her husband isn’t the only victim. But the most profound reveal in this gorgeous and devastating romance has to be the ending. Song’s decision to leave—her decision to commit suicide and the ways she decides to leave—sees her dig a hole on the beach, climb in, and patiently wait for the tide to erase her forever.

Get Out (2017)

best plot twist movies

The Plot: Rose Armitage, a white woman, brings Chris Washington, her Black boyfriend, home to meet her parents. Once there, Chris senses something off with the white folks.

The Twist: The Armitages are part of a sick cult that auctions off Black people to wealthy white buyers who then surgically transplant their consciousness into the "genetically advantaged" bodies they purchase.

Les Diaboliques (1955)

best plot twist movies

The Plot: The wife and mistress of an abusive boarding school headmaster hatch a plan to get rid of him forever. But even in death, the tyrant continues to haunt them.

The Twist: He’s not dead. He’s pretending to be a ghost to scare his wife to literal death so he and his mistress can be together.

Missing (2023)

best plot twist movies

The Plot: June loves her mom, Grace, but she also can’t wait to have the house to herself as her mother heads to Colombia with her new beau. Worried when her mother doesn’t come home on time, June turns to the interwebs and Grace’s digital footprint to track her down.

The Twist: The architect behind the kidnapping plot is June’s dad.

Saltburn (2023)

best plot twist movies

The Plot: Oliver Quick, a nobody Oxford student, gets the invitation of a lifetime to spend the summer with the ridiculously wealthy and prominent Cattons at their sprawling estate called Saltburn. Funny thing, though: One by one, they all end up in the ground.

The Twist: All the death and destruction was part of Oliver’s diabolical plan.

Soylent Green (1973)

best plot twist movies

The Plot: In a dystopian future where Earth is ravaged by climate change, overpopulation, and pollution, a detective uncovers the truth of Soylent Green, the people’s main food source.

The Twist: Soylent Green is made out of human remains. It’s involuntary cannibalism forced on the masses by a powerful corporation.

The Skin I Live In (2011)

best plot twist movies

The Plot: After his wife commits suicide following traumatic injury from a fiery car crash, a plastic surgeon does some sort of revolting synthesized magic to turn a young woman he keeps locked up at his secluded estate into a nearly identical version of his dead wife.

The Twist: The young woman is actually a young man with troubling ties to the doctor’s daughter.

The Third Man (1949)

best plot twist movies

The Plot: Carol Reed’s legendary film noir stars Orson Wells, Joseph Cotten, and Alida Valli in a thriller about a novelist who investigates the death of his friend, Harry Lime, in postwar Vienna.

The Twist: Harry Lime is alive! And that’s just the first twist. The film ends with another.

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

best plot twist movies

The Plot: An unlikely trio—Fontaine, a drug dealer; Yo-Yo, a sex worker; and Slick Charles, a pimp—team up to expose an underground government conspiracy that involves controlling, cloning, and experimenting on a fictional neighborhood's Black population.

The Twist: Fontaine is the operation’s mastermind. As for the Tyrone twist, we’ll leave that fun reveal for you to uncover.

Parasite (2019)

Snapshot, Fun, Photography, Black hair, Smile,

The Plot: The poor Kim family leave squalor behind to infiltrate the affluent Parks’ home.

The Twist: Once inside, they learn the Parks’ former housekeeper, Moon-gwang, is keeping a secret in the basement—her husband. She then learns the Kims’ secret too. All this leads to a bloody massacre that plays out at the Parks’ son’s backyard birthday party. In the end, the Kims’ patriarch, Ki-taek, stabs and kills the Parks’ patriarch, Park Dong-ik. Ki-taek then goes AWOL, but the final twist of the film reveals his whereabouts: He’s taken up shop in the Parks’ now-vacant basement.

People, Child, Adaptation, Human, Happy, Smile,

The Plot: A family’s beach vacation takes a violent turn when they learn they’re being hunted by some very curious doppelgängers.

The Twist: Matriarch Adelaide Wilson, who is clearly wrestling with a secret for a good chunk of the reel, turns out to be the imposter doppelgänger, with Red, the uninvited murderess, serving as the actual Adelaide Wilson. Adelaide’s identity was stolen as a little girl when she was abducted at the very same beach decades earlier.

Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (2019)

Vehicle door, Vehicle, Car, Motor vehicle, Luxury vehicle, Automotive exterior, Auto part, Recreation, Automotive window part, Family car,

The Plot: Two dudes—Rick Dalton, an aging star from TV westerns, and his stunt double, Cliff Booth—live out their bromance in the Manson-era ‘60s.

The Twist: Three would-be Manson family killers storm into Rick’s Hollywood Hills mansion, where Cliff—high on acid—is there to welcome them. A brutal brawl, the wrath of a Pit Bull, and the fury of a flamethrower later, and revisionist history rewrites Sharon Tate’s fate. She doesn’t die. The Manson killers do.

Arrival (2016)

Orange, Headgear,

The Plot: When a dozen alien aircraft land on earth, a linguist, Louise Banks, is recruited to work with the military to decipher the reason for their visit.

The Twist: We aren’t watching a linear film. We’re watching a palindromic film. As Dr. Banks hacks the heptapods’ language, we learn their means of communicating aren’t linear; they know the ending as they’re writing the beginning. Applying the revelation to the film’s narrative, when Dr. Banks gives birth to her daughter, she knows she’s giving birth to a baby who will die young. She knows how her baby’s story will end before it ever begins. Further, she names her baby Hannah, a palindrome.

Coco (2017)

People, Toy, Fun, World, Tourism, Leisure, Vacation, Smile, Crowd, Art,

The Plot: A little boy named Miguel has guitar skills in his bones, but his family forbids him from any kind of music. To mend this generations-old taboo, he travels to the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, the famous singer Ernesto de la Cruz.

The Twist: While mingling with the dead, Miguel meets Héctor, a sad sap trying to reconnect with his family. The big reveal, however, discloses that Ernesto murdered Héctor, and that Héctor is actually Miguel’s great-great-grandfather, and Coco’s father.

The Descent

Performance, Arm, Performing arts, Human body, Event, Performance art, Dancer, Dance, Flesh,

The Plot: A squad of all-female spelunking enthusiasts dive into a bat-infested cave inhabited also by some very hungry humanoids the director calls Crawlers.

The Twist: Main character Sarah is your final girl, dragging herself out of the ground and speeding away in her SUV from the bloody entombment she just experienced. Until, not so fast, an apparition of antagonist Juno riding shotgun jerks Sarah out of her own mania and puts her right back into the cave where she really is. The camera fades to black. And we hear the Crawlers drawing near.*

*This is the director’s final cut of the film . U.S. audiences were treated to a diluted ending in theaters.

Identity (2003)

Suit, Formal wear, Outerwear, Tuxedo, White-collar worker, Jacket,

The Plot: The guests of an interstate motel in the Nevada desert quickly learn there’s a homicidal killer among them, as they’re getting knocked off one by one.

The Twist: The murderer is the little boy—which is explained as we learn each of the 10 strangers stranded at the roadside joint are manifestations of a man who suffers from an extreme case of dissociative identity disorder. The boy is one of those personalities.

Gone Girl (2014)

Flower, Plant, Floristry, Floral design, Office equipment, Interior design, Table, Desk, Glass, Typewriter,

The Plot: When his seemingly perfect wife Amy goes missing, philandering Nick becomes the prime suspect.

The Twist: After learning Nick cheated, Amy meticulously planned her disappearance to make it look like Nick killed her. Later, when she decides to return home to Nick (after seducing, then murdering, an old ex-boyfriend to make it look like he kidnapped her) she gets artificially inseminated with Nick's semen to ensure he stays with her.

The Departed (2006)

Games, Indoor games and sports, Table, Recreation, Poker, English billiards, Pool, Gambling, Straight pool, Furniture,

The Plot: Billy Costigan goes undercover within the Irish mob to implicate sadistic boss Frank Costello. Meanwhile, Staff Sergeant Colin Sullivan, a dirty cop secretly doing Costello's bidding, tries to hunt out the "rat."

The Twist: Sullivan determines Costigan's identity, shooting him in the head in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it sequence. After Costigan's funeral, Sullivan returns to his own apartment, where Costigan's handler, Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam, is waiting to kill him.

Atonement (2007)

Meal, Event, Restaurant, Tableware, Formal wear, Brunch, Drinkware, Food, Champagne stemware, Stemware,

The Plot: Briony Tallis has a crush on the son of her family's housekeeper, Robbie; when she walks in on her sister Cecilia having sex with Robbie, Briony misinterprets the situation. Later that night, she blames Robbie for an assault on her cousin Lola even though she didn't witness the attack. Robbie is sent to prison, later joining the army to fight in World War II, while Cecilia becomes a nurse. Years later, Briony, feeling guilty for derailing Cecilia and Robbie's lives, visits them in their apartment to apologize, but they turn her away.

The Twist: Cecilia and Robbie never had a life together; Robbie died in the war, while Cecilia died in a bombing in London. As an old woman, Briony wrote a book in which they lived happily ever after as repentance.

Headshot of Julie Kosin

Julie Kosin is the senior culture editor of ELLE.com, where she oversees all things movies, TV, books, music, and art, from trawling Netflix for a worthy binge to endorsing your next book club pick. She's the former director of audience strategy and entertainment at HarpersBAZAAR.com . When not glued to her laptop, she can be found taking pictures of her dog or haunting used bookstores.

Headshot of DeAnna Janes

DeAnna Janes is a freelance writer and editor for a number of sites, including Harper’s BAZAAR, Tasting Table, Fast Company and Brit + Co, and is a passionate supporter of animal causes, copy savant, movie dork and reckless connoisseur of all holidays. A native Texan living in NYC since 2005, Janes has a degree in journalism from Texas A&M and  got her start in media at US Weekly before moving on to O Magazine, and eventually becoming the entertainment editor of the once-loved, now-shuttered DailyCandy. She’s based on the Upper West Side.

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This Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Has An Amazing Time Travel Twist

The Movie Predestination will break your brain and confuse you for days, which is what everyone wants from a Time Travel Movie

Time travel movies are a pretty popular sub-genre of the sci-fi world. Well-known films include The Terminator (1984), Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), the Back to the Future franchise, and most recently, Loki and within the MCU universe . One that is rarely brought up in discussion with these films is Michael and Peter Spierig’s 2014 film Predestination . Predestination may not be the best film, but it has a twisting story and one of the more cohesive time travel films out there.

Predestination is based on the 1958 short story “All You Zombies” by science-fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein. The film received mainly positive reviews, with New York Post critic Sara Stewart calling it a “stylish head trip.” The film ultimately garnered 84% on Rotten Tomatoes and was well-liked among audiences. 

RELATED: 10 Must-Try Time Travel Games For Sci-Fi Fans

Although receiving mainly positive reviews, the film didn’t seem to make the lasting impact that other time travel movies had prior. Predestination is extremely underrated and deserves recognition for being a film that makes a topic that is often perplexing much easier to understand. Also differing from other time travel films , Predestination delves into paradoxes that can occur during time traveling, as opposed to ignoring them completely. The film also focuses heavily on character arc and development, and has a beautiful mise-en-scène, with the various eras so perfectly depicted with the use of clothing, production design, and cinematography.

Predestination chronicles the life of a temporal agent (Ethan Hawke) who is sent on hundreds of time travel missions to ensure his career at law enforcement. Temporal agents' jobs involve having to stop horrific crimes before they happen, ultimately saving the lives of millions of people. For his final assignment, the agent must stop a criminal known as the Fizzle Bomber from instigating an attack that will kill thousands of people.

The film opens with Hawke’s character trying to break an explosive set by the Fizzle Bomber in New York. The bomb blows off in his face, burning him terribly. The film then goes to its first of many flashbacks, a scene in which Hawke is working as a New York bartender during the 1970s. On the job, he meets an androgynous man who goes by the name "The Unmarried Mother” (Sarah Snook).

After some small talk, the customer begins to tell Hawke his life story: He was actually born a girl named Jane who grew up in an orphanage, always getting bullied by the other girls. She was recruited to the SpaceCorp as a young woman, a government agency known for bringing women into space to have sex with astronauts. She eventually gets kicked off for an undisclosed medical reason, but one of the people in charge, Mr. Robertson (Noah Taylor), is still intrigued by her. He offers to recruit her for a different type of agency, but this is before Jane meets a man, falls in love, and gets pregnant, which doesn’t allow her to join.

The father of her child ends up mysteriously leaving her, competely vanishing from her life. After she gives birth, it is discovered that Jane is intersex , with internalized male and female sex organs. Complications during the birth forced doctors to remove her female sex organs, making her undergo a gender reassignment surgery , enforcing her into a world as a man named John. Furthermore, John’s life was thrown into another loop when his baby was stolen by a strange man, and since then, John has been living a sad life under the pseudonym "The Unmarried Mother", writing confession columns. Having characters part of the LGBTQ+ community   in this film is also what makes it a unique and intriguing film, being one of the first in this sub-genre to do it.

As John tells his story in a series of flashbacks, the movie always returns back to the scene between Hawke and John at the bar. That, among other elements, is what makes Predestination unique from other time travel films: its use of time. The film goes at a much slower pace compared to other movies of the genre. Many time travel movies are criticized for being extremely fast-paced and hard to follow, which makes an already unfathomable concept more complicated.

Although the plot may seem like a lot to take in, the pace of the film makes it easier for viewers to grasp. Being a little over an hour and a half, almost the entire first hour is the intimate scene between John and the temporal agent (Hawke) at the bar, as John is telling Hawke his life story. Most time travel films would’ve started delving into intense action sequences and the use of special effects, but Predestination doesn’t need to rely on these, as it is already an extremely captivating story and relies more on narrative and character develpment. 

Predestination also stands out due to the factual elements it contains and the lack of plotholes, which time travel movies are so famously known for . After John finishes telling Hawke his story, Hawke offers him the chance to go back in time and alter his past. As John is about to kill the man who impregnated him as Jane, it is shockingly revealed that he is actually the man, meaning he is a temporal agent as well. It is later revealed that Hawke’s character is the mysterious man who stole Jane’s baby. In fact, John, Jane, Hawke, and the baby are all the same person: revealing a predestination paradox.  

Along with the factual scientific elements, the Spierig Brothers and crew took their time to make every time era as factually correct as possible. Costume designer Wendy Cork does an amazing job with her clothing that was devade-specific and the production designer Matthew Putland uses different lighting techniques and colors to depict different decades. The 1960s Space Corp had cool whites and blues in the interior design; Jane's school uniform perfectly depicts the 1960s, with her white and blue uniform and bob cut.

Although Predestination didn’t get the attention it deserved, the knock-out performances from Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook remain. Hawke was already a well-established actor , with huge roles in films such as the Before Sunset trilogy, Training Day (2001), and Daybreakers (2009), but it was Snook who really cemented her acting abilities in this film. Hawke delivered an amazing performance as a man who appears tough but is actually very lost, and Snook’s pulled off her performance of a tortured soul brilliantly.

MORE: Ryan Reynolds Shares New Look At His Time Travel Film The Adam Project

20 Most Confusing Time Travel Movies Ever Made

From inter-timeline disasters to sillier comedies with absurd sci-fi concepts, these movies may be unclear with time travel but are definitely fun!

Hollywood has brought us some of the most amazing stories over the years, but few are quite as mind-bending and exhilarating as those involving time travel. Filmmakers have tried their hand in literally everything the concept has to offer – from moving forward and backward in time to crossing over into alternate realities. And while some movies just make sense, many others drop the ball by never addressing the basic rules and paradoxes associated with messing with the space-time continuum. Resulting in utter confusion and bewilderment.

Related: These are the Best Movies that Got Time Travel Right

While time travel movies aim to entertain audiences, they sometimes end up being hard to follow. And that’s mainly because time travel itself is very hard to properly put into practice in a cinematic environment. From harmless choices to greater disasters, many movies leave massive plot holes unaddressed, while many others take a casual approach to the science behind the premise .

Regardless of the method, the result is some of the greatest films about time travel that offer baffling experiences. After all, the thrill of watching characters traverse through eons and eras is unrivaled. Even if we are left scratching our heads and grasping out straws to make sense of all the plot twists and gaps in logic. So, without further ado, here is a list of some of the most confusing yet highly watchable movies involving time travel.

20 Mirage (2018)

One of the most unique murder mysteries ever made, Mirage is a Spanish-language film that combines the elements of a crime thriller with time travel, and it does so impeccably. The movie follows Vera, a mother who ends up saving the life of a child in a storm that occurred 25 years ago. But her tempering causes a glitch in the space-time continuum, which takes her daughter from her, and now she must solve the case and reverse the event. The movie uses props like a TV acting as a portal between the past and the present, facts and clues from two decades ago that act as clues to uncover a larger, more sinister detail. Director Oriol Paulo has a seasoned hand in creating movies with altered realities and shifting timelines, and his 2018 project only cements his talent in the genre. Plus, we have Álvaro Morte, whom fans know from the renowned Netflix series Money Heist.

19 The Infinite Man (2014)

This complicated time loop movie centers around a man’s desire to recreate special moments with his girlfriend. Being a scientist, Dean has all the means to make this anniversary weekend similar to the last and equally memorable. But what he does not expect is that his little fiddling would lead Lana into an infinite time loop, and the two would come face to face with multiple versions of themselves from the past. Wicked and charming, this Australian low-budget science fiction movie is not only high in its concept but also delivers crazy humor with its disorienting premise. The Infinite Man achieves a lot with just three actors – Josh McConville, Hannah Marshall, and Alex Dimitriades – and almost no special effects or over-the-top performances, making it one of the more underrated comedies in the genre.

18 Primer (2004)

Primer is an extraordinarily cerebral independent time-travel film written and directed by Shane Carruth. Produced with a shoestring budget of $7k, it follows a group of engineers, Aaron, Abe, Phillip, and Robert, working on creating an error-checking machine but accidentally inventing a device that allows them to travel back in time. Obsessed with this new origination, they use it to get advanced knowledge on the stock market and make inadvertent changes to alter the present and the future. What follows is a spiral of paradoxes and alternate timelines. The movie relies heavily on technical jargon to explain the plot, which may leave the audience dazed. But due to its many artistic merits, Primer succeeds in creating a truly original take on the time travel genre.

17 Summer Time Machine Blues (2005)

A rather unknown entry on the list, Summer Time Machine Blues is a Japanese indie time travel comedy that follows four college students who use a time travel machine to retrieve a remote control after the air conditioner in the present breaks down and the summer heat gets unbearable. The movie is filled with amusing shock gags which appeal not only to fans of science fiction but also to people who simply enjoy nonsensical humor. As the students confront technology and travel back and forth, things get way too complicated. However, the movie focuses more on the comedic scenarios than crafting a coherent of logical time travel storyline, which seems to work well because the audience is left feeling exhilarant and nostalgic as they long for a carefree summer break.

16 X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

The X-Men franchise is widespread, and the movies range from dull to spectacular. X-Men: Days of Future Past falls on the better side of this spectrum as the superhero time travel adventure follows Wolverine's consciousness sent back to the 1970s by the X-Men. The mission? To stop Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask, as it would lead to the destruction of mutants. While the time travel itself feels pretty straightforward, it’s Wolverine’es functioning as a surrogate for the audience that truly elevates the experience. There are also notions of free will and fate involved, as Logan’s actions sharply alter the events of history. It seems like the story plays it safe rather than diving into the conceptual details, which also results in some loose threads. But overall, the movie is an enjoyable flick that relies on visual thrills and character drama.

Related: X-Men: Was Days of Future Past the Best Movie in the Franchise?

15 12 Monkeys (1995)

Director Terry Gilliam draws inspiration from the 1962 short film by Chris Marker to create this imaginative time travel tale. In 12 Monkeys , Bruce Willis stars as a time traveler sent back from a dystopian future to gather information about a virus that wipes out most of mankind. The twisted narrative revolves around an animal rights group called the Army of the Twelve Monkeys and Willis’ increasingly confused journey as he struggles to differentiate between what is real and what isn’t. While the movie is overly imbued with separate incidents about predestination and fate that later turn into a surprisingly poetic vision of time as the pieces fall into place. With strong performances and Gilliam’s visually striking direction, the movie slowly narrows down the confusion.

14 Timecrimes (2007)

Nacho Vigalondo’s excellently clever Spanish thriller follows a single timeline, with events that occur during one day . Timecrimes follows the protagonist, Héctor snooping on a woman on his property, shortly after which he discovers that she has been assaulted. The same bandage-faced man then targets Héctor, who hides in a time machine, which sends him a few hours in the past to observe himself throughout the day. The simple yet effective premise allows the filmmakers to explore the mind-bending concept of time as well as the idea of a person interacting with their past self. The confusion comes from Héctor’s character, who never intended to travel back. Told in a gripping pace of twisted reveals, Timescrimes leaves the audience in a constant state of awe but still keeps them invested throughout.

13 The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Ashton Kutcher stars in The Butterfly Effect as Evan, who is perturbed by constant headaches and often blacks out. But when he’s unconscious, he develops the ability to travel back into his own memories and alter the events of the past. The movie examines how even the tiniest chances in the past can affect the present in unexpected, monumental ways. The premise of the story actually explores the chaos theory, which suggests that order often moves to disorder and vice versa. As for the story, it quickly devolves into an increasingly illogical series of events as Kutcher’s protagonist, Evan, tries to mend his personal and professional relationships. While the movie did receive a lot of appreciation, many believe that the mind-bender had more potential for success had it delivered better psychological thrills.

12 Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is a wacky comedy that follows two rock-and-roll slackers who travel through time to assemble historical figures like Socrates, Billy the Kid, and Joan of Arc for their school project. At the same time, they also save the world. The movie is very, very light-hearted in its approach toward time travel, focusing more on the silly hijinks and vintage gags rather than explaining how a phone booth sent for the future acts as a device that sends them cruising around centuries. Rufus, the guy who acts as an anchor for Bill and Ted, has a confusing arc because he reveres their music in the future, but they only end up making the music after he steps into the past. As such, the movie serves more as a fun diversion than food for thought.

11 Planet of the Apes (2001)

The 1968 classic sci-fi directed by Franklin J. Schaffner gave the audience a first glimpse of time travel and its effect, but we’re talking about 2001’s Planet of the Apes reboot by Tim Burton, which took the original movie’s basic storyline and went crazy with it. Starring Mark Wahlberg as Leo, an astronaut who lands on a planet where apes rule the humans, the movie switches directions from the original as soon as he provokes the humans to take a stand against the intelligent apes. When matters get out of hand, he returns to the present and discovers that his Earth is now occupied by apes too. Which just complicates things further. Because the story relies heavily on spectacle over science, it fails to craft a genuine portrait of evolution, intelligence, and the dangers posed by the same.

Related: 20 Most Iconic Scenes From the Planet of the Apes Movies

10 Looper (2012)

Looper charts the story of an assassin who works for organized crime, and his job as a ‘looper’ is to kill targets set back in time from the future. Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt both play the protagonist, Joe, in this neo-noir thriller. The unforeseen complication in Joe’s profession arises when his younger and aged version comes face to face to close the loop, which means killing themselves. The film showcases a vivid vision of a dystopian future while also exploring how the same future can create greater dents in society. Director Rian Johnson uses artistic visuals to help distract the audience from narrative confusion, making the movie ultimately enjoyable – if not entirely sensible.

9 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Directed by Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is as adventurous and entertaining as it is bizarre. Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise travel back to 1980s Earth to retrieve humpback whales whose sounds can save the planet from a dangerous probe in the future. The movie is quite laid-back for time travel, and it serves primarily as comedic fodder for the franchise. First of all, the crew sling-shots itself around the sun to reach Earth and back, even though their ship is fast. Second, they bring the whales with them instead of just making sure their species does not go extinct. So, while there is a lack of any substantive exploration, the movie seems rather frivolous and confusing from the time travel aspect. However, for undemanding fans who only want to see their beloved characters shine in a new setting, the movie delivers plenty of that good old Trek fun.

8 Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Far better than Terminator: Genisys , this latest entry in the Terminator franchise sees a new and advanced Terminator sent from the future to kill a young woman who holds the key to humanity's survival. The original move was already complicated with the whole deal of Connor and Reese chasing their own tail. But this one takes the familiar action thrills and time travel tropes to up the ante, and without breaking much new ground narratively, create a maze around Schwarzenegger’s terminator and a new cyborg sent by Legion. With dazzling special effects that are entertaining but never enlightening, Terminator: Dark Fate makes you think out loud because of its straining credulity. While it may not have rivaled the game-changing impact by others, it delivers enough pulpy thrills to keep fans satisfied.

7 Predestination (2014)

Based on the short story All You Zombies, Predestination is a complex time travel that follows a Temporal Agent sent on a mission to stop a terrorist from destroying the entirety of New York City in 1975. On one hand, the movie is emotionally gripping and on the other, it features numerous twists that arrest the viewers and offers them an understanding of the characters’ pasts, presents, and futures. The intricately layered narrative gives rise to more logical and confusing leaps in time and we find ourselves struggling to follow the story’s progression. Still, Michael and Peter Spierig’s clever writing as sharp performances from Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, and Noah Taylor help sustain interest as every element of this abundantly convoluted film comes together into the most satisfying ending.

6 Déjà Vu (2006)

Denzel Washington stars as Doug, an ATF agent who travels back four days in time to solve a terrorist attack that led to a ferry explosion and save a woman's life. Simple and interesting, right? Well, the reason Doug is able to achieve this is by following the life of a victim and getting close to the person responsible. However, when the FBI warns Doug of the end result remaining the same regardless of whether or not he finds the bomber, he’s left with no choice but to alter history itself. The flashy action thriller relies heavily on spectacle and drama while glossing over the conceptual difficulties of its premise. However, it does assimilate all the timeless into one fine ending and wraps things up pretty neatly, ensuring Déjà Vu a place in the growing pantheon of unforgettable time travel movies.

Related: Time Travel Was Totally Unrealistic in These Movies

5 Source Code (2011)

From the very start of Source Code , the audience is sucked into a black hole of repetitive circumstances and narrative convolution. The compelling thriller follows Colter Stevens, an army pilot who is given charge of a top-secret mission where he has to repeatedly travel back in time for 8 minutes to uncover details about a train bombing. Played by Jake Gyllenhaal, Stevens is as confused by the mysterious trail as the audience. The puzzling, science-based approach tries to elevate the intrigue created by its Hitchcockian opening sequence, and it also manages to achieve part of it. But seeing Stevens pop in and out and train and comprehend gets straining. Still, with a taut mystery and great premise, the film launches important questions about fate.

4 Back To The Future: Part 2 (1989)

After the stunning success of the franchise’s 1985 debut, Robert Zemeckis returns with another incredible story with Back To The Future: Part 2 . The sequel sees Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to 2015, where they must repair the damage caused by Biff's alterations to history. As light-hearted as the adventure may seem, it does treat its time travel in a silly manner because most of the events in the second movie take place on the same date as the first. There are also instances where Doc references the first movie. With little concern for logical consistency (except for that one blackboard explanation), the movie delivers plenty of laughs and nostalgic entertainment. It proves to be a classic 80s teen adventure gone futuristic with a narrative that is fun by ultimately zany.

3 Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers: Endgame carried on after the jarring yet entertaining events of Avengers: Infinity War and graced the big screen with another phenomenal spectacle of a film where the remaining Avengers travel back in time to reverse Thanos’ actions and save half the universe. The time travel concept used here presents complications that challenge even the great minds of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.

Even though their rules are coherent – that altering any event in the past will not affect the original timeline but instead form a different fracture of a timeline where the altered event remains thorough – the narrative still isn’t able to create a multiverse that does not collapse under its own paradoxical weight. However, the massive set pieces, emotional character dynamics, and mind-blowing action scenes help distract from any conceptual shortcomings, and of course, Endgame remains a rousing end to over a decade's worth of Marvel storytelling.

2 Donnie Darko (2001)

A movie that may have been a box office failure upon release, Donnie Darko has now earned the status of a cult classic because of its presentation of traumatized teens in a way that is neither patronizing nor stereotypical. Following Jake Gyllenhaal’s titular character, a troubled high-schooler who begins seeing visions of a man in a sinister bunny costume, the movie circles around how he ends up committing various destructive acts after telling him that the world will end in 28 days. The psychological thriller is brimming with inexplicable and growingly complex time travel elements that are hard to follow. Plus, there is this whole dreamlike quality in every frame of the nonlinear storyline that leaves many mysteries unsolved. Despite never fully providing an explanation, Donnie Darko succeeds as a haunting movie that explores mental illness and adolescence.

1 Interstellar (2014)

In Interstellar , Matthew McConaughey stars as an ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, who travels through a wormhole in search of a plate to sustain humanity after Earth becomes uninhabitable. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the movie takes a grounded approach and scientific rigor to help make the time travel feel genuine and emotionally resonant. His meticulous attention to detail and accurate application of scientific concepts, as well as the portrayal of time on a planet where one hour equals seven years on Earth, may bewilder fans. But to help, the movie tackles themes of love across time and space and uses character depth and visually striking storytelling that keeps the audience engaged.

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65’s twist makes the dino-fighting movie just a little more interesting

Adam Driver explains his character, and why he was thinking more about Alien than Jurassic Park

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Adam Driver’s Mills holds up a 3D hologram of his ship while he navigates the prehistoric jungles of Earth in 65

Is a twist a twist if it twists right in the first five minutes of a movie? According to Sony Pictures, yes — which is why marketing for 65 has emphasized the part where Adam Driver fights dinosaurs on a prehistoric planet Earth rather than answering the question of how he got there in the first place. But the truth left me absolutely giddy.

“After a cataclysmic crash on an unknown planet,” reads Sony’s carefully worded plot description for 65 , “pilot Mills (Adam Driver) quickly discovers he’s actually stranded on Earth… 65 million years ago.”

But here is the thing: Mills does not discover that he’s actually stranded on Earth 65 million years ago!

[ Ed. note: The following interview contains spoilers for 65 .]

That’s because Mills has never been to Earth, or even heard of the planet. There is no time travel in 65 ; the pilot’s crash was simply a work accident during a routine shipping mission across the galaxy, coordinated by beings from another planet. Driver isn’t “human” — he’s an alien!

Finding an organic way back to the time of the dinosaurs was a naturally tricky endeavor, according to writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, and even more so when they landed on the idea that Mills would arrive on Earth from an entirely different civilization.

“We needed it to feel grounded,” Beck says of the challenge. “There were wild ideas that were left on the page, like Adam speaking another language, or different facial modifications [to make him look more alien]. But we needed to find a blend where we didn’t lose the audience in the first five minutes. We were always pressure-testing.”

The duo spent a good portion of preproduction on 65 weighing world-building options with production designer Kevin Ishioka. The questions ranged from basic — Has this civilization embraced digital technology, or do they rely on analog? — to the fantastical. At one point, Beck and Woods considered a design of Mills’ galactic freighter that would have been made entirely out of rock, unlike anything the average moviegoer might immediately detect as a spaceship.

“We talked a lot about how the technology in the film should both be at times futuristic — meaning more advanced than our technology — and at other times regressed,” Woods says. “We wanted to run that line between futuristic and retro, a hybrid of ancient and future. That was the benchmark for us.”

Mills (Driver) holds his hand up to Koa (Arianna Greenblatt) telling her to wait to go out a door while he clutches his gun. Koa holds up a finger to say “shh” in 65.

The opening scenes of the film, set on an alien beach speckled with spiraling vertical rock formations, only give us traces of a larger world established in the far reaches of space. The focus is more on Mills’ soul-searching: The only reason he took his shipping job was to earn enough money for a medication that might or might not save his terminally ill daughter. When it all goes wrong (thanks to an ill-timed chunk of space rock that sends his ship spiraling down to Earth, a precursor of a much bigger meteor headed toward the planet), Mills’ fight for survival is immediately pressurized by a need to get home to his child, and to protect another survivor, a young girl named Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), who has also been stranded in the Cretaceous Era.

“We try to show more than explain,” Driver tells Polygon, “but you know what the relationship means to him in his unwillingness to talk, when he’s faced with someone who, in every detail, reminds him of his past.”

Mills isn’t a conventional hero. While Jurassic Park comes up as an obvious sci-fi touchstone for the film, Driver compares Mills to Harry Dean Stanton in Alien . He’s just a blue-collar guy punching a time clock. “It could almost be considered the equivalent to a truck driver. It’s not a planet where being a pilot is foreign to them. There isn’t some kind of hierarchical thing [because he’s an alien]. This is what he does.”

While 65 does get pulpy, Beck and Woods also cite Alien as a way of rooting the potentially far-fetched setup in something real. While they created a new planet and sculpted a world where aliens like Mills ship cryogenically frozen people as cargo, they ultimately take him to a familiar planet, where he faces creatures the audience knows a great deal about already. That meant respecting the known science about dinosaurs while also diving into science fiction.

“We had a Venn diagram, where one circle was all about science,” Woods says, “And then in the other Venn diagram circle, we had Ridley Scott’s Alien , one of the scariest movies ever made. And so we just wanted to kind of combine interesting science and also something that’s frightening.”

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Best Plot Twist Movies - Biggest Plot Twists in Movie History - Featured

Best Plot Twist Movies & Biggest Plot Twists in Movie History

A shocking twist ending is a great way to end a film with a bang but great twists aren’t confined to just the ends of films. The best plot twists catch us off guard, recontextualizing everything we just watched and rewarding subsequent rewatches.  There will, of course, be major spoilers to follow, this is your SPOILER WARNING! Without further ado, join us in counting down the 20 best plot twist movies of all time.

Best Plot Twist Movies

20. murder on the orient express (1974).

Plot Twist Movies  •  Murder on the Orient Express

After our hero Hercule Poirot has interview every suspect upon the Orient Express train, he arrives at the surprisingly conclusion that the murder wasn’t carried out by any individual, but rather by each and every suspect. A group murder!   No list of the best plot twist movies would be considered complete without an entry for the queen of the murder mystery, Agatha Christie. The murder mystery genre is an inherently twisty one and Christie is no stranger to the plot twist. For our money, Murder on the Orient Express is her at her twistiest! 

  • Lumet’s direction
  • Could use trimming

Plot Twist Movies

For a modern update on this type of murder mystery, instead of checking out the 2017 remake, consider checking out Rian Johnson’s Knives Out instead.

BEST MOVIE TWISTS OF ALL TIME

19. saw (2004).

Movies with Twist Endings  •  Saw

The man who you at first suspect of being the killer is just another pawn in Jigsaw’s game. That’s a small-scale, warmup twist, but the major twist is yet to come. The dead body that has been lying in the center of the room for the entire film is more than meets the eye. As the game draws to a close, Jigsaw rises from the pool of blood, hiding in plain sight and masterminding the entire time.

  • Fresh scenario
  • Creatively executed
  • Worldbuilding
  • Haphazard editing
  • Undercranked shots
  • Ugly color grading

BEST PLOT TWIST MOVIES

The sharp decline of the Saw franchise makes it easy to forget how good the first film really was.

Best Movie Twists of All Time

18. the others (2001).

Plot Twist Movies  •  The Others

The Others is a twist on the entire ghost movie formula. What at first seems to be a standard ghost film with good performances, compelling lighting, and well-executed scares, it turns out to be an inversion of the exact type of film you thought you were watching. The main characters are revealed to be ghosts themselves in the film’s shocking final plot twist.

  • Nicole Kidman
  • Fresh take on Ghosts
  • Great scares
  • Slow moving
  • Not enough scares

Best Movies with a Twist

A solidly crafted film elevated to new heights through its inventive twist on the genre.

17. Parasite (2019)

Bong Joon-ho’s mastery of genre and tone  •   Subscribe on YouTube

Now we reach our first entry that doesn’t have a plot twist at the end but rather in the middle. At the precise mid-point of the film, Parasite undergoes a total genre shift as the housekeeper’s secret, a mystery staircase, and an in-hiding husband are all revealed, sending the plot in a completely unexpected direction. This is an excellent example of peripeteia .

  • Tight script
  • Excellent acting
  • Immaculately assembled

If you want more twisty Bong Joon-ho goodness, then check out his film Mother for another excellent plot twist.

MOVIES WITH GREAT TWISTS

16. arrival (2016).

How Denis Villeneuve Balances Fear and Intrigue  •   Subscribe on YouTube

Arrival’s plot twist is somewhat unique in that it comes as less of a narrative revelation, and more of a structural one. The twist in Arrival is in the reveal of its non-linearity. What we had thought were flashbacks scattered throughout the film, were in actuality glimpses of the future. This twist alters our understanding of the main characters and our very perception of the concept of time — fascinating stuff.

If you love Arrival and want to read more about Denis Villeneuve's first sci-fi foray, be sure to read our Arrival analysis: balancing fear with intrigue .

  • Production design
  • Sound design
  • Tonal balance
  • Renner is flat

PLOT TWIST MOVIES

One of the only “structural twists” out there, Arrival is inventive in more ways than one.

BEST MOVIES WITH A TWIST

15. the handmaiden (2016).

Plot Twist Movies  •  The Handmaiden

Whereas one plot twist is enough for most films, The Handmaiden has about three, and each one is excellent. Every time you think you have a handle on The Handmaiden’s plot, the ground shifts underneath you and the entire narrative changes as a new ripple is revealed. Allegiances are altered, context and motivations change, double-crosses become triple-crosses, and Park Chan-wook navigates all of these twists with a sure and steady hand.

  • Performances
  • Stylish direction
  • Long runtime

MOVIES WITH BIGGEST PLOT TWISTS

Not content with just one plot twist, The Handmaiden keeps throwing plot twists at you right to the end.

14. Primal Fear (1996)

Movies with Twist Endings  •  Primal Fear

Primal Fear follows Richard Gere as an attorney fighting, at first, for the freedom of a man he believes to be innocent, then for his case to be ruled “not guilty by reason of insanity” after realizing his client is suffering from dissociative identity disorder. But, here comes the twist, the split personality is nothing more than a ruse. The man truly is guilty and is faking a split personality to get off with a lighter sentencing. 

  • Edward Norton
  • Laura Linney
  • Bland protagonist
  • Scenes without Norton

Edward Norton gives a fantastic performance in the role of the dissociative-identity disorder faking psychopath and is the reason this film has a loyal following.

13. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

Movies With Great Plot Twists  •  A Tale of Two Sisters

Coming out of South Korea from director Kim Jee-woon, A Tale of Two Sisters contains a familiar but extremely well-executed plot twist. The titular “two sisters” are actually just one sister, with the other having died before the events of the film. An extra wrinkle thrown in sees the one sister not just projecting as both sisters, but also as their cold-hearted stepmother as well.

  • Cinematography
  • Color palette
  • Inventive mise en scene
  • Predictable plot
  • Light on scares

The 2014 German horror film Goodnight Mommy’s plot is essentially a carbon copy of A Tale of Two Sisters . Be sure to watch the originator if you’ve only seen the copycat.

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12. The Prestige (2006)

Movies with Great Plot Twists  •  The Prestige

The Prestige contains not one but two excellent plot twists, perfectly appropriate given the subject matter of the film. As Michael Caine explains of magic tricks, you have the pledge, the turn, and finally the prestige. In the film, the pledge is the setup of the plot in motion, the turn is the initial plot twist: the teleportation trick is secretly executed by creating clones that then must be killed. And finally, the prestige is the second twist: the rival magician is secretly two brothers sharing one life.

  • Highly rewatchable
  • David-Freaking-Bowie

The Prestige sees a tight, twisty script brought to life through Christopher Nolan’s immaculate direction. 

11. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

How Tarantino Directs Suspense  •   Subscribe on YouTube

While the vast majority of plot twists take a turn for the dark, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is the inverse. You spend the entire film dreading the events you know will follow based on your outsider knowledge of the Manson killings… then Tarantino pulls the rug out from underneath you.

Instead of a morbid recreation of a real-life tragedy, Tarantino instead presents his revisionist version of events, a gleefully gory takedown of the Manson followers before they can execute the dastardly deeds they intended to.

If you want more Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood goodness, then be sure to watch our video essay above and read through our breakdown of the Spahn Ranch sequence.

  • Massively cathartic
  • Pitt and DiCaprio
  • Tarantino style
  • Less effective on rewatch

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’s twist might not make you rethink everything you just watched but it does subvert morbid expectations in the best way possible.

10. Oldboy (2003)

Movies with Twist Endings  •  Oldboy

Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy is an incredible film all around and the twist at the end is shocking in a manner perfectly suited to this particular film. The film actually plays a trick on you by making you think you’ve already gotten the plot twist: that the villain was sleeping with his sister who then killed herself after being exposed by the protagonist many years ago. But then the real twist comes rushing at you, that our protagonist has now been tricked and manipulated into sleeping with his own daughter, mirroring the past.

  • Choi Min-sik
  • Park Chan-wook’s direction
  • Hammer fight

Be sure to watch the original Oldboy from South Korea, not the abysmal American remake.

Movies with Great Twists

9. shutter island (2010).

Movies with Best Plot Twists  •  Shutter Island

Shutter Island presents itself from the beginning as an off-kilter thriller where you cannot trust your eyes and where nothing is as simple as it first seems, and yet, the film still manages to catch you off guard with a grade-A twist ending.

Our protagonist being a patient of the mental hospital rather than a detective investigating it, and him being the killer he’s convinced himself he’s trying to catch, combine into a memorable twist that recontextualizes every single scene in the film before capping off with a perfectly ambiguous ending.

  • Sense of mania

Adapted from Dennis Lehane’s novel, Martin Scorsese brings Shutter Island to life.

8. Soylent Green (1973)

Movies with Best Plot Twists  •  Soylent Green

The plot twist in Soylent Green has miraculously transcended the film it lives within. Through numerous pop cultural references, many people who have never seen Soylent Green will undoubtedly recognize the line “Soylent Green is people!” Not many plot twists become a standalone phrase embedded in the zeitgeist while the film itself is not.

  • Dystopian world
  • Charlton Heston
  • Iconic twist
  • Some cheesiness

Beyond having a famous twist, Soylent Green is a good film as well. It presents a compelling dystopian future and entails plenty of tense buildup before the big reveal.

7. Gone Girl (2014)

Top Plot Twist Movies  •  Gone Girl

The twist that made Gone Girl a sensation in the book industry hits just as hard in film form. Our everyman protagonist is under suspicion of killing his wife. We’re too busy questioning whether he did it or if someone else did it to consider the possibility of her being a sociopath and faking the whole thing in order to frame him and ruin his life for cheating on her. This is another example of a mid-point twist working fabulously in place of a twist ending.

  • Excellent script
  • Fincher’s direction
  • Twist execution
  • Affleck is overshadowed

MOVIES WITH HUGE PLOT TWISTS

If you loved the Gone Girl film and wanted to know a bit more about what happened after the credits rolled, then check out Gillian Flynn’s source novel which continues a fair bit beyond the end of the film.

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6. Planet of the Apes (1968)

Top Plot Twist Movies  •  Planet of the Apes

One of cinema’s most iconic images comes from the twist ending of Planet of the Apes . This plot twist is special in its brevity; it can be conveyed in just a single shot. The startling image of the statue of liberty buried in the sand provides all of the information needed to understand the ramifications of this plot twist.

  • Grand sci-fi vision
  • Iconic imagery
  • Strong writing
  • Uncanny valley masks
  • Heston hams it up

The iconic statue of liberty in the sand was actually not included in the original Planet of the Apes novel. There is some debate over who conceived of this iconic image, with most sources suggesting that it originated from the creative mind of Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling.

5. Memento (2000)

Movies with Twist Endings  •  Memento

Memento has one major twist ending but to consider this the film’s only twist would be doing it a disservice. Memento is like a great, big ball of twists that you spend the entire film unraveling. Each new scene feels like a twist following the proceeding one. The nature of this non-chronological film’s structure means that the plot plays out through constant reveals where every single scene recontextualizes the one that came before it.

  • Narrative structure

The final twist is excellent but the entire film is so full of twists that it’s impossible to isolate just one without taking in the bigger picture.

4. The Sixth Sense (1999)

Best Movie Twists of All Time  •  The Sixth Sense

It’s no twist that an M. Night Shyamalan movie would be making an appearance on this list. Often called the “master of the twist ending,” M. Night Shyamalan has delivered more twists across his career than most directors but the crown jewel of his twists remains his 1999 classic The Sixth Sense .

These days, it’s hard to go into The Sixth Sense without already knowing the twist. Bruce Willis’ Dr. Crowe is a ghost throughout the whole film, but at the time, audiences were stunned, and anyone getting the chance to see the film un-spoiled will likely have the same reaction.

  • Cheesy moments
  • Ineffective scares

Movies with Biggest Plot Twists

Do you prefer one of M. Night Shyamalan’s other twist endings? He certainly has enough to pick from.

3. Fight Club (1999)

Plot Twist Movies  •  Fight Club

Fight Club’s iconic twist is one that has been copied and mimicked time and time again and, to be fair, Fight Club wasn’t even the first film to execute this particular type of twist but it does do it better than almost any other. There are so many little hints, clues, and subliminal messages of the truth before the big reveal that Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are both, in fact, playing the same character of Tyler Durdin.

  • Creative, layered writing
  • Fincher’s style

The split personality/imaginary character trope has been done to death these days, but Fight Club stands above all the imitators.

2. The Usual Suspects (1995)

Movies with Twist Endings  •  The Usual Suspects

The Oscar-winning screenplay for The Usual Suspects from Christopher McQuarrie is tight and inventive from beginning to end, but especially the end. Wow, that ending. Beyond just being one of the best twist endings, The Usual Suspects stands amongst the best movie endings, period. The reveal that the meek Verbal Kint is secretly the criminal mastermind we’ve been hearing about the entire film, Keyser Soze, is perfectly executed.

  • Good mystery
  • Stylish script
  • Execution of the twist
  • Kevin Spacey factor

Movies with Huge Plot Twists

The Usual Suspects is a film built entirely around building up to this twist ending and making it as impactful as possible.

1. Psycho (1960)

Best Twist Ending Movies  •  Psycho

The reason why we said Fight Club executed the split personality twist better than almost any other film, is because Psycho did it first, and did it the best. Psycho ’s twist ending is undyingly iconic, not least of all because of Anthony Perkins’ mesmerizing performance and Alfred Hitchcock’s pitch-perfect direction. Psycho actually contains two twists, the former of which is overshadowed by the latter and somewhat lost with age. The film’s protagonist being murdered before the halfway point is a shocking twist in its own right, before the definitive twist ending is even in sight.

  • Hitchcock’s tension
  • Iconic scenes

Psycho is the original twist ending of this dark nature and still the best of its kind. No one does it better than Hitch.

The Best Gangster Movies of All Time

Keep on counting down with our list of the best gangster films ever made. From the classics to the contemporaries, we ranked them all. See what our top picks for the best gangster movies of all time.

Up Next: Best Gangster Movies →

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Child star Haley Joel Osment in 1999 film 'The Sixth Sense.'

20 of the most celebrated plot twists and reveals in film

Nothing keeps an audience on the edge of their seats more than the plot twist—and nothing throws them back like an unexpected reveal.

A plot twist is a narrative tool used to subvert audience expectations of where a story is going, usually revealed in the third act of a book or film while being carefully set up from the very beginning. Writers and directors use this tool to make audiences rethink everything they presumed to understand about the fictional universe they've created and keep their eyes glued to the screen. Plot twists also lend themselves to rewatching the same film or rereading the same book again with the twist in mind, both to revel in the surprise once more and to parse any details that might betray themselves as tells in the story's earlier moments.

Masterclass outlines several plot twists, ranging from discovering a story's narrator is unreliable to realizing that a supposedly important item or piece of information is a distraction from what's happening.

With this in mind, Stacker has compiled a list of 20 of the most iconic plot twists and reveals in American film history. To qualify, the film had at least a 7.0 on  IMDb with at least 50,000 user votes. The oldest film on this list was made in 1939, and the newest originated in 2017, making it clear that the plot twist has been a staple of American cinema for almost as long as cinema has had sound (the first talkie being released in 1927 )!

Check out this list of twists and reveals to see if your favorite cinematic surprise made the cut. (And be aware: spoilers ahead!)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

- Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy, Norman Taurog, Richard Thorpe, King Vidor - IMDb user rating: 8.1 - Metascore: 92 - Runtime: 102 minutes

The ending of "The Wizard of Oz" falls into the same category as many stereotypical short stories written in high school English classes (the "but it was all a dream" ending, for example). Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is an average farm girl who gets swept away to the magical land of Oz via a tornado.

There, she meets several classic characters like the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow and must defeat the Wicked Witch of the West to leave Oz. But when she clicks her heels three times and wishes for home, Dorothy awakens in her bed, revealing that the entire film was her unconscious mind playing out a fantasy—even her fantastical friends were really just farmhands in the end.

Citizen Kane (1941)

- Director: Orson Welles - IMDb user rating: 8.3 - Metascore: 100 - Runtime: 119 minutes

It's no secret "Citizen Kane" is widely considered one of the best films ever made. For such a wonderfully complex film, though, its central question is quite simple: what is "Rosebud"? "Rosebud" is literally the last word central character Charles Kane (Orson Welles) mutters before his death. The significance of "Rosebud" is where things get complicated, as journalist Jerry Thompson (William Alland) is tasked with discovering its meaning and, as such, interviews several figures from Kane's life to no avail.

At the end of the film, in a seemingly random twist, "Rosebud" is revealed as the name for Kane's sled from childhood. Interpretations of the sled's significance vary , but the popular reading is that childhood and memories of childhood are the only places where true happiness resides.

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

- Director: Billy Wilder - IMDb user rating: 8.4 - Metascore: 76 - Runtime: 116 minutes

Agatha Christie's murder mysteries have long been a source of inspiration for great films, including Rian Johnson's "Knives Out" and "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," but this specific Christie adaptation contains a shocking twist. "Witness for the Prosecution" follows British lawyer Sir Wilfrid (Charles Laughton), who attempts to prove his client Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) is innocent of killing a widow who made Vole her sole beneficiary upon her death.

Thanks to spousal privilege, Vole's wife, Christine (Marlene Dietrich), cannot testify against him and instead serves as the titular witness. However, the story she told on the stand is proven false, thanks to evidence given by a mysterious female, which eventually acquits Vole and gets Christine tried for perjury.

Yet, in a classic Christie twist, it's revealed that Christine and the mysterious woman who provided the acquitting evidence are one and the same, and her entire involvement in the trial of Vole was a ruse to free her guilty husband. When the husband then reveals he intends to leave her for another woman, Christine puts an end to him—right there in the courtroom.

Psycho (1960)

- Director: Alfred Hitchcock - IMDb user rating: 8.5 - Metascore: 97 - Runtime: 109 minutes

Alfred Hitchcock's classic "Psycho" could be argued to have two separate plot twists. The first comes 50 minutes into the film when Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), the assumed protagonist, gets brutally murdered with over an hour left in the plot. To this day, this is a taboo move for filmmakers to make, and its echoes can be seen in films as recent as 2022's " Barbarian ."

The second plot twist in "Psycho" is the dramatic reveal that Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), the awkward innkeeper of the Bates Motel, has actually been the one violently murdering people while dressed as his deceased mother, who has become a fractured facet of his identity. Everything about this film's narrative structure and dramatic reveal were utterly unheard of when it was released in 1960, cementing its place as one of the strangest and most memorable movies ever made.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

- Director: John Ford - IMDb user rating: 8.1 - Metascore: 94 - Runtime: 123 minutes

The narrative concept of the plot twist and the Western genre of film are not two things that people usually associate together, but the John Ford classic "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is the perfect merging of both. The film centers around Sen. Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart), who details his past friendship with rancher Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) 25 years earlier, which, at the time, culminated in a now-infamous standoff between Ransom and the cowboy criminal Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin).

The younger Ransom, despite his inadequacy with guns, somehow managed to shoot and kill Valance—except it was really Doniphon who secretly shot and killed Valance to save Ransom's life.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

- Director: Mike Nichols - IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Metascore: 75 - Runtime: 131 minutes

Based on the equally famous play, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" details one night in the lives of George (Richard Burton) and Martha (Elizabeth Taylor), a married couple frequently and violently at odds with each other. They are joined by a second couple, Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis), and the couples discuss their equally volatile marriages and career aspirations. Martha lovingly talks about their 16-year-old son, much to George's displeasure.

Why does George get angry? It's revealed at the end of the film that the couple doesn't actually have a son and is infertile, so as a form of coping, they've conjured up an imaginary one to fill that void with the promise that they will never talk about him to others.

Planet of the Apes (1968)

- Director: Franklin J. Schaffner - IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Metascore: 79 - Runtime: 112 minutes

An iconic piece of Cold War-inspired science fiction, "Planet of the Apes" creates a world that seems, at face value, very different from our own. Three astronauts land on an unknown planet, only to be captured by a highly intelligent humanoid ape population who seem to be the dominant life force. The astronauts are treated like vermin or specimens, and two of the three are killed.

The last astronaut, George Taylor (Charlton Heston), lives long enough to discover the rubble of the Statue of Liberty amid the desertlike landscape, realizing this unknown planet has actually been Earth the entire time. The human population had been eradicated by its own nuclear war, and over the thousands of years since that time, apes evolved and filled humankind's place in a scathing indictment of the Cold War.

Soylent Green (1973)

- Director: Richard Fleischer - IMDb user rating: 7.0 - Metascore: 66 - Runtime: 97 minutes

"Soylent Green" is a film that seems more timely than ever, tackling heavy themes of global warming, overpopulation, and food and housing shortages in a Charlton Heston-led dystopian thriller. The film paints a grim portrait of New York City in the far-off year of 2022, where ecological destruction has ravaged the world and led to the lower and middle classes relying on artificial wafers, including the titular Soylent Green, as their only means of sustenance.

When a high-ranking official in the Soylent company is killed, Robert Thorn (Heston) must find out why. The answer is gruesome: The official was silenced before he could reveal to the world that "Soylent Green is people." That's right, the food of the working class was none other than repurposed human corpses in one of the most gruesome twists on this list.

The Conversation (1974)

- Director: Francis Ford Coppola - IMDb user rating: 7.8 - Metascore: 87 - Runtime: 113 minutes

Francis Ford Coppola made some of the greatest dramatic thrillers of the latter half of the 20th century—"The Godfather," "Apocalypse Now," "The Cotton Club"—but no Coppola film pulls the rug out from under its audience more than "The Conversation." The film follows Harry Caul (Gene Hackman), a professional surveillance expert who wiretaps a conversation that reveals his client is likely planning to murder his wife and her lover.

Struggling with guilt, Harry refuses to hand the tapes over and later witnesses the crime occur, except the next day, he sees the wife still alive and well, and his very own client is dead. In a shocking twist, it's revealed the conversation Harry recorded actually details the wife and her lover's plot to kill none other than his own client, making Harry implicit in barring his client from the lifesaving information.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

- Director: Irvin Kershner - IMDb user rating: 8.7 - Metascore: 82 - Runtime: 124 minutes

Die-hard fans and critics alike laud "The Empire Strikes Back" as the best installment in the Star Wars series; it has been called " the gold standard " of the franchise by IGN for its darker tone, the high-tension romance between Leia and Han Solo, and the deeply entertaining Luke-Yoda training sequences. It also birthed the phrase that became synonymous with doing an impersonation of famed villain Darth Vader: "I am your father."

While everyone knows this quote now, at the time of the film's release, this was an utterly shocking plot twist that permanently altered the way audiences viewed the series. This twist hits even harder thanks to the film's ending, which implies the Empire has won and Han Solo may be no more, a bold choice for a major blockbuster.

The Crying Game (1992)

- Director: Neil Jordan - IMDb user rating: 7.2 - Metascore: 90 - Runtime: 112 minutes

Set against the backdrop of the Irish Republican Army's fight against British Rule of Northern Ireland, "The Crying Game" is a morally ambiguous tale of an antihero named Fergus (Stephen Rea) who befriends IRA prisoner Jody (Forest Whitaker) and fails to execute him when demanded. This is the first of the twists in the film, as Jody and Fergus manage to escape the IRA's camp, and just when the audience thinks everything's okay—bam!—Jody is run over by a British tank.

Later, Fergus escapes to London, where he meets Dil, Jody's ex-lover, and the pair become involved romantically. This leads to a plot twist that was surprisingly progressive for 1992, as Dil is revealed to be a trans woman, and Fergus continues to pursue her with this knowledge. From a contemporary perspective, it's hardly a massive shocking plot twist for someone to be trans, of course, but "The Crying Game" was among the first films to legitimize a trans character with genuinely dramatic and romantic weight.

The Usual Suspects (1995)

- Director: Bryan Singer - IMDb user rating: 8.5 - Metascore: 77 - Runtime: 106 minutes

Keyser Söze is a name that most people have heard, even if they haven't seen "The Usual Suspects," from which the character originates. The film details the story of a group of ragtag criminals who team up for a heist and eventually get gunned down on a boat. The story within the film is narrated post-massacre by one of the two surviving criminals, Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey).

While Verbal details the event, he keeps mentioning notorious crime lord Keyser Söze, who seemingly pulled the strings on the group's efforts. It's heavily implied that Keyser was undercover within the team, and all signs point to the character Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) as the main suspect. It isn't until the film ends that it's cleverly revealed Keyser is none other than Verbal himself, who has gone so far as to fake a limp and cerebral palsy as a disguise and that the entire story he's narrated has been nothing more than a spontaneous fiction.

Se7en (1995)

- Director: David Fincher - IMDb user rating: 8.6 - Metascore: 65 - Runtime: 127 minutes

"Se7en" is the nihilistic intersection between the horror and true crime genre, following Detectives Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman) as they hunt down a serial killer exacting murders based on the seven deadly sins. This film is also the origin of the heavily quoted line "What's in the box?" which directly ties to the gut-wrenching plot twist within the film.

The two protagonists come face-to-face with the killer, John Doe (Kevin Spacey), with the promise of finding the last two victims (whose deaths are based on the sins of envy and wrath). Instead, Mills receives a cardboard box. So what's in the box? Well, it is said to contain the severed head of Pitt's wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow).

By killing her, Doe himself satisfies the envy killing, causing Pitt to kill Doe himself, satisfying the wrath killing, and officially completing the seven deadly sins.

12 Monkeys (1995)

- Director: Terry Gilliam - IMDb user rating: 8.0 - Metascore: 74 - Runtime: 129 minutes

Attempting to summarize the plot of "12 Monkeys" is an impossible task, but in its simplest form, it's a science fiction film about a man sent back in time to find samples of a virus that wiped out most of humanity to make a cure back in the future. The protagonist, Cole (Bruce Willis), has a recurring dream—implied to be his own memory—of a child watching a man get gunned down in an airport.

The significance of this dream is not explained for the bulk of the film. In the final act, Cole is attempting to shoot the person he believes responsible for releasing the deadly virus when, in a cruel twist of fate, he himself is gunned down. Thanks to time travel, it's revealed that Cole is both the child watching the man get gunned down and the man getting gunned down himself.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

- Director: M. Night Shyamalan - IMDb user rating: 8.2 - Metascore: 64 - Runtime: 107 minutes

Part horror film, part family drama, "The Sixth Sense" is a masterclass in constructing a plot twist so iconic that it cemented director M. Night Shyamalan as the master of the twist forever (although he claims plot twists are of little interest to him). What makes this film's twist so shocking is that it's revealed to both the protagonist, Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), and the audience simultaneously that Malcolm has been a ghost for almost the entire film.

It's only thanks to aid from Cole (Haley Joel Osment), a 9-year-old boy with ESP who delivers the classic line "I see dead people," that Malcolm's death finally comes to light. Once this reveal occurs, however, it immediately becomes obvious that Shyamalan has been carefully spelling this truth out to the audience since the film's beginning.

Fight Club (1999)

- Director: David Fincher - IMDb user rating: 8.8 - Metascore: 66 - Runtime: 139 minutes

"Fight Club" has achieved a level of cult status that most films can only dream of attaining, with the unfortunate side effect of its largest audience base (i.e., " film bros ") fundamentally missing the point. However, theme aside, "Fight Club" also achieves one of the most incredible plot twists in film history surrounding the relationship between its protagonists, the Narrator (Edward Norton) and Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt).

The two men meet and form the titular fight club, but Tyler quickly gets carried away, creating a whole movement called "Project Mayhem" that spirals out of control. When the Narrator desperately tries to stop the Project, it's revealed that he is actually Tyler; Brad Pitt's character was just an imaginary representation of his fractured psyche. It's the kind of plot twist that makes audiences want to watch the film again with this shocking new information in mind.

Memento (2000)

- Director: Christopher Nolan - IMDb user rating: 8.4 - Metascore: 80 - Runtime: 113 minutes

It's hard to achieve a satisfying plot twist in a film that's literally told backward, with the narrative ending being the first thing the audience sees, but somehow Christopher Nolan successfully pulls it off in "Memento."

Based on a short story written by his brother Jonathan, the plot follows Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), who suffers from anterograde amnesia, meaning his brain cannot form new memories, as he hunts down his wife's killer. Throughout the film, he casually tells us the story of a man named Sammy who had the same condition and inadvertently killed his wife; however, in a shocking yet inevitable twist, it's revealed that Leonard and Sammy are one and the same.

The man Leonard is hunting is really himself.

- Director: James Wan - IMDb user rating: 7.6 - Metascore: 46 - Runtime: 103 minutes

The plot twist in James Wan's debut feature, "Saw," can only be described as a long con, in that the plot twist is right in front of the audience's faces for the entire duration of the film and only pays off in its final 10 minutes. Due to the movie's minuscule budget, the plot is deceptively simple: Two men wake up trapped in a room full of murderous traps set by the Jigsaw Killer and must try to survive.

The only other person in the room is the corpse of a suicide victim sprawled out on the floor, except the corpse is actually the real Jigsaw Killer, which audiences discover when, after 90 minutes of lying still on the floor, he crawls up onto his knees in one of the horror genre's greatest twists ever.

The Prestige (2006)

- Director: Christopher Nolan - IMDb user rating: 8.5 - Metascore: 66 - Runtime: 130 minutes

"The Prestige" is simultaneously one of Christopher Nolan's strongest films and one of the most underrated in his oeuvre. It follows the escalating conflict between two magicians, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale). Alfred has the uncanny ability of transportation, which he executes live in front of audiences every night, making him more successful.

In a shocking twist, it's revealed that Alfred is actually a pair of identical twins masquerading as one for the sole purpose of executing their transportation trick and befuddling audiences, but this masquerade comes at the cost of one twin's life and his wife.

Get Out (2017)

- Director: Jordan Peele - IMDb user rating: 7.7 - Metascore: 85 - Runtime: 104 minutes

There was no hotter topic of conversation in 2017 than whether audiences successfully guessed the "Get Out" plot twist or not. Jordan Peele's low-budget indie horror film was a breakthrough success, catapulting the beloved comedian out of his "Key and Peele" fame and into the realm of the great modern writer-directors.

In "Get Out," Peele successfully tackles themes of racism and the white fetishization of the Black body and Black culture, as evidenced through the plot twist wherein protagonist Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a Black male, is revealed to have been targeted by a white family to transplant the brain of a rich white person into his body. Safe to say, anyone who predicted that plot twist was either a genius or liar!

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30 Movies With Brilliant Plot Twists

A list for Josh Horneman. I know you will have seen most of these movies, but hopefully there are some new ones here as well. Enjoy, sir.

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1. The Usual Suspects (1995)

R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

The sole survivor of a pier shoot-out tells the story of how a notorious criminal influenced the events that began with five criminals meeting in a seemingly random police lineup.

Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Kevin Spacey , Gabriel Byrne , Chazz Palminteri , Stephen Baldwin

Votes: 1,140,576 | Gross: $23.34M

2. Oldboy (2003)

R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery

After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in five days.

Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Choi Min-sik , Yoo Ji-tae , Kang Hye-jeong , Kim Byeong-Ok

Votes: 631,534 | Gross: $0.71M

3. The Machinist (2004)

R | 101 min | Drama, Thriller

An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity.

Director: Brad Anderson | Stars: Christian Bale , Jennifer Jason Leigh , Aitana Sánchez-Gijón , John Sharian

Votes: 413,989 | Gross: $1.08M

4. Donnie Darko (2001)

R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Jena Malone , Mary McDonnell , Holmes Osborne

Votes: 846,320 | Gross: $1.48M

5. Chinatown (1974)

R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.

Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Jack Nicholson , Faye Dunaway , John Huston , Perry Lopez

Votes: 348,019

6. Adaptation. (2002)

R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama

A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.

Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: Nicolas Cage , Meryl Streep , Chris Cooper , Tilda Swinton

Votes: 202,292 | Gross: $22.25M

7. Fight Club (1999)

R | 139 min | Drama

An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt , Edward Norton , Meat Loaf , Zach Grenier

Votes: 2,307,575 | Gross: $37.03M

8. Seven Pounds (2008)

PG-13 | 123 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A man with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.

Director: Gabriele Muccino | Stars: Will Smith , Rosario Dawson , Woody Harrelson , Michael Ealy

Votes: 314,492 | Gross: $69.95M

9. Black Swan (2010)

R | 108 min | Drama, Thriller

Nina is a talented but unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to the breaking point by her artistic director and a seductive rival, Nina's grip on reality slips, plunging her into a waking nightmare.

Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Natalie Portman , Mila Kunis , Vincent Cassel , Winona Ryder

Votes: 820,669 | Gross: $106.95M

10. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

After the Rebels are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.

Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill , Harrison Ford , Carrie Fisher , Billy Dee Williams

Votes: 1,372,860 | Gross: $290.48M

11. Vanilla Sky (2001)

R | 136 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Romance

A self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.

Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise , Penélope Cruz , Cameron Diaz , Kurt Russell

Votes: 284,681 | Gross: $100.61M

12. Identity (2003)

R | 90 min | Mystery, Thriller

Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain storm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one.

Director: James Mangold | Stars: John Cusack , Ray Liotta , Amanda Peet , John Hawkes

Votes: 265,996 | Gross: $52.16M

13. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

R | 139 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

In late 1950s New York, a young underachiever named Tom Ripley is sent to Italy to retrieve Dickie Greenleaf, a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.

Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Matt Damon , Gwyneth Paltrow , Jude Law , Cate Blanchett

Votes: 236,541 | Gross: $81.30M

14. Eastern Promises (2007)

R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

A teenager who dies during childbirth leaves clues in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.

Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Naomi Watts , Viggo Mortensen , Armin Mueller-Stahl , Josef Altin

Votes: 259,970 | Gross: $17.11M

15. High Tension (2003)

R | 91 min | Horror

Best friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a quiet weekend at Alexia's parents' secluded farmhouse. But on the night of their arrival, the girls' idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror.

Director: Alexandre Aja | Stars: Cécile de France , Maïwenn , Philippe Nahon , Franck Khalfoun

Votes: 77,495 | Gross: $3.68M

16. Moon (2009)

R | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.

Director: Duncan Jones | Stars: Sam Rockwell , Kevin Spacey , Dominique McElligott , Rosie Shaw

Votes: 375,508 | Gross: $5.01M

17. The Prestige (2006)

PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

After a tragic accident, two stage magicians in 1890s London engage in a battle to create the ultimate illusion while sacrificing everything they have to outwit each other.

Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale , Hugh Jackman , Scarlett Johansson , Michael Caine

Votes: 1,432,971 | Gross: $53.09M

18. The Game (1997)

R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

After a wealthy San Francisco banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down as he begins to question if it might really be a concealed conspiracy to destroy him.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Michael Douglas , Deborah Kara Unger , Sean Penn , James Rebhorn

Votes: 427,036 | Gross: $48.32M

19. Secret Window (2004)

PG-13 | 96 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A successful writer in the midst of a painful divorce is stalked at his remote lake house by a would-be scribe who accuses him of plagiarism.

Director: David Koepp | Stars: Johnny Depp , Maria Bello , John Turturro , Timothy Hutton

Votes: 208,869 | Gross: $48.02M

20. American Beauty (1999)

R | 122 min | Drama

A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.

Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Kevin Spacey , Annette Bening , Thora Birch , Wes Bentley

Votes: 1,206,603 | Gross: $130.10M

21. The Descent (2005)

R | 99 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller

A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Shauna Macdonald , Natalie Mendoza , Alex Reid , Saskia Mulder

Votes: 245,508 | Gross: $26.02M

22. Fallen (1998)

R | 124 min | Action, Crime, Drama

Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution, the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.

Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Denzel Washington , John Goodman , Donald Sutherland , Embeth Davidtz

Votes: 91,853 | Gross: $25.19M

23. Hard Candy (2005)

R | 104 min | Drama, Thriller

Hayley's a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff's a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff's place. Jeff thinks it's his lucky night. He's in for a surprise.

Director: David Slade | Stars: Patrick Wilson , Elliot Page , Sandra Oh , Odessa Rae

Votes: 167,680 | Gross: $1.01M

24. Memento (2000)

R | 113 min | Mystery, Thriller

A man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.

Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Guy Pearce , Carrie-Anne Moss , Joe Pantoliano , Mark Boone Junior

Votes: 1,316,429 | Gross: $25.54M

25. Matchstick Men (2003)

PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

A phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Nicolas Cage , Alison Lohman , Sam Rockwell , Bruce Altman

Votes: 137,890 | Gross: $36.91M

26. The Jacket (2005)

R | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

A Gulf war veteran is wrongly sent to a mental institution for insane criminals, where he becomes the object of a doctor's experiments, and his life is completely affected by them.

Director: John Maybury | Stars: Adrien Brody , Keira Knightley , Daniel Craig , Kris Kristofferson

Votes: 119,000 | Gross: $6.30M

27. Stay (I) (2005)

R | 99 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A psychiatrist attempts to prevent one of his patients from committing suicide while trying to maintain his own grip on reality.

Director: Marc Forster | Stars: Ewan McGregor , Naomi Watts , Ryan Gosling , Kate Burton

Votes: 85,669 | Gross: $3.63M

28. Jacob's Ladder (I) (1990)

R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.

Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Tim Robbins , Elizabeth Peña , Danny Aiello , Matt Craven

Votes: 117,384 | Gross: $26.12M

29. Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

R | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

A case of mistaken identity lands Slevin into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses. Under constant surveillance by Detective Brikowski and assassin Goodkat, he must get them before they get him.

Director: Paul McGuigan | Stars: Josh Hartnett , Ben Kingsley , Morgan Freeman , Lucy Liu

Votes: 324,876 | Gross: $22.50M

30. Buried (2010)

R | 95 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Paul is a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.

Director: Rodrigo Cortés | Stars: Ryan Reynolds , José Luis García-Pérez , Robert Paterson , Stephen Tobolowsky

Votes: 168,074 | Gross: $1.03M

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Spoiler alert ‘star wars,’ ‘sixth sense’ and 36 more of the biggest plot twists in film history.

From a Sith Lord's paternal revelation to "what's in the box" to the secret ingredient in Soylent Green, The Hollywood Reporter rounds up some of the most memorable movie twists of all time.

By Kimberly Nordyke, Editor

Kimberly Nordyke, Editor

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From left: Darth Vader in 'Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back,' Bruce Willis in 'The Sixth Sense,' Janet Leigh in 'Psycho' and Brad Pitt in 'Seven'

Warning: Spoilers ahead for 38 movies. And they’re big spoilers. Consider yourself warned!

Seriously, we’re warning you. (We aren’t kidding around in the headline for this piece!)

OK, this is your absolute last warning ….

Now that we’ve taken care of that business, let’s dive into the biggest movie plot twists of all time!

“No, I am your father.” “Soylent Green is people!” “Rosebud.” “What’s in the box?” “I see dead people.”

Those are all lines of dialogue related to some of the most shocking revelations in film history. They might have been the clue to the twist, or perhaps they were the twist itself, but either way, they packed a punch with audiences.

In an interview with Jake Hamilton, The Sixth Sense and Split filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan — the master of twist endings — explained his process to creating an impact. “What you’re left with at the end of the movie should tell you what you saw…. When you stick the landing you’re giving them the keys to say, ‘This is how to interpret everything that you watched,'” he said.

Below, take a look at some of the most memorable film twists ever.

Written by Patrick Brzeski, Tyler Coates, Ryan Gajewski, James Hibberd, Hilary Lewis, Kimberly Nordyke, Lexy Perez, Christy Piña, Carly Thomas and Etan Vlessing

'American Psycho' (2000)

American Psycho

Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman is a finance bro by day and serial killer by night in American Psycho . At one point, Bateman confesses all his crimes to his lawyer, but when he approaches the lawyer later in the movie, the latter has no idea what Bateman’s talking about. By the end of the film, audiences are led to believe that all the murders took place in Bateman’s head. — C.P.

'Arrival' (2016)

Arrival

Talk about time-shifting in a movie. As Dune director Denis Villeneuve’s 2016 sci-fi pic Arrival opens, linguist Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams, is grieving the death of her young daughter, Hannah. It turns out that’s no memory, but a vision of her daughter from the future, not the past. That’s because Louise — learning and eventually understanding the language and concept of time held by extraterrestrial visitors — can see and live in the past, present, and future simultaneously. So, despite flashbacks of Louise and her daughter throughout the movie, she knew what was to happen to Hannah in the future all along — that her late daughter was to die before she was born. “Despite knowing the journey, and where it leads, I embrace it,” Louise says at the movie’s end, while the aliens depart Earth to return to space. This movie twist turns tragic with the realization that Ian, Louise’s husband played by Jeremy Renner, asks as they tenderly embrace if she wants to have baby. Louise says yes, even though, at that moment, she knows the late Hannah’s eventual fate. — E.V.

'Atonement' (2007)

'Atonement'

Joe Wright’s 2007 film, based on the book of the same name, follows the heartbreaking romance between Keira Knightly’s Cecilia and James McAvoy’s Robbie. A series of misunderstandings cause Cecilia’s sister Briony (played by Saoirse Ronan as a child) to accuse Robbie of rape. He ends up in prison before fighting in World War II. Still viewers see Robbie and Cecilia reunite as Briony tries to apologize to them for what she said. It’s only at the end of the film that viewers realize Robbie and Cecilia’s rekindled romance was a lie. An older Briony (now played by Vanessa Redgrave) is being interviewed about her new semi-autobiographical novel, Atonement , in which she seeks to give Robbie and Cecilia a happy ending despite the fact that they were never able to reunite. Instead, they both die, separately, during the war, Robbie of septicemia (blood poisoning) at Dunkirk and Cecilia months later during a bombing in London. — H.L.

'Coco' (2017)

'Coco'

Coco (Anthony Gonzalez), a 12-year-old boy, goes on a search for his great-great-grandfather after being transported to the Land of the Dead. Thinking his dead relative is famous musician Ernesto de la Cruz, Coco ultimately learns that a skeleton named Héctor, who appears to have no family, is in fact his great-great-grandfather — and Ernesto had poisoned Héctor and stolen his songs, passing them off as his own creations. — K.N.

'Chinatown' (1974)

Chinatown

The film’s ending is among the most memorable in cinematic history, albeit not the most uplifting. Jack Nicholson plays private investigator Jake Gittes, who has been hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to investigate her husband’s death. Jake discovers that teenager Katherine is not only Evelyn’s sister, but also her daughter, as Evelyn was raped by her father, Noah Cross (John Huston), who is the property developer behind a scheme to control L.A.’s water supply. After a final confrontation with Noah, Evelyn attempts to drive away to protect her daughter but is shot and killed by police, leading Jake’s colleague to deliver the cynical final line: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” — R.G.

'Citizen Kane' (1941)

Citizen Kane

Orson Welles’ 1941 masterpiece focused on Charles Foster Kane, a tycoon who was inspired by, among others, real-life media mogul William Randolph Hearst. On his deathbed, Kane utters the word “Rosebud” and dies. Throughout the movie, a reporter takes on the task of discovering who “Rosebud” is, to no avail. But in the final moments of the movie, Kane’s staffers are shown throwing his items into a fire; among them, a sled with the trade name “Rosebud,” a reminder of the day his parents transferred guardianship of an 8-year-old Kane and he was taken from home. — K.N.

'The Crying Game' (1992)

The Crying Game

Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Miranda Richardson and Forest Whitaker star in Neil Jordan’s film, set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1990s. Rea plays Fergus, a member of the IRA, who bonds with Jody, a British solder (Whitaker) the group is holding hostage. Jody, realizing death is likely, asks Fergus to find and take care of his girlfriend, Dil (Davidson). He does, and soon begins to fall for her. The twist that had audiences talking comes midway through the movie, when Fergus and Dil get intimate, and Dil reveals herself to be transgender, which she thought Fergus already knew. This revelation initially upsets Fergus before he realizes his love for her. In the end, he takes the fall for Dil when she kills an IRA agent seeking to kill Fergus for not following an order to help assassinate a judge, and goes to prison. Jordan’s film was nominated for best picture, director (Jordan), actor (Rea), supporting actor (Davidson) and editing (Kant Pan), and won the Academy Award for best original screenplay for Jordan. — K.N.

'The Descent' (2005)

The Descent

Neil Marshall’s 2006 survival horror pic The Descent  — about six women exploring a cave, only to be hunted down by humanoid monsters — has two endings. The U.S. movie version has a bloodied Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) escape the cave and its skeletal remains to commandeer a car and drive away. Once free, a traumatized Sarah pulls to the side of the road and vomits out the window. But a passing truck startles her and Sarah turns to see the frightening image of a bloodied Juno — one of the slain cave explorers and her nemesis — in the passenger seat. Then the movie’s credits roll. But in the U.K. version of The Descent , Marshall has the passing truck wake Sarah from what suddenly becomes only a hallucinatory dream of escape. Now she’s back in the darkened cavern, raising herself from a pile of skeletal bones, with the shrieks of humanoid creatures drawing ever closer. The twist: The U.S. movie has Sarah survive the cavern horror, but the U.K. version has her set to die as the final credits roll. — E.V.

'Donnie Darko' (2001)

Donnie Darko

The end of Donnie Darko sees Jake Gyllenhaal’s Donnie rewind time and do things differently with his choices. Instead of burning down Jim Cunningham’s (Patrick Swayze) house, which leads to his arrest, Donnie goes back in time and allows himself to die, in order to save his family and Gretchen (Jena Malone). — C.P.

'Fight Club' (1999)

Fight Club

Fight Club follows Edward Norton’s nameless narrator after he befriends a strange man named Tyler, played by Brad Pitt. The two quickly connect, moving in together and beginning a club underneath a bar where people beat each other up. The final moments of Fight Club reveal that Tyler was a figment of the narrator’s imagination, from when he suffered a mental break and created his idea of a perfect alternate self. — C.P.

'Friday the 13th' (1980)

Friday The 13th

While almost the entire movie follows Jason Voorhees’ slasher storyline, the majority of it is told from the perspective of an unknown person. The final moments reveal that the killer is actually Jason’s mom Pamela, who is avenging her son’s death. — C.P.

'Get Out' (2017)

'Get Out'

Jordan Peele’s 2017 horror film begins with a white woman, Rose (Allison Williams), taking her Black boyfriend, Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), home to meet her parents. As Chris interacts with two Black household workers and guests at a party, he starts to sense that there’s something off. He ultimately realizes Rose’s family has been surgically transplanting white people’s brains into young Black bodies. But there’s a twist within a twist as Chris, catching wind of something sinister afoot, plans to escape with Rose before she reveals that she’s been in on her family’s plan the whole time. — H.L.

'Gone Girl' (2014)

Gone Girl

Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike star in David Fincher’s 2014 adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-seller as a seemingly happily married couple. But not everything is as it appears, especially when Pike’s Amy Dunne goes missing and Affleck’s Nick Dunne is a prime suspect. While Nick can appear guilty, it is revealed that Amy is perfectly fine and alive. In fact, Amy plotted to frame Nick for her disappearance as revenge for failing as a husband, giving a new meaning to the saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” The two later share a rather bloody reunion when Amy, covered in blood, purposefully hugs Nick in front of the paparazzi outside their home. Amy then lies to the detectives, framing her ex-boyfriend Desi (portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris) for her kidnapping — she had murdered him as well. Aware of what Amy did, Nick threatens to leave her but she proves to have the last laugh — Amy reiterates that there is not only any evidence to back up claims that she is lying, but also that she’s pregnant with his child, another element of her overall plan. (Amy inseminated herself with the sperm sample he provided to a fertility clinic years prior.) In order to remain a part of his child’s life, Nick decides to stay with Amy, leading them to forever have a dysfunctional, toxic relationship and their version of a happy ending. — L.P.

'Gone Baby Gone' (2007)

Gone Baby Gone

Boston-based private investigator Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) helps Helene McCready (Amy Ryan) track down her missing 4-year-old daughter, Amanda, whose beloved doll Mirabelle was also taken. After finding out that Helene has been working as a drug mule, Patrick realizes that the girl was kidnapped by the retired police captain played by Morgan Freeman, who framed Helene’s drug lord boss and hoped to give Amanda a better life. Patrick makes the painful decision to return Amanda to her mom but learns it may have been the wrong choice and that Helene isn’t as caring as she claimed to be, as she didn’t even know the doll’s actual name, Annabelle. — R.G.

‘Last Night in Soho’ (2021)

Last Night in Soho

In Edgar Wright’s film, fashion student Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) attempts to carry on with her student life in London, but ghosts continue to haunt her — literally. Throughout the film, viewers are transported back and forth between two eras, the 1960s and the modern day, as Eloise begins having visions of an aspiring singer named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). When her visions lead her to become obsessed with Sandie, wanting to be like her (cue the new wardrobe and hair dye), she also learns of Sandie’s deadly dark fate and quickly becomes determined to discover the truth. However, danger lurks closer than she realized (no, really, right downstairs) when she learns that her landlady, Mrs. Collins, is the actual Sandie she has seen in her flashbacks. Mrs. Collins attempts to kill Eloise for discovering her secret: She murdered her manager when she was pimped out by him and killed every man who forced themselves upon her — even hiding their bodies in the walls and floors of the house that has become her own cemetery. — L.P.

'The Matrix' (1999)

The Matrix

Between the special effects and the twist at the heart of this story, audiences were blown away by this groundbreaking film. Thomas Anderson, aka hacker “Neo” (Keanu Reeves), is offered a choice between two pills, one of which will reveal the truth about something called the Matrix. It turns out that humans are living in a simulated reality created by intelligent machines that are harvesting their bioelectric and biothermal energy to keep the machines running — in other words, they’ve become human batteries. — K.N.

'Memento' (2000)

Memento

Christopher Nolan’s film is told with two timelines — one in chronological order (in black and white) and the other in reverse order (in color) — that come together at the end to reveal the full picture. It tells the story of Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), a man who suffers from short-term memory loss and cannot form new memories, and his quest for vengeance against the men who attacked him and raped and killed his wife (Jorja Fox). He must rely on tattoos (on his own body), notes, help from people he may not be able to trust and Polaroid pictures as he tries to solve the crime. In the end, it turns out that Leonard actually got his revenge more than a year earlier, and a corrupt cop named Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) has been taking advantage of his memory loss to manipulate him and basically use him as a hitman. Before he can forget his discovery, Leonard creates clues for himself that will later lead him to Teddy to exact his revenge. Memento  received two Oscar noms, for best original screenplay and best film editing. — K.N.

'Oldboy' (2003)

Oldboy

The movie that did more to put Korean cinema on the global map than anything before, Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy features both an unforgettable, single-shot fight scene — the film’s star, the inimitable Choi Min-sik, battling dozens of thugs down a corridor while wielding only a claw-tooth hammer — and one of the most deviously sadistic twists in movie history. In a searing climax that entails the protagonist cutting his own tongue out with a pair of scissors, we learn that our hero was falsely imprisoned for decades and manipulated into falling in love and committing incest with his own adult daughter, the movie’s love interest up until this final, devastating moment. And it was all an act of revenge by a childhood classmate, whom the hero exposed decades ago of having an incestuous sexual relationship with his sister. Depravity — and, double yuck! — P.B.

'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' (2019)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , in three different time frames, tells the stories of aging actor Rick, his driver and former stuntman Cliff and up-and-coming actress Sharon Tate’s marriage to Roman Polanski. The film ends in August 1969 — which in real life is when Sharon, her friend Jay Sebring and three others were brutally murdered by the Manson Family — but Quentin Tarantino’s take on the historical story leaves Tate alive and happy. — C.P.

'The Others' (2001)

The Others

Nicole Kidman stars as Grace Stewart, a mother living with her two young children in a large, isolated home along the coast of France in the 1950s. After periodically seeing strange visitors, Grace becomes convinced that the house is haunted. However, it is finally revealed that Grace is actually the one haunting the estate, as she had previously killed her children and herself, and the visitors are really the abode’s new owners. — R.G.

'Parasite' (2019)

'Parasite'

The 2020 best picture Oscar winner focuses on two families: the wealthy Parks and poor Kims, who infiltrate the rich enclave by taking on a number of household jobs for their affluent counterparts. The twist comes when the Parks’ former housekeeper returns and reveals that her husband has been living in a secret bunker under the Park house for years. Near the end of the film, the husband escapes, sparking a chain of violence that ends with the Kim patriarch stabbing the Park father and running away. Later, it’s revealed that the Kim father ran into the bunker, where he’s been hiding from the police. After his son learns of his father’s whereabouts, he proclaims that he’ll make enough money to buy the house, now occupied by a German family, so the two can reunite. And there’s even a scene of the two of them doing so before viewers are snapped back to the Kims’ half-basement apartment where the son is writing a letter detailing these goals. It becomes clear that his dream won’t come true. — H.L.

'Planet of the Apes' (1968)

PLANET OF THE APES, Kim Hunter, Roddy McDowall, Charlton Heston, Linda Harrison, 1968

When a crew of astronauts crashes their spaceship on a distant planet, they quickly learn it’s inhabited by intelligent apes, with humans being held captive and experimented on. In the film, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, the remaining crewmembers fight for their lives only to later learn the planet isn’t mysterious at all – it’s actually Earth in the future. — C.T.

'The Prestige' (2006)

The Prestige

Often underrated among Christopher Nolan’s films, 2006’s The Prestige wove a twisty tale of dueling magicians (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) in late-19th century London. For a story about two illusionists, it was only appropriate the film’s ending had two twists, with each man revealing his fateful secret: Jackman’s Angier was killing countless clones of himself in order to pull off his greatest stage trick, while Bale’s Borden had a twin brother hiding in plain sight whom he used to accomplish a similar act. Their rivalry and respective secrets came at tragic costs and, like most movies with great plot twists, have inspired fans to rewatch the film which plays rather differently upon second viewing. — J.H.

'Primal Fear' (1996)

'Primal Fear'

Richard Gere plays a defense attorney who specializes in winning cases for high-profile clients based on legal technicalities. He takes on the case of Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton), a teenage altar boy accused of killing an archbishop, offering to defend him pro bono because of his confidence in Aaron’s innocence. Aaron, who has a stutter, is diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder after years of abuse. After the judge decides Aaron is not guilty by reason of insanity, Aaron reveals to the attorney that he faked the whole thing — from the stutter to the dissociative identity disorder — and in fact murdered the archbishop along with his own girlfriend. — K.N.

'Psycho' (1960)

Psycho

Director Alfred Hitchcock’s horror masterpiece had two twists, but the first was so shocking that the 1960 film can still deliver a jolt today. Psycho killed off its protagonist, Janet Leigh’s Marion Crane, at the end of the film’s first act. Moviegoers reportedly screamed and even bolted for the theater exits; Crane wasn’t merely killed, but butchered in a creepy motel shower amid a flurry of knife stabs by a shadowy figure. The three-minute scene is a masterpiece of sleight-of-hand editing to appease censors, requiring 60 camera setups and a week to shoot. It also completely upended the film’s narrative, leading viewers to search for a new protagonist. Psycho’s anybody-can-die twist was like something out of Game of Thrones, except five decades earlier. The film then delivered its second twist at the end when sympathetic momma’s boy loner Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) was revealed to be the killer. — J.H. 

'Saw' (2004)

Saw

In the cult classic, Adam and Dr. Cordon are kidnapped, tortured and forced to play twisted games in a bathroom with a corpse in the middle of the room, allegedly all organized by a man named Zep. When Adam kills Zep, it seems like the movie is over, until the corpse on the floor awakes, and it turns out he was the one behind it all. — C.P.

'Secret Window' (2004)

Secret Window

Based on Stephen King’s novella Secret Window, Secret Garden, David Koepp’s film stars Johnny Depp as Mort, a mystery writer who retreats to his lake cabin after learning his wife, Amy, is having an affair. Months later, a man named John Shooter shows up at the cabin and accuses Mort of plagiarizing his story, becoming harassing and threatening toward Mort. During the course of the film, Shooter blocks evidence that would prove Mort’s innocence, while Mort’s dog, a local resident and a private investigator hired by Mort turn up dead, with Shooter framing Mort for the murders of the latter two. In the end, Mort realizes that Shooter is a figment of his imagination due to his mental health issues; as “Shooter” takes over control of Mort, he kills Ted, and Amy realizes the name Shooter actually means “Shoot Her.” But the revelation comes too late, and Mort kills her, too. (The ending differs from the novella, in which Mort dies but Tied and Amy live.) — K.N.

'Seven' (1995)

Seven

“What’s in the booooox!?” Anybody who’s seen David Fincher’s 1995 serial killer opus still has the wail of Brad Pitt’s anguished Detective Mills somewhere in their mind just waiting to be recalled with a shudder. As the film’s moral compass, Morgan Freeman’s Detective Somerset, bluntly warns near the start of the film’s third act, “This isn’t going to have a happy ending.” And it sure didn’t, did it? Angelic Gwyneth Paltrow’s head in a box perfectly completed psycho killer John Doe’s (Kevin Spacey) Seven Deadly Sins murder tableau, but during production studio New Line reportedly didn’t want to use the ultra-dark ending. Thankfully, the studio and Fincher eventually agreed that writer Andrew Kevin Walker’s script was so tightly constructed that any major compromise would have broken the story’s structure (sorry, Gwyneth!).  — J.H.

'Shutter Island' (2010)

Shutter Island

Shutter Island follows Leonardo DiCaprio’s Edward “Teddy” Daniels, a U.S. marshal who is investigating the psychiatric facility on the mysterious island. At the end of the film, it’s revealed that Edwards is actually an inmate at the facility, who was committed after murdering his wife because she killed their children. — C.P.

'The Sixth Sense' (1999)

'The Sixth Sense'

“I see dead people.” The truth was right there all along, but it still came as a shock to unsuspecting audiences. Haley Joel Osment plays a boy who can see ghosts. Coming to his aid is Malcolm (Bruce Willis), a child psychologist who had been shot months earlier during a home invasion. At the end of the movie, Malcolm returns home to his wife, who is asking why he left her. Noticing that she has his wedding ring in her hand — and not on his finger — he realizes he didn’t survive the shooting and has been dead all these months. — K.N.

'Soylent Green' (1973)

Soylent Green

Set in 2022, the dystopian sci-fi film centers on Detective Robert Thorn (Charlton Heston) investigating the murder of a board member for the Soylent Corporation, known for producing wafers called Soylent Green on which humans subsist. By the end of the movie, Robert realizes that the murder stemmed from the company’s big secret — that the food item is actually made from human corpses — leading Heston to shout the enduring catchphrase, “Soylent Green is people!” — R.G.

'Split' (2016)

Split

James McAvoy plays a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder, who has 23 different personalities and a secret one called the Beast, who finally comes out in the third act and is a mythical, murderous being. But the biggest plot twist comes after the end credits title card, with Bruce Willis reprising his Unbreakable role of David Dunn, making Split the secret sequel no one expected. — C.P.

'Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back' (1980)

'Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back'

During a battle with Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker finally learns the truth about dear ole dad. Trying to convince Luke to join forces (pun intended) with him, Vader tells him: “Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.” Replies Luke, “He told me enough. He told me you killed him.” Then Vader delivers one of the most memorable lines in cinematic history: “No. I am your father.” — K.N.

'Tully' (2018)

Tully

In Jason Reitman’s 2018 dramedy — his third feature with Oscar-winning Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody and the pair’s second collaboration with star Charlize Theron following Young Adult — Marlo (Theron) is in the throes of postpartum depression after the birth of her third child with her husband, Drew (Ron Livingston). Overwhelmed by her kids and at the end of her rope, Marlo finds a guardian angel in a night nanny named Tully (Mackenzie Davis), paid for by Marlo’s wealthy brother. Tully’s presence livens the household, with Marlo once again free to engage with herself and her family. The big reveal, however, comes after Marlo experiences a mental breakdown — and it turns out her supernanny was a figment of her imagination due to extreme exhaustion. — T.C.

'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2' (2012)

'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2'

In the final installment of the Twilight saga, directed by Bill Condon, the Cullens have one last fight on their hands. After the birth of Bella and Edward’s child, they must gather other vampires to protect her from the Volturi that’s coming after her due to false allegations. Once they arrive, several Cullen family members and friends die in the battle — or so it seems. The fight scene ends up being just one of Allison’s visions. — C.T.

‘Us’ (2019)

Us

In the opening scene of Jordan Peele’s film, viewers watch as a young Adelaide wanders away from her family at the beach into a carnival maze, where she unexpectedly meets her doppelgänger “Red.” Years later, when adult Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) returns to the maze with her family, she is confronted once again by her doppelgänger, only this time she learns the truth about her identity. While viewers may have believed Adelaide was traumatized from the event in her childhood, it is revealed that when the two girls originally met, they switched places. But this isn’t a Parent Trap fun switcheroo because the real Adelaide is kidnapped, with Red replacing her in her old life. Meanwhile, underground Red has plotted her revenge and becomes the leader of an uprising of the underground people where they kill their human doppelgängers and unite to re-create the public fundraising event Hands Across America from the 1980s. — L.P.

'The Usual Suspects' (1995)

The Usual Suspects

Who is Keyser Söze? Throughout the film, viewers learn that this mysterious, unseen crime lord is the one pulling the strings behind the job that led to a massacre at the movie’s start. However, once con man Roger “Verbal” Kint (Kevin Spacey in his first Oscar-winning role) is finally finished getting interrogated, it dawns on the audience and the customs agent played by Chazz Palminteri that Kint — who has just walked out of the precinct, suddenly sans limp — is actually Söze. Indeed, all the names and locations from his fictional story were taken from words that can be found throughout the interrogation room. — R.G.

'Wild Things' (1998)

Wild Things

Twist-a-palooza! John McNaughton’s film had them in spades. Starring Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell and Denise Richards, Wild Things starts out with a high school guidance counselor (Dillon) being accused of rape by first one student (Richards) and then another (Campbell), which is when Officer Duquette (Bacon) gets involved. It turns out they are all working in concert to scam a multimillion-dollar payout from Richards’ wealthy family, but they end up double-crossing each other. It’s truly a “wild” ride featuring one double-cross after another ( The Ringer counted 12 in the span of the 108-minute film) in which the least likely person ends up being the mastermind behind the whole thing, and the other three end up dead. — K.N.

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11 Recent Movie Plot Twists You Never Saw Coming

You just got Shyamalan'd.

Malignant Annabelle

Many of today's Hollywood movies contain some sort of plot twist, and it's understandable why. Everyone loves a good swerve, and a well-done rug pull will often generate a ton of buzz and raise a film's profile considerably.

For example, 1996's Primal Fear probably wouldn't have lingered in the public consciousness as much were it not for that fantastic plot twist. As solid as that film is, it's ultimately a straightforward legal thriller aside from its ending.

While quite a few recent Hollywood offerings have been let down by bad twists - Don't Worry Darling serving as a great example of this - there are still plenty of writers in the business who know exactly how to craft a good twist, and their movies are all the better for it.

The following 11 movies are some of the best examples of fantastic twists from the past few years. These films range in content and quality, and the twists vary heavily - from surprise villains to shocking "Everything you know is a lie" reveals - but the thing that unites them? They all feature killer plot twists that audiences loved.

11. Run - Diane Isn't Chloe's Mother

Malignant Annabelle

This swelteringly tense Hulu Original tells the story of Chloe (Kiera Allen), a wheelchair-bound teenager trying to escape from her sinister and over-protective mother, Diane (Sarah Paulson). Run is not only an effective, superbly-acted thrill ride, it also contains an end-of-second-act rug pull - Diane isn't Chloe's mother at all, and she stole her from her birth parents when she was a baby - that shows exactly how to do a thriller plot twist. 

First up, as a good twist ideally should be, it's a hell of a surprise. The film's cleverly edited flashback opening strongly implied that Diane was Chloe's mother, but as it turns out, the baby we saw in the opening was Diane's daughter who died shortly after childbirth. 

Furthermore, startling though it might be, this is a twist that stays on the right side of ridiculous and it also does wonders for the overall movie. This reveal levels up the entire picture and takes it to thrilling new levels of sustained, white-knuckle tension, cementing the Run's place among the best thrillers of the 2020s so far. 

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.

The Best Plot Twists in Movie History That We Never Saw Coming

From Alfred Hitchcock to Bong Joon-Ho and, yes, M. Night Shyamalan.

best plot twist movies

A good plot twist is, ideally, one you never see coming. But that’s also such a narrow way to think about twists in film. Realistically, a good twist isn’t that dissimilar from a good roller coaster: even if you see it coming, you’re filled with anxiety and fear and excitement knowing what’s to come. For this list, there’s a mix of the two—the blindsides and the slow burns. No matter what your taste is, there’s a film around to whet your appetite. When putting together a collection like this, you have to find a balance.

Oh, and just in case we didn't imply it already? Big spoilers ahead.

What’s in the box? It’s a devastating twist that elevates an already gory, creepy film to the next level. This serial killer thriller builds the horror and tension to the ultimate moment, when the final murder victim is revealed.

Jordan Peele’s horror film hinges on elevated social commentary, but the most terrifying moment is realizing that even the convincingly “woke” character has her own agenda. Somebody needs to come get their Karen.

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To begin, it’s impossible to say which of Gone Girl ’s twists goes down as the best. One thing is certain: “Amazing Amy” has more than one trick up her sleeve. As the domestic life thriller takes turn after turn, Gone Girl does the impossible.

The Usual Suspects

In a film riddled with twist and turns, the biggest one is handily the end when Agent Kujan discovers that Roger 'Verbal' Kint was Keyser Söze, the man he’s been looking for the entire film.

This one is a twofer. First off, the character of Zep was never the mastermind as much as he was a blackmailed henchman for Jigsaw… the truly sadistic figure in Saw. The second twist is that the body in the middle of the room for most of the horror film wasn’t dead and was, instead, listening to Gordon and Adam the whole time.

The first rule of Fight Club is that you don’t talk about fight club. That’s the second rule as well. The third rule is that you don’t talk about the twist in Fight Club , which is that Tyler (Brad Pitt) never existed. Dammit. We broke the rule.

This upstairs-downstairs Korean drama won Best Picture at this past year’s Oscars, but what makes Parasite so good has more to do with the downstairs than the upstairs. After a whole first act where a poor family starts to move in and overtake a wealthy family’s home, they discover that the basement has more in storage than just canned vegetables. The “parasite” already exists, and the whole second act explores what happens when two families war over the right to invade another.

There’s technically two great twists in Psycho . The most obvious is the reveal of Norman Bates as the killer, but the more nuanced one is that Alfred Hitchcock had the audacity to kill his main character halfway through the movie, turning expectations for the rest of the film on its head.

Planet of the Apes

Like a lot of great twists, you have to wait for the very end to discover the shocker in Planet of the Apes. The big reveal is that the titular planet was always ours, just in the distant future, when apes rounded up humans and became the dominant species.

Citizen Kane

It all comes down to “rosebud.” After a journalist sets off to discover what Charles Foster Kane’s final word “rosebud” meant, he comes to discover that it was simply the name of his childhood sled: a metaphor for the life he sacrificed.

Us , or as I like to call it: Jordan Peele’s twisted version of Switched at Birth, saves its final twist for the very end of the movie when it’s revealed that Lupita Nyong’o and her soulless doppelgänger actually switched places at a carnival when she was a child. Thus, human Lupita had been living underground for years and her identical clone had been living above ground as a human.

We love a time travel movie, but the truly heartbreaking moment in this alien/time travel drama is when Amy Adams’ character realizes (after being given the “gift” of non-linear time) that her future daughter will die. With that knowledge, she chooses to carry on the budding relationship that will eventually end in marriage, her daughter’s birth and subsequent death, and the heartbreaking ruin that will follow.

The Mist is an anxiety-ridden mess of a film that features Marcia Gay Harden in what would become a pretty convincing imitation of a Trump supporter, so yeah, we get why Thomas Jane and Laurie Holden wanted to get out of there. But then, when all hope is lost and Jane’s character shoots everyone in the car, only to find out seconds later that the mist had passed? Damn you, Stephen King.

The Prestige

The twist from The Prestige left so many people scratching their heads because, like a lot of Nolan films, it’s not as cut and dry as viewers might believe. It appears that at the end of the film, Borden is left to deal with the fallout (and charge) from Angier’s death, but is Angier actually dead? Or was this just his final one-up in this face off of rival magicians?

The Sixth Sense

Everything should have started clicking when Haley Joel Osment said, “I see dead people.” Yeah, that’s why he’s looking at you, Bruce Willis. When the truth is revealed, M. Night Shyamalan must have been pretty damn proud of himself because The Sixth Sense ’s twist might still be one of the greatest of all time.

Don’t you hate when you’ve stumbled upon a house of ghosts, starting figuring out their behaviors and daily goings on and then realize that, in fact, you are the ghost? Bollocks! The 2001 horror movie was so revered that it locked in acting nominations for Nicole Kidman at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, along with a BAFTA writing nomination.

Jacob's Ladder

You know, considering how many people end up dead at the end of films, it’s probably not a twist that should take us by surprise as often as it does. Nevertheless, in Jacob’s Ladder , the horror film that follows a man named Jacob who was stabbed in Vietnam, escapes the war-torn environment just as he passes out, and then awakes in New York City. He tries to reestablish a life back in the States but continues to be haunted by his past. You’re rooting for Jacob, only to find out at the end that not only did Jacob die in Vietnam, but he was given a dose of medicine that turned him and his fellow soldiers into killing machines, one of whom was responsible for Jacob’s death.

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

At the risk of being too succinct, we only have five words to describe the greatest twist of all time: No, I am your father.

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‘Road House’ Review: Jake Gyllenhaal Makes a Bid for ’80s Movie Stardom in an Early Contender for 2024’s Silliest Film

Christian zilko.

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Early in Doug Liman’s “Road House” remake , Dalton ( Jake Gyllenhaal ) explains his current employment situation to a young girl he befriends at a roadside bookstore. He tells her that he moved to Glass Key, Florida after accepting a job offer from a stranger whose roadhouse became overrun with rowdy thugs who like to raise obscene amounts of hell, and that he agreed to use his background as a former UFC fighter to clean the place up.

“Sounds like the plot of an old Western,” she tells him, which would be an astute observation about the situation’s ridiculousness if it wasn’t underscored by the equally ridiculous notion that middle schoolers in 2024 are referencing 1960s Western tropes in casual conversations. But that’s just the kind of movie we’re dealing with here.

It’s the kind of film that should go off the rails — and very nearly does at quite a few moments — but is ultimately saved by the fact that there isn’t a rational moment in its entire two-hour running time. The smallest iota of sanity would short-circuit this story like a grain of sand in a microchip, but Liman and screenwriters Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry mercifully spare us from that fate and let us bask in the asininity of a mildly entertaining hangout movie.

Dalton makes quick work of the first few batches of goons who roll through, but it soon becomes clear that they’re just lackeys for a more nefarious operation that wants to take down the bar. The island’s criminal nepo baby Billy (Lukas Gage) is no match for Dalton, but the arrival of his imprisoned father’s lunatic enforcer Knox (McGregor) forces our hero to reach into the darkest depths of his soul and bring out the inner animal that made him a championship fighter.

Gyllenhaal’s star has always shined the brightest when he plays weasels and weirdos who lurk in the shadows, but “Road House” is his most committed attempt at playing a conventional ’80s macho man. Dalton is capable of unspeakable brutality, but he also fires off quippy jokes and uses his extensive knowledge of human anatomy to offer medical advice to anyone he beats up. The actor is predictably excellent at the brooding violence but here lacks the charisma to sell many of his character’s Marvel-style one-liners. While some of his goofier moments help develop Dalton as a well-intentioned gym rat with minimal social skills, others fall victim to the same awkward juxtaposition of masculine activities and Muppet-like vocals that plague so many Patrick Mahomes press conferences.

McGregor, on the other hand, steals every scene he’s in. It’s unclear how much of what he does is actually acting, as he simply plays a rowdy and charismatic Irishman who likes to hit people and show off his ridiculous tattoos. But his first acting role (the end credits cheekily say “Introducing Conor McGregor”) could establish him as his generation’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, an inimitable sports figure whose very existence is unique enough to justify plopping him into countless blockbusters.

“Road House” premiered at SXSW 2024. It will stream exclusively on Prime Video beginning on Thursday, March 21.

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Hulu's The Greatest Hits movie puts a music-themed spin on time travel films in creative first trailer

A re you sick and tired of clichéd, trope-filled time-travel films? Hulu 's wholly original take on this specific subgenre of sci-fi movies might be the perfect antidote.

Written and directed by Black Widow scribe Ned Benson, The Greatest Hits looks to breathe new life into time travel-based storytelling with its creative, music-themed, and romance-led spin on such flicks. I could wax lyrical about one of 2024's new Hulu movies (it'll also debut internationally on Disney Plus ) and its eye-popping visuals and grief-laden plot in more detail, but I reckon you're best seeing what all of the fuss is about yourself. So, take a look at The Greatest Hits ' first trailer below:

Looks pretty magical, right? I'm going to go on *ahem* record and claim that it'll be something of a sleeper hit for two of the world's best streaming services . Okay, based on its teaser, there's a generic air to the romantic drama-based parts of its narrative. But, with its starry, talented cast – more on them shortly – and intriguing twist on time-travel stories (anybody else getting romance-led Back to the Future and/or The Time Traveler's Wife vibes?), I think it'll be better than many people think. One for our best Hulu movies and best Disney Plus movies guides? I'm putting my neck on the line and saying, "Heck yes".

If you weren't able to discern what The Greatest Hits is about from its trailer, here's a handy plot synopsis, courtesy of Disney subsidiary Searchlight Pictures, which developed the flick: "Harriet (Lucy Boynton) finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally. 

"While she relives the past through romantic memories of her former boyfriend (David Corenswet), her time-traveling collides with a burgeoning new love interest in the present (Justin H. Min). As she takes her journey through the hypnotic connection between music and memory, she wonders - even if she could change the past, should she?"

As the film's protagonist, Boynton is front and center of this movie. If her name and/or face seem familiar, you've probably seen her cameo in 2023 megahit Barbie (now available on Max ), as well as Netflix 's The Politician TV show.

Speaking of the aforementioned Netflix series, The Greatest Hits reunites Boynton and Corenswet on the small screen – the latter also featuring among the comedy-drama's ensemble cast. The Greatest Hits might be the last project that Corenswet stars in before he's catapulted into the A-list stratosphere, too, as he's set to play Clark Kent/Superman in the rebooted DC Cinematic Universe ( DCU ). His first appearance will come in James Gunn's Superman movie , which is currently being shot ahead of the DCU Chapter One film's release in July 2025.

Rounding out the supporting cast are Min, who you might recognize from The Umbrella Academy – one of the best Netflix shows – as Austin Crute, who has starred in another Netflix TV show (2019's Daybreak ) as well as teen comedy flick Booksmart . Hey, I did say The Greatest Hits ' primary cast was a talented bunch.

The Greatest Hits , whose soundtrack is full of big names including Nelly Furtado and Jamie XX, will begin playing on Hulu and Disney Plus on Friday, April 12.

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The Greatest Hits might be a sleeper hit for Hulu and Disney Plus this April.

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The Film Christopher Nolan Doesn’t Want You to Watch

Nolan’s short film “Larceny” has not been shown publicly since a 1996 film festival. With the director in position to win his first Oscar, its cast and crew want to preserve that mystery.

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In a drawing, one character jumps in the air while punching another in the head. Behind them, somebody wearing a mask sneaks through a window.

By Christopher Kuo

Before Christopher Nolan became a celebrated director — before “Inception” penetrated the land of dreams, “Interstellar” played with the laws of physics and “Tenet” warped all sense of chronology — there was “Larceny.”

In 1995, Nolan directed “Larceny” with a group of friends he had met through the film society at University College London. It is about eight minutes long, was shot in black and white with 16-millimeter cameras and involves an apartment burglary.

That is essentially all the public information about the film. After a screening at the Cambridge Film Festival in 1996, it vanished.

In the decades since, Nolan, 53, has become known for his expansive cinematography and mind-bending plots in movies like “Memento,” the “Dark Knight” trilogy and “Dunkirk.” He is expected to win his first Oscar on Sunday for “Oppenheimer,” a three-hour biopic about a theoretical physicist that made nearly a billion dollars.

The popularity of Nolan’s work has made the elusiveness of “Larceny” maddening for fans who want to watch his entire filmography, and perhaps gain insight into his early development as a filmmaker.

“When I meet God, I won’t ask about the scrolls from the Library of Alexandria, I’ll shake him down for this lost film,” Dan DeLaPorte wrote on Letterboxd, a website where people rate and review movies.

film time travel plot twist

DeLaPorte said in an interview that he had scrolled through pages and pages of Google search results and combed through Reddit, Vimeo and underground media sites to try to find “Larceny.”

Nolan’s decision to keep “Larceny” private while publicizing “Doodlebug,” a three-minute short from 1997, has fueled speculation among his fans. Is he planning to transform “Larceny” into a full-length feature? Embarrassed by his work as a young filmmaker? Nervous about some of its content?

“In English literature there’s this term, ‘juvenilia,’ which is great artists’ younger works when they were teenagers or apprentices,” said Matthew Tempest, who was secretary of the university’s film society when Nolan was its president. “Frustrating as it might be for fans, I think they have a right to destroy or withdraw it.”

In 2021, a fan tracked down a copy of another of Nolan’s early short films, “Tarantella” (1990), with the help of a Chicago public television station. After the film was posted on Vimeo, Nolan’s production company filed a copyright infringement claim to have it removed. Even so, the discovery renewed hope among Nolan fans.

Could “Larceny” be unearthed next?

A Training Exercise

In the 1990s, the film society at University College London met weekly in a cluttered theater basement where strips of film hung from the ceiling. Nolan and the group’s other members, including Emma Thomas, his future wife, had access to cameras, tripods, dolly tracks and other filmmaking tools. He continued to use the equipment after graduating in 1993.

While most students wore jeans, sweaters and denim jackets, Nolan dressed meticulously in button-down shirts and suit jackets. He was also dedicated to the granular details of filmmaking. Tempest recalled seeing Nolan try to create a distortion effect with a glass bowl.

“He was really interested in the physical mechanics of cameras and lights and equipment,” Tempest said.

The film society, Tempest said, would screen movies like Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” in the theater upstairs to help fund its members’ filmmaking.

Student films provide opportunities for budding filmmakers to experiment with their craft and forge partnerships with actors and crew members, said Christopher Chan Roberson, who teaches cinematography at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.

“The idea of making a student film is a notion of process,” Roberson said. “It’s just a process of going, ‘OK, maybe I didn’t make the best film, but I really love working with this cinematographer and this is my cinematographer for life.’”

Jeremy Theobald, who played the occupant of the apartment in “Larceny,” also starred in Nolan’s debut feature, “Following,” about an aspiring writer who meets a professional burglar. David Julyan, who created the music for “Larceny,” later worked with Nolan on “Memento,” “Insomnia” and “The Prestige.”

Theobald told Darren Mooney, the author of “Christopher Nolan: A Critical Study of the Films,” that Nolan’s script for “Larceny” differed from the surreal film society scripts he had read.

“This was witty,” Theobald said. “It was funny, it was pithy and it was dark. It had a great twist at the end.”

The plot involves an encounter during which a burglar is disturbed by the homeowner, Julyan said. In an interview with Empire magazine, Theobald said his character was arguing with another about a woman when “a third man bursts out of the cupboard.”

This story may have been inspired by Nolan’s personal life. He had recently returned home from work to find his apartment door kicked in and his place a mess, according to Ian Nathan’s book “Christopher Nolan: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work.”

“Larceny” was shot over one weekend at Nolan’s apartment, Julyan said, and features percussion loops, electric piano and bass guitar from a synthesizer Julyan had borrowed.

In an interview with Vice published in 2014, Nolan recalled treating “Larceny” and “Doodlebug” as opportunities to experiment with filmmaking techniques before applying those skills to “Following.”

“Can you create a very stripped-down, very tight production machine that would then be applied to making a feature film?” Nolan said. He added, “When we came to do ‘Following,’ we were sort of shooting a short film every weekend. So it would be a two-minute, three-minute chunk of the film done every weekend.”

‘A Very Controlled Artist’

“Tarantella” lives on in the recesses of the internet, and “Doodlebug” is included on the Criterion edition of “Following.” But very few people have seen “Larceny,” and that seems unlikely to change.

Directors sometimes avoid releasing their early work out of concern that it could reflect poorly on them, Roberson said.

“I think Chris Nolan doesn’t want to make himself vulnerable,” Roberson said, adding, “Why share incomplete stuff you’re not proud of, versus ‘Oppenheimer’?”

In Mooney’s book, Theobald said: “I think Chris thought it was too similar to ‘Following,’ that people would think that it was a test bed for ‘Following.’”

A spokeswoman for Nolan declined to comment.

Robert Coren, a former archivist for the University College London film society, said he was not aware of any copies of “Larceny” in its archives. And a former director of the Cambridge Film Festival said no copies were in the festival archives. Julyan said he had a VHS tape of the film but would not share it.

Other people who worked on “Larceny” were circumspect about the film.

“As it’s not publicly available I’m not going to divulge what it’s about,” Ivan Cornell, who has a producing credit on “Larceny,” wrote in an email. Theobald told The New York Times that because Nolan never released “Larceny” after the film festival, “I am unable to talk about its content.” The other actors in the short, Dave Savva and Mark Deighton, could not be reached.

“Chris is a very controlled artist, a controlled filmmaker,” said Nigel Karikari, the assistant director of “Larceny,” recalling how Nolan would use a camcorder to take rehearsal shots before filming. “Him not wanting to release that is just another extension of that.”

For DeLaPorte, the Letterboxd user, there is a silver lining to the mysterious, unwatchable nature of “Larceny.”

“There’s lore with it now,” he said. “It’s almost bigger than it would have been if it was available. There’s this unattainable thing that just keeps the hunt going.”

Christopher Kuo is a culture reporter for The Times and a member of the 2023-24 Times Fellowship class . More about Christopher Kuo

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Screen Rant

Iron man set up a plot hole problem for marvel's fantastic four movie 16 years ago.

If rumors are true about Marvel's upcoming Fantastic Four movie, then it will have to be careful to avoid a plot hole set up by the MCU's first movie.

  • Marvel's Fantastic Four rumored to be set in 1960s, honoring original comics era.
  • MCU continuity risk with setting of Fantastic Four movie in '60s, possible solution with time travel.
  • Fantastic Four could use Quantum Realm for time travel to modern MCU, bypassing continuity issues.

There are some exciting rumors about Marvel's Fantastic Four , but if they're true, the movie will have to be careful not to contradict previous MCU history set up in movies like Iron Man. As the MCU continues to grow, it gets more difficult for Marvel to maintain the sprawling MCU timeline without it impacting creative decisions. Sometimes Marvel will solve this issue with a retcon , but that doesn't always work. Especially not with larger elements of the universe's history.

Iron Man kicked off the MCU, and each subsequent movie built off the base it established. Early on, this kept the MCU's history easy to track. However, as the MCU has added more movies that delve into the universe's past , like Eternals and Captain Marvel , it has become a bit trickier for Marvel to not contradict themselves. Now, given rumors of the setting for Marvel's Fantastic Four , it looks as though Marvel will again have to be very careful not to create a plot hole.

Everything We Know About Marvel's Fantastic Four Reboot

Marvel's fantastic four is rumored to take place in the 1960s, the fantastic four were first created in 1961.

There have been rumors that Marvel's Fantastic Four will take place in the '60s . These rumors have only been fueled by Marvel's art promoting The Fantastic Four cast reveal, featuring the characters in a very 1960s-looking setting. This could be a very fun and unique setting for an MCU movie, especially because this is the same time period that The Fantastic Four first appeared in the comics. This means the movie could perfectly capture the style and setting of the original comics, more so than most MCU movies.

While Marvel's Fantastic Four 's rumored setting sounds like it would make for a great movie, it does pose a risk for the MCU's continuity . Marvel will have to be very careful not to actively contradict anything that they have established about the past in the universe. This could be especially tricky given some things that were set up in Iron Man , and commented on in subsequent installments of Marvel's franchise.

Marvel's Fantastic Four

The mcu made it seem like iron man was the first public superhero, iron man (2008) took place in 2010 in the mcu.

The MCU has had some indications that Iron Man was the first public superhero , not counting Captain America. In the first Iron Man , Rhodey and the military seem perplexed by Tony's suit when they first encounter it, which would be a strange reaction if the world was already full of superheroes. In Iron Man 2 , Tony's ability to operate independently as Iron Man is an issue that is brought before congress, and nobody mentions any sort of precedent. Vision also remarks in Captain America: Civil War that superhuman activity increased only after Tony revealed himself as Iron Man.

For all of this to still fit and have The Fantastic Four exist in the past, that would mean they couldn't be public superheroes. Instead, they would have to operate in secret like the original Ant-Man and Wasp. However, this doesn't really track with how the team typically operates, and would limit Marvel's ability to have large action set pieces. There is, of course, the possibility that the Fantastic Four operate in an entirely different strand of the multiverse, and will be brought to the main timeline. But even without that, Marvel has already established a perfect solution for how to avoid this issue.

The MCU Already Has The Perfect Solution To Its Fantastic Four Problem

Avengers: endgame (2019) established time travel via the quantum realm.

If The Fantastic Four were to have a major public confrontation with Doctor Doom, or another supervillain, this would seem to contradict Iron Man's status as the first public superhero in the MCU. However, if Marvel's First Family time travels before getting into any major fights , this could easily explain why nobody has mentioned them before. There are already theories that The Fantastic Four could use the Quantum Realm to travel forward in time to the modern MCU. As long as this happens before the climactic battle in their movie, Marvel can avoid any plot holes.

Including time travel in Marvel's Fantastic Four 's final battle could also create some unique scenes. Maybe the team could pop out in multiple time periods on their way to the present, or see flashes of other notable MCU events. Once they land in modern day, The Fantastic Four would be set up perfectly to meet up with another MCU hero in a post-credits teaser. Even if the rumored setting is true, it seems unlikely that Marvel's Fantastic Four won't at least set up a way to have the team join the modern day MCU.

Key Release Dates

Deadpool & wolverine, captain america: brave new world, marvel's thunderbolts, blade (2025), avengers: the kang dynasty, avengers: secret wars.

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    The Butterfly Effect is an enjoyable sci-fi flick with strong performances from the cast, especially Ashton Kutcher in the lead role. However, to say that the movie's time travel rules are consistent would be a huge understatement. The biggest plot hole is Evan's quick trip to the past where he stabs his hands to get his cellmate to believe him, and the scars magically appear in the present ...

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    Runtime. 113 minutes. The Butterfly Effect is one of the most mind-blowing time travel movies out there, partly because the rules are very specific, and yet they make no sense whatsoever. The movie featured quite a few time paradoxes, but the biggest one was probably the existence of Evan's blackouts. Young Evan experienced blackouts, caused by ...

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    The film may have audiences believing that there is some strange time travel element involved, especially when cell phones start popping up in what seems to be the 1800s. The movie's big time-related twist comes when it reveals that the entire film was actually taking place in the modern day.

  7. The 25 Best Time Travel Movies of All Time, Ranked

    Predestination isn't just a time travel film. What sets this film apart from most sci-fi movies is how deftly it handles its deeper themes, how deep it's willing to go with its characters, and how expertly the narrative unfolds. It's truly one of the most complex time travel movies ever made. 12. The Butterfly Effect (2004)

  8. The 25 Greatest Time-Travel Movies Ever Made

    24. Happy Death Day (2017) Pick away at the surface of a time-loop movie and you find a horror movie. Most of the entries on this list are covered in enough feel-good spin to land as comedies, but ...

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    Psycho (1960) The Plot: Marion Crane is murdered at a desolate motel by the mentally-ill mother of its shifty owner, Norman Bates. The Twist: Bates murdered his mother years before, then developed ...

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    Atonement (2007) View full post on Youtube. This war drama follows two lovers over several years after they are torn apart by a lie constructed by the woman's jealous younger sister, and we'll ...

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    Movies With Great Plot Twists • A Tale of Two Sisters. Coming out of South Korea from director Kim Jee-woon, A Tale of Two Sisters contains a familiar but extremely well-executed plot twist. The titular "two sisters" are actually just one sister, with the other having died before the events of the film. An extra wrinkle thrown in sees the ...

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    Soylent Green (1973) - Director: Richard Fleischer. - IMDb user rating: 7.0. - Metascore: 66. - Runtime: 97 minutes. "Soylent Green" is a film that seems more timely than ever, tackling heavy themes of global warming, overpopulation, and food and housing shortages in a Charlton Heston-led dystopian thriller.

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    But on the night of their arrival, the girls' idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror. Director: Alexandre Aja | Stars: Cécile de France, Maïwenn, Philippe Nahon, Franck Khalfoun. Votes: 77,402 | Gross: $3.68M. 16. Moon (2009) R | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi. Rate. 67 Metascore. Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially ...

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    Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. At the risk of being too succinct, we only have five words to describe the greatest twist of all time: No, I am your father. From Alfred Hitchcock to ...

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  30. Iron Man Set Up A Plot Hole Problem For Marvel's Fantastic Four Movie

    There have been rumors that Marvel's Fantastic Four will take place in the '60s.These rumors have only been fueled by Marvel's art promoting The Fantastic Four cast reveal, featuring the characters in a very 1960s-looking setting. This could be a very fun and unique setting for an MCU movie, especially because this is the same time period that The Fantastic Four first appeared in the comics.