Updated On: November 06, 2023 by   PTdev   PTdev  

Have you ever spent so much time watching a movie but then were struck by a twist that literally twisted the events of the outcome that you DID not see coming? 

Well, we made you a list that will surely have some twists for you to enjoy! Without further ado, we present you with 20 of the movies with the most striking twists of all time arranged chronologically to their dates.

1) Chinatown Movie (1974)

When the wife of a high-ranking government official becomes suspicious of her husband’s possible extramarital affair, she decides to employ a private investigator to keep tabs on him. As he investigates, the PI learns of murder plots, corruption, and the involvement of Evelyn’s younger sister. LA PI JJ “Jake” Gittes (Jack Nicholson) thinks he’s dealing with a typical infidelity case. As soon as Jake meets the actual Mrs Mulwray (Faye Dunaway), he learns he was recruited by a fraud, and the enquiry quickly becomes anything but routine. After Mr Mulwray’s unexpected death, Evelyn’s father (John Huston) becomes a suspect, leading Gittes into a rabbit hole of corruption, betrayal, and dark family secrets. While discussing her incestuous relationship with her father, Evelyn admits that her sister is also her daughter.

2) Se7en Movie (1995)

A series of sophisticated and gruesome killings are uncovered as retired police detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and his new partner, David Mills (Brad Pitt), work together on one last case. They quickly deduce that their serial murderer (Kevin Spacey) is attempting to kill off people who he believes personify one of the seven deadly sins. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Mills’ wife, Tracy, who is pregnant and worried about having a kid in the city because of the high crime rate. Somerset and Tracy become fast friends. John Doe, the killer, promises to show the police where the last two victims were killed so that they may solve the case and end the seven deadly sins. They go to a remote area in the desert, where Somerset is met by a deliveryman carrying a package containing the severed head of Mills’ wife. Doe says he killed her because he was envious, making rage the seventh and last sin, and then he dares Mills to kill him.

3) Fallen Movie (1998)

John Hobbes (Denzel Washington) and Jonesy (John Goodman) are investigating a serial killer whose methods are strikingly identical to those of Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas), whom they had captured. Hobbes remembers the day he “nearly died” while watching the execution. During his enquiry, Hobbes encounters theology professor Gretta Milano (Embeth Davidtz), who opens his eyes to the occult and the idea that an evil spirit is responsible for the murders. They follow the imitator murderer, who turns out to be the evil spirit Azazel that can take over anyone’s body just by touching them. To ensure that Azazel perishes without a host body, Hobbes hatches a scheme to lure him to a remote cottage, where he would murder both himself and the other demon inhabiting his body. Hobbes sacrifices himself to defeat Azazel in the ultimate fight, but the demon takes possession of a stray cat. Hobbes wasn’t the narrator who “nearly died;” it was Azazel impersonating Hobbes.

4) The Sixth Sense Movie (1999)

There’s something sinister about the young Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), and he’s visited by ghosts. Cole is terrified of those that emerge from the shadows and visit him because they have unresolved issues, except for Dr Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, who goes back to work after his home is burglarised by attempting to treat a little boy who has visions of the dead. The unexpected results of Dr Crowe’s investigation into Cole’s paranormal skills serve as a rude awakening for the therapist, who is actually dead.

5) Fight Club Movie (1999)

After the destruction of his magnificent apartment, a depressed man (Edward Norton) struggling with insomnia moves into the poverty and misery of a soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). The two guys get tyred of their routines and decide to start a secret club with tight rules and compete against other men who share their frustrations. Their harmonious relationship begins to unravel when Tyler becomes interested in another group crasher named Marla (Helena Bonham Carter). The narrator, however, has dissociative identity disorder and is actually the same person as Tyler Durden.

6) Memento Movie (2000)

Guy Pearce’s Leonard is searching for the culprit responsible for his wife’s rape and murder. But because of his severe, incurable memory loss, finding his wife’s murderer is a monumental challenge. Leonard can remember specifics about his life before the tragedy. Still, he had no idea what he was doing or where he was headed fifteen minutes ago. Leonard’s wife actually did survive the house invasion, but he murdered her by mistake later on, which caused his amnesia.

7) The Others Movie (2001)

Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley) are raised by their devoutly religious mother, Grace (Nicole Kidman), who relocates the family to the English seaside during World War II. She’s been keeping her kids out of the sun because of a unique form of photosensitivity as she waits for news of her missing spouse. Anne claims to see glimpses of ghosts; Grace at first dismisses her as a joke played by the new staff, but more eerie occurrences and visions lead her to suspect supernatural forces are at work. Grace and her children are the ghosts; she killed them and herself during a psychotic episode and didn’t comprehend what she was doing.

8) Identity Movie (2003)

In the midst of a violent storm in the Nevada desert, ten individuals take shelter in a desolate hotel. The serial murderer (Pruitt Taylor Vince), who murdered many hotel guests, is currently in the custody of psychiatrist Doctor Mallick (Alfred Molina), who has recently discovered the killer’s revealing notebook. Ed Dakota (John Cusack), the limo driver for the trapped storm victims, makes a last-ditch effort to stay alive and identify the killer. As it turns out, each of the ten individuals stuck at the roadside joint is actually an alter ego of the same guy who suffers from severe dissociative identity disorder, making the small child, one of the identities, the real killer. 

9) The Village Movie (2004)

A group of people who want to emulate the Amish have isolated themselves from the outside world because they fear monsters lurking in the woods. If they keep out of the woods, the animals will leave them alone, but it’s an uncomfortable peace. A young villager falls ill, and against the warnings of the local elders, he makes a dash towards the neighbouring town in search of medication. Covington is a real place in the present day, founded by people who wanted to get away from their troubles in the wider world. In order to keep the people from abandoning their homes, the story of “Those We Don’t Speak Of” was invented.

10) El Orfanato Movie (2007)

Though she spent her formative years in an orphanage, Laura (Belén Rueda) looks back on those years with fondness. She persuades her husband to acquire the property so that the two of them may turn it into a facility for ill kids. Her adoptive son, Simón (Roger Prncep), goes missing one day. Simon is in severe condition, and after he hasn’t been seen in months, it’s assumed that he has died. Laura, distraught about the loss of her son, thinks she is being helped in her search by unseen beings. Laura is the one who caused Simón’s absence and death. She goes looking for him and ends up accidentally trapping him in a cellar, where he later breaks his neck after falling.

11) Orphan Movie (2009)

Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard) are heartbroken at the loss of their baby and decide to adopt. They visit an orphanage and immediately fall in love with a little girl called Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman). The kid appears to be angelic on the outside, but after a series of terrifying experiences, Kate begins to worry that something dark lies under the surface. As it turns out, Esther is a former prostitute of 33 years of age who has a growth disorder.

12) Shutter Island Movie (2010)

U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new colleague (Mark Ruffalo) are dispatched to the fortress-like Ashecliffe Hospital on a windswept island, where a clever murderess has escaped. There are clues that awful acts were perpetrated within the hospital’s walls, and the woman herself appears to have vanished from a locked chamber. As the enquiry progresses, Teddy learns that he must face his own dark fears if he is to escape the island alive. Andrew Laeddis, aka Daniels, is doing time in a mental institution for killing his wife, Rachel, after she killed their three children. His “game” to find Rachel is an attempt to snap him out of his delirium.

13) The Cabin in the Woods Movie (2011)

A group of pals from college (played by Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, and Jesse Williams) are on a trip to a secluded home in the woods, where they meet horrible horrors. The woodsy zombies are picking out the youngsters one by one, but something more is at play. Although two scientists (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) seem to have everything under control as the body count rises, there is more going on than meets the eye. The director used the five archetypes of a prostitute, athlete, scholar, virgin, and idiot to cast the actors. The status quo of our planet may be restored by upsetting the ritual.

14) Prisoners Movie (2013)

When Anna Dover, 6, and her friend disappear, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) experiences every parent’s worst nightmare. The only piece of evidence they have is an abandoned RV that was parked on their street. The detective in charge of the investigation, Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), arrests the motorist (Paul Dano) but later releases him owing to a lack of evidence. Dover realises he has to take matters into his own hands to save his daughter. As an adult, Alex feels obliged to help the real villain, Holly, in her sadistic ambition to abduct children since she was a victim of Holly when they were both little. In a series of thrilling developments, this is just one.

15) Gone Girl Movie (2014)

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), a former New York writer, and his beautiful wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) portray a happy marriage to the residents of Carthage, Missouri. Amy disappears on the couple’s fifth wedding anniversary, and Nick is naturally suspected. As a result of police scrutiny and media attention, Nick and Amy’s public persona as a contented married couple crumbles, raising intriguing concerns about their identities. Amy carefully organised her abduction after discovering Nick’s infidelity so that it would appear as though Nick had murdered her. After killing an old boyfriend she had seduced to make it appear as if he had abducted her, she chooses to return home to Nick and has herself artificially inseminated with her husband to make him stay with her.

16) Arrival Movie (2016)

When massive spacecraft land at 12 different sites across the planet, linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) heads up an elite team of detectives to figure out what’s going on. When a dozen extraterrestrial ships land on Earth, the military enlists her help in figuring out why they came. Banks and her team are in a race against time to figure out how to talk to the aliens before the world erupts into war. In her pursuit of answers, she makes a risky choice that might endanger not just her but the whole human race.

This is not a classic movie in which events occur in sequential order. Now what we have here is a palindromic film. Dr Banks’ deciphering of the heptapods’ language reveals that the creatures have a non-linear method of conveying information; they know the conclusion as they compose the first words of a story. In the context of the movie, this means that Dr Banks becomes aware that she has a kid that will not live past childhood. Despite the fact that her child hasn’t even been born yet, she already knows the tragic conclusion. The baby’s name, Hannah, is a palindrome.

17) Coco Movie (2017)

A young child named Miguel has innate guitar talent, but his parents won’t let him pursue music. In an effort to break this family taboo, he goes in search of his great-great-grandfather, the famed musician Ernesto de la Cruz, in the Land of the Dead. He was anxious to show off his abilities. A musician in his family has been forbidden for centuries, but young Miguel is determined to follow in the footsteps of his hero, Ernesto de la Cruz. Miguel and his new companion Héctor, a delightful trickster, set off on a fantastic adventure to discover the truth about his family’s past.

Miguel, when mixing with the deceased, realises that Héctor is just a miserable sap who is desperately seeking to reestablish contact with his loved ones. It turns out, however, that Héctor was murdered by Ernesto and that Héctor was actually Miguel’s great-great-grandfather and Coco’s father.

18) Second Act Movie (2018)

Maya Vargas, an assistant manager at Value Shop, turns 43 on Tuesday and wants just one thing: a promotion. In spite of the fact that her resume doesn’t exactly scream “high management,” her record more than makes up for it. As a forward-thinking businesswoman, Vargas puts her client’s needs first and consistently exceeds their expectations. After being passed over for a position in favour of a candidate with a college degree, Maya decides to show Madison Avenue that street smarts are just as vital as book smarts and that it’s never too late for a second act. She doesn’t just land her ideal job. She also reunites with her long-lost daughter, who turns out to be a colleague.

19) Knives Out Movie (2019)

The death of crime author Harlan Thrombey is shrouded in mystery, but famous detective Benoit Blanc is sure of one thing: every member of the highly dysfunctional Thrombey family is a potential killer. Blanc now has the challenge of deciphering a complex labyrinth of cover-ups and false leads. In the end, it seems that Harlan has taken his own life. And he does so when his devoted carer, Marta, inadvertently administers a fatal amount of morphine to him. In an effort to save her further harm, he decides to take matters into his own hands and slashes his own neck. A member of Harlan’s own family was, in fact, plotting Harlan’s murder. Grandson Ransom altered the labels on his grandfather Harln’s medications in an attempt to implicate Marta in the murder.

20) Parasite Movie (2019)

The affluent Park family and the poor Kim family’s recently created mutually beneficial friendship is in jeopardy due to greed and discrimination based on social class. At the same time, the Kim family escapes their misery to break into the Parks’ luxurious mansion.

Once they get inside, they find out that Moon-gwang, the Parks’ former housekeeper, is hiding her husband in the basement. Later, she finds out the same thing the Kims did: their family secret. After all of this, the birthday celebration for the Parks’ son turns into a violent slaughter. The Kim patriarch Ki-taek ultimately murders the Park patriarch Park Dong-ik with a knife. Ki-taek then disappears, but the film’s surprising conclusion reveals his whereabouts: He has set up business in the basement of the Parks’ home, which is now unoccupied.

Adios!

We surely had fun putting up this list for you to check out, and we will keep recommending more movies in other lists that we urge you to check out if you have not already! Because the world is full of wonders, movies are just one reflection among many others of those wonders.

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