"The Sixth Sense."Buena Vista Pictures
- Plot twists can make movies very memorable.
- Often because of how great they are and how they impact a story for the better.
- But not always.
- The best examples are in movies like "Planet of the Apes," "Empire Strikes Back," and "Fight Club."
- The worst are titles like "Remember Me," "The Village," and "Serenity."
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There are some movies that will be remembered forever for the way they pulled the rug from under us with a memorable plot twist. And then there are the ones that will be remembered for how badly it was done.
It takes talent and definitely some luck to bottle all the elements needed to do a great plot twist. And that has rewarded such movies as "Planet of the Apes" and "Fight Club." But for titles like "Remember Me" and "Serenity," they will be remembered by most because of a failed plot twist.
And then there's someone like M. Night Shyamalan who over his career has been praised and ridiculed over his plot twists.
All are included here as we look at some of the best and worst plot twists in movie history:
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Insider
WORST: The reveal of who Rey is in "The Rise of Skywalker."
We waited all this time for this!
Disney
Ever since Rey (Daisy Ridley) showed up in "The Force Awakens," fans of the "Star Wars" saga have been obsessed with knowing who she is related to.
We finally get the answer in "The Rise of Skywalker." She's the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, who also isn't dead. Or there's a clone of him. It's all very confusing.
The point is that the plot twist of Rey's true family is a reveal that has polarized the "Star Wars" fanbase. It certainly didn't hit as well as Vader saying "I am your father."
BEST: Con artist Roger "Verbal" Kint's true identity in "The Usual Suspects."
This one is still mind-blowing.
Gramercy Pictures
In this fantastic modern-day noir, we are told that there's this mysterious crime lord named Keyser Söze that the toughest of the tough are completely scared of. By the end of the movie, we feel Söze has to be the slick leader (Gabriel Byrne) of the group of crooks we've been following in the story. Nope.
In an incredible twist, it's revealed through fantastic editing of shots and voiceover that the measly con artist Roger "Vebal" Kint (Kevin Spacey) is the evil Söze.
WORST: You won't believe where "Serenity" takes place.
Got to love Matthew McConaughey for being down to try pretty much anything.
Aviron Pictures
We follow Matthew McConaughey through a movie where he's playing a fish boat captain obsessed with catching a yellow tuna named "Justice." He also must decide if he's going to help his ex-wife (Anne Hathaway) and kill her current husband.
But by the end, we get a wild twist in the story. Everything we've been watching is a video game. Turns out a boy has developed a game based on his father, who was a Marine killed in Iraq.
I'll give you a second to absorb all that.
BEST: Darth Vader reveals who he really is in "Empire Strikes Back."
"I am your..." you know.
Disney
It's the moment that turned "Star Wars" from a sci-fi craze into a pop phenomenon.
During his battle with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Darth Vader reveals that he is his father.
It's one of the biggest shocks any movie franchise has given us. The franchise tried another big twist in the final movie in the Skywalker saga. It didn't work as well (more on that later).
WORST: When "The Village" actually takes place.
When the M. Night Shyamalan twist doesn't hit.
Buena Vista Pictures
Five years after "The Sixth Sense" and after releasing other movies like "Unbreakable" and "Signs" — which had their own plot twists — audiences had gotten their fill of Shyamalan twists. And then he went with a big one for this movie that didn't work out.
Thought to be a thriller set in the 19th century and following a group of settlers who are told never to leave the village for fear of a monster, it turns out it was all a lie.
Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard) leaves the village to find that it is modern-day. A park ranger fills her in on how this whole time she and the other villagers have been living in a wildlife preserve.
BEST: Who Malcolm Crowe is in "The Sixth Sense."
This movie is always worth a rewatch.
Buena Vista Pictures
Bruce Willis looks to be a caring psychologist to a troubled boy who sees dead people. Turns out he's a caring dead psychologist.
The twist M. Night Shyamalan delivers in this movie is still one of the best ever. It would be a blessing for him and his curse.
WORST: The timeline reveal in "Remember Me."
Yes, the movie is really about that.
Summit Entertainment
This drama looks like your typical story of relationships that are being affected by the daily challenges in life. That's until we learn that the day we're looking at is September 11, 2001.
By the end of the movie, it's revealed that Robert Pattinson's character died during the terrorist attacks on 9/11 of Lower Manhattan. It was quite a shock for everyone who went to see the movie, as there was no hint of this happening from the marketing of the movie.
BEST: Who Tyler Durden really is in "Fight Club."
Can you blame someone for making Brad Pitt their imaginary friend?
YouTube screengrab
David Fincher's gritty tale is one of the best things he's ever done, and it's because of the way he reveals the relationship between his two main characters. Edward Norton's unnamed narrator character and Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden are believed to be two social outcasts who after befriending one another launch chaos with an underground fight club and bombings of high rise buildings.
But in reality, only one of them exists. In a fast series of flashbacks towards the end of the movie, we learn that Tyler Durden is not real. He's a figment of the narrator's imagination.
The trick played here has been imitated countless times in movies since.
WORST: The true motives of Mark Ruffalo's character in "Now You See Me."
Mark Ruffalo is who in this movie?
Summit Entertainment
I still don't understand how this one makes any sense.
"Now You See Me" mixes heist movie elements with magical illusions. And by the end, it goes too far in trying to outsmart the audience. It's revealed that the FBI agent chasing the group known as the Four Horsemen was in on it. Dylan Rhodes-Shrike, played by Mark Ruffalo, was the mastermind of the entire heist.
So, does that mean he went through becoming an FBI agent to pull all this off? It makes your head spin trying to figure out this twist.
BEST: Where Taylor really was in "Planet of the Apes."
The final shot of "Planet of the Apes."
Fox
Through watching "The Planet of the Apes" we're to believe that Taylor (Charlton Heston) and his crew crash-landed on some distant planet in the future where Apes rule all.
But in one of the most surprising endings ever put on film, we learn that's not the case. Taylor was on Earth the whole time. It's revealed in the last shot of the movie as we see a crumpled Statue of Liberty.