Memento
Leonard played by Guy Pearce has amnesia and uses photos and tattoos in an attempt to find and kill the man that murdered his wife. There are two story lines, one moving forward and one moving backwards, where they meet is the major plot twist that we never saw coming. The movie is about Leonard attempting killing the man who murdered his wife, so it is unsurprising that he kills a man.
The Twist: He killed his wife’s murderer over a year ago. Since, undercover agent “Teddy” has been using him to kill other men who have the same name and characteristics of the original killers. At the end we see Leonard burn the photo that would remind him of these events and tattoo Teddy’s license plate number on his body, resulting in Teddy’s death.
Shutter Island
Teddy, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is a US Marshall sent with his partner to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a patient from the Ashecliff Hospital for the criminally insane. The woman shows up without explanation and Teddy continues to explore the hospital because he is looking for his wife’s murderer. A man named Laeddis was an arsonist and set the fire that killed his wife, he is apparently somewhere in this hospital despite Teddy’s failure to find him.
The Twist: Teddy is Laeddis. Teddy killed his wife after she drowned their children and ended up in the mental hospital. His doctors allowed him to play out this US Marshall fantasy in hopes of advancing his mental state. In the end, Teddy/Laeddis understands his situation. He cannot live with the guilt of killing his wife so he pretends that he reverts to his previous mental state and says, “Which would be worse? To live as a monster, or die as a good man?” as he is led away to be lobotomized.
Psycho
Psycho is a famous Hitchcock horror film starring Anthony Perkins. He plays Norman Bates, a motel owner. Marion Crane is a secretary that has stolen money from her boss and ends up at the motel, looking for a safe place to hide. Norman Bates runs the motel with his mother. Bates has dinner with Crane and tells her about his mother and her mental illness, becoming angry when she says that his mother might need to be institutionalized. The famous shower scene ends with a mysterious person killing her.
The Twist: Norman Bates killed her, as his mother. Norman Bates killed his mother then developed a split personality so it seemed to him that she was still alive.
The Sixth Sense
This movie is about psychologist Malcom Crowe helping 8 year old Cole Sear deal with his mental issues. Cole says he can see dead people, and after at first denying the possibility, Malcolm is reminded of an old patient who he failed with and was shot by. Malcolm decides to help Cole since he could not help the other patient. In the end Cole comes to terms with his abilities and helps the ghosts make peace on earth.
The Twist: Malcolm died when his patient shot him and has been dead the whole time he was helping Cole. Cole helps him reconcile his relationship with his wife so that he too can be in peace.
Fight Club
Based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club was only a movie with a surprising twist for those who had never read the book. Even people who read the book first though, probably experienced the shocking twist on paper instead of in the movie. An unnamed insomniac, played by Edward Norton, is addicted to going to support groups and pretending he is a victim. He meets Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, who turns his life upside down with Project Mayhem.
The Twist: Tyler Durden and the narrator are they same person. Tyler Durden takes over when the narrator “sleeps.” The narrator kills Tyler Durden by firing a gun through his cheek, in the movie this goes through Tyler’s head and the narrator stops mentally projecting him.
Nobody likes a predictable movie. These movies take that presumption and stun you will their twists and turns. We can’t wait until another great movie with a plot twist comes out.
what do you think?