Whether it's the Indiana Jones franchise's various artifacts or Pulp Fiction's briefcase, the history of film is filled with objects that drive a film's plot but which have an unclear or no value from the perspective of a film's audience. These are "MacGuffins," a term popularized by film director Alfred Hitchcock.
They've been around for decades, and as the Internet has allowed film discussion to proliferate, Reddit fans have formed opinions on which movie MacGuffins are their absolute favorites. Here's what ten Redditors cited as the best.
The Ark of the Covenant
A former Redditor points to "The Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark" as the best example of a MacGuffin in movie history. Raiders didn't originally feature Indiana Jones in its title, since there was no guarantee of a franchise, and thus the main star of the title is the object of desire, although after the film's astounding success Jones became the actual star.
There's some debate as to whether or not the Ark qualifies as a MacGuffin, partly since it does have an effect on the plot by killing everyone but Indiana and Marion on the island. However, up until that point, neither the audience nor the characters know exactly what the ark can do, and even when it's opened there's a tease with the sand that it's meaningless, so it definitely qualifies.
Pulp Fiction's briefcase
Another classic and frequently-cited modern example of a MacGuffin is the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, which is cited by Bonnaraw: "The most current film that I can think of that uses [a MacGuffin] is Pulp Fiction." Considering how many other Redditors also mentioned it, it's definitely one of the go-to examples.
Although according to Reddit nothing happens in Pulp Fiction, Jules and Vincent's part of the movie's intertwining, non-linear narrative is centered around the briefcase, meaning it's important to them. Yet, famously, it's never revealed what the briefcase holds, meaning the audience can't possibly care about its contents, since they don't know what it is. The brilliant thing is, though, that it doesn't matter.
The suitcase in Ronin
Another film with a briefcase/suitcase as its focus is the 1998 action thriller Ronin, starring Robert DeNiro. The plot revolves around a team of operatives obtaining a briefcase they've been hired to steal, but the trustworthiness of the team members are up in the air from the beginning of the mission.
"The suitcase in Ronin was probably the most mysterious if not the best MacGuffin IMO," said Redditor Mistakeknife. Without spoiling the ending, it's revealed that the briefcase was just a ruse for another, more important mission, with the secrecy hinging on team members believing that the suitcase is the object of emphasis, proving Mistakeknife's point. Definitely worth watching.
Jingle All the Way's Turboman Doll
There may be plenty of things about Jingle All the Way that make no sense, but its wackiness is part of what makes this a cult-classic holiday film. Arnold Schwarzenegger's quest to get the Turboman action figure for his son, though, is at the heart of the film, and what made Bluelegs point to "Turboman in Jingle All The Way" as a great movie MacGuffin.
Arnold's character only cares about the toy because his son wants it so badly, and for viewers, the toy is absolutely meaningless. The real thrust of the story is a father trying to give his son a good Christmas, and while it's done in a pretty commercialized way, it's also very relatable for families.
Monty Python's Holy Grail
Unlike most movie MacGuffins, which appear in action films, cerberaspeedtwelve's example comes straight from a comedy film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "Unlike in other cinematic depictions," they say, the titular Holy Grail, "has absolutely no bearing on the plot whatsoever and might as well be a packet of noodles."
As a comedy movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail has even less need for a meaningful MacGuffin, since the focus is on the jokes as opposed to plot progression. Still, the choice is certainly fitting with the time period the movie is set in, and its result is one of the most classic British comedy movies of all time... even if they don't find the grail.
The money in No Country for Old Men
When Llewelyn Moss takes a $2 million pile of money from a drug deal gone bad, it sets off a chain of death and destruction that drives No Country for Old Men, as it is precisely this that the preternatural Anton Chigurh is after.
Redditor therealbobsteel classifies "the suitcase of money in No Country For Old Men" as an easily-accessible example of a MacGuffin. It's not like the audience wouldn't find $2 million significant if it fell into their own laps, but the film isn't about the money; instead, its focus is on the violence that Moss's understandable act unleashes, and on the question of surviving the onslaught.
The necklace in Titanic
Although fans would love to own Titanic's necklace prop because of its association with the classic James Cameron romance, it definitely isn't because of the necklace's importance to Jack and Rose's love story, because if anything, in the past it acts as a symbol of Cal's view of Rose as essentially an accessory.
The necklace is "pretty pointless other than that it neatly connects the beginning and end of the story arc," AskDaveTaylor points out. It's what Brock Lovett is searching for, and why he wants to hear Rose's story, but that's it. Rose held onto it her whole life, but brings it with her only to let it rest with the Titanic. If fans cared about Lovett getting the stone, this ending would've been a disappointment, rather than triumphant and poignant.
The stolen car in The Rover
An Australian dystopian Western, 2014's The Rover stars Guy Pearce and The Batman's Robert Pattinson, and follows what happens when the car of a mysterious man, played by Pearce, is stolen by a gang. It's Mad Max meets John Wick, essentially.
When the movie begins "it's unclear why the car ... is so important to Pearce, but his obsession with getting it back makes sense by the end," ShaneBertram said. It's another instance where the film is so worth a watch that explaining the MacGuffin's importance would ruin the experience, but rest assured that, by the end, viewers will understand why Pearce's character unleashes so much carnage.
Mission: Impossible III's Rabbit's Foot
Mission: Impossible III released six years after the second film, and its direction by J.J. Abrams helped bring the franchise back, although Ghost Protocol really made the series the staple it is today. The third film is centered around the search for a weapon known as the Rabbit's foot.
Redditor thehumanear called it "the most exciting use of a MacGuffin in film." Although it makes for a thrilling adventure, it's left to speculation what the Rabbit's Foot is. It doesn't really matter what it is, just that the story and characters acknowledge its danger, which makes them act on that threat as the franchise is known for doing.
The Maltese Falcon
It may be the titular center of Humphrey Bogart's best film, but the Maltese Falcon is a pretty pointless object in and of itself. It's become perhaps the most iconic MacGuffin in film history, thanks to (1) its presence as the title, and (2) how influential and beloved the movie is.
CelticGaelic praised the film in a post after having seen it for the first time: "The whole story behind the Macguffin, the titular Maltese Falcon, is certainly very interesting, especially the ultimate reveal" that the object of interest has been a fake the entire time. It's meaningless to the characters even before this point, but at the end of the film it's meaningless in every sense of the word.