From the revelation that the flying saucer in Nope is an extraterrestrial sky monster to the revelation that Wanda Maximoff is the true villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to the revelation that the idyllic 1950s suburb seen in Don’t Worry Darling is a simulation, the films of 2022 have been full of surprising plot twists. Everybody loves a movie with a good plot twist. When the twist lands, the logic adds up, and there’s plenty of foreshadowing leading up to the big reveal, then the movie is endlessly rewatchable.
Redditors have been shocked and horrified by the plot twists in such classic movies as Saw, Chinatown, Parasite, Get Out, The Prestige, and Sorry to Bother You.
Saw (2004)
In James Wan’s grisly horror classic Saw, two men who initially seem like perfect strangers wake up chained to a grimy bathroom. The sinister Jigsaw killer forces them to take part in his sadistic games to earn their freedom.
There are a few twists in Saw, but the most shocking one reveals the identity of the third man lying on the floor. According to Redditor u/DamageInc35, Saw has one of the greatest plot twists in movie history.
Sorry To Bother You (2018)
Boots Riley’s anti-capitalist masterpiece Sorry to Bother You revolves around telemarketer Cassius Green climbing the company ladder. In its first half, Sorry to Bother You is a satire of corporate culture about an aspirational businessman selling his soul on the way to the top.
But around the midpoint, Cash makes a chilling discovery that turns the movie into a sci-fi nightmare. Redditor u/djsosonut believes this twist is dark and disturbing.
Oldboy (2003)
Loosely adapted from the Japanese manga of the same name, Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy is a brutal revenge thriller in which Oh Dae-su, a man who was wrongfully imprisoned for years before being randomly released, tries to figure out why he landed in jail in the first place.
According to Redditor u/Obi1Kentucky, the movie’s romantic subplot leads to one of the darkest plot twists of all time.
Shutter Island (2010)
Based on the novel of the same name, Shutter Island might not be Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s finest film, but it’s undoubtedly their scariest. DiCaprio plays a U.S. Marshal who travels to a mysterious mental institution on a remote island to investigate the escape of a patient.
According to Redditor u/yolo_0710, the twist that reveals who this Marshal really is and why he’s there is one of the most stunning plot twists of all time.
Audition (1999)
There are no hints that Takashi Miike’s Audition is a horror film for the first half of its runtime. It’s set up as a romantic melodrama about a widower recruiting his producer friend to organize a fake casting call in an attempt to find love again.
According to Redditor u/LaughingGor108, audiences will be bowled over by the twist that explains what his new girlfriend’s ominous true intentions are.
The Prestige (2006)
In between Batman films, Christopher Nolan helmed one of his most underrated movies: The Prestige, a sci-fi thriller set in 19th-century London. The film focuses on the rivalry between two stage magicians, played by Hugh Jackman and Batman himself, Christian Bale.
According to Redditor u/CosmicDriftwood, the twist that explains the morbid methodology of Jackman’s character’s most renowned illusion is deeply horrifying.
Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele went from one of the most celebrated sketch comedians to one of the most celebrated horror filmmakers with his jaw-dropping debut feature Get Out. The movie begins with Black photographer Chris traveling to his white girlfriend’s parents’ predominantly white gated community for a seemingly harmless weekend trip.
According to Redditor u/Olivebranch99, the twist reveal of what’s really going on at this community – and why Chris was invited there – is truly shocking.
The Descent (2005)
The setup of Neil Marshall’s The Descent is terrifying enough when the protagonists are trapped in a cave-in. But it goes from a claustrophobic thriller to a horror masterpiece with the surprising midpoint reveal of a race of bloodthirsty cave-dwelling mutants waiting to rip them to shreds.
According to Redditor u/yeah_yeah_therabbit, this twist has the capacity to shock audiences, especially since the mutants are revealed to be lurking in the background in a spooky handheld night-vision shot.
Parasite (2019)
The first ever non-English-language movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is a darkly comedic thriller satirizing class warfare with the tale of a financially struggling family infiltrating a wealthier family’s home one by one.
According to Redditor u/brainchild_2112, Parasite has one of the most surprising plot twists of all time with the revelation of an even poorer family living in a secret compartment underneath the house.
Chinatown (1974)
One of the early American New Wave masterpieces that defined the neo-noir subgenre, Chinatown stars Jack Nicholson as a grizzled private eye who gets drawn into a Los Angeles conspiracy after the man he was hired to follow is killed.
Jake Gittes’ quest to uncover the identity of the mysterious woman who hired him leads him to answers that Redditor u/ilovelucygal ranks among the most shocking movie plot twists ever.