Twists are one of the best things about cinema—and storytelling, in general, really. You could be watching a film and think you understand everything which has happened before having every expectation turned on its head. Some plot twists are completely timeless, while some ruin films. Some, however, take on a completely different lease of life. Over the years, certain twists that were once brilliant end up losing their impact.
This could be down to becoming too well-known, being turned into a cliché by later films, or simply due to being overshadowed by larger and more impressive twists that have emerged as the film industry has grown.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The Empire Strikes Back is home to one of the greatest twists in cinema. The original Star Wars film was made into one concise story in case we never got a sequel, but, when we did, everything was turned on its head when it was revealed that the two sides of the battle between good and evil were actually a father and son pair.
The only reason this twist has lost its impact over the years is simply because it’s so famous that basically everyone in the world knows about it.
The Sixth Sense
If the reveal that Darth Vader is Luke’s father is the most famous film twist in history, then the "he was dead the whole time" twist is the second most famous of all time. It has been parodied across just about every form of media you can think of and has seen M. Night Shyamalan remembered as a genius director when, in actuality, the vast majority of his output is abysmal. Like Star Wars, this one is just too famous to have an impact.
Fight Club
Fight Club is a modern classic and one of the best films ever made. David Fincher’s storytelling and execution of the twist is truly masterful. However, it is surrounded by so many films with similar twists that a lot of people might eventually be able to predict this one.
Split-personality disorder is an idea that comes into play in a variety of films both before and after Fight Club, but the likes of Identity, Shutter Island, and Split make Fight Club seem less interesting.
Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith
Revenge Of The Sith is nowhere near the best film in the Star Wars franchise, but, if approached from the right place, it has one of the best twists in the saga. A child watching the third episode out of context will simply find out that Padme had children called Luke and Leia.
However, someone watching the franchise in "Machete Order" will get this twist before seeing episode VI, and this makes the reveal so much more exciting. If you’ve seen the whole original trilogy before, however, it has no impact.
Murder On The Orient Express
Much like The Empire Strikes Back and The Sixth Sense, Murder On The Orient Express has simply become too famous to harbor any consistent shock value. The Agatha Christie novel has been adapted so many times that by the time the likes of Kenneth Branagh’s recent adaptation came out, just about everyone knew what they were in store for. It’s a brilliant twist, but it’s been around for almost 100 years.
The Wizard Of Oz
There are a select few types of twist ending that have completely lost their impact over the years, as they have become clichéd. One of those is the "it was all a dream" reveal, and audiences these days would feel cheated by this rather than shocked. The Wizard Of Oz was one of the first films to bring that idea to the masses, and it worked back in the day. Nowadays, it really doesn’t.
The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects has a twist that has lost its impact for a very unique reason. The idea that the murderous Kaiser Söze was, the entire time, the innocent-seeming Verbal that had been narrating our story is a genius twist. The issue now, however, is that Kaiser Söze is played by Kevin Spacey. A built-in dislike for Spacey means that basically any moment in the film involving him is brought down in quality tenfold. It’s a shame, as it’s a phenomenal film.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part Two
The final entry into the Harry Potter franchise was bound to be an explosion of action and drama, and it was. After Snape’s death, we saw him reveal his love for Lily Potter, the protection of Harry, and the pre-planned killing of Dumbledore.
However, one of the main things that Snape cites as a reason to protect Harry is that he has his mothers’ eyes. We’ve seen Harry’s eyes countless times, so, when we see up close that Lily’s eyes actually look nothing like her son’s, it really makes Snape’s point seem completely lifeless.
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is often considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. However, it is a dated masterpiece, having been released almost eighty years ago. One of the film’s biggest mysteries was the meaning behind the word rosebud.
These days, you’d expect a twist to take rosebud into a multitude of crazy directions. The final scene in Citizen Kane shows that rosebud was the name on a sled that Kane played on as an eight-year-old. We understand that it was meant to symbolize Kane's lost youth, but, these days, it feels a bit lame.
Soylent Green
The final entry onto this list is also the final of a selection of films that are too famous for their own good. Thanks to its presence in so many different forms of media, the idea that "Soylent Green is people" is well-known. As such, the twist that the quality of the entire film hangs on is already known by most viewers.