1. Planet of the Apes
- Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
- Writers: Michael Wilson and Rod Serling (based on the novel by Pierre Boulle)
- Cast: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans.
One of the all-time mic drop moments is the very end of this movie, where we realize we've been on Earth this whole time. It was stunning at the time and still holds up.
2. Gone Girl
- Director: David Fincher
- Writer: Gillian Flynn (based on her Novel of the same name)
- Cast: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry.
I think a lot about this movie and this twist. It's sort of the perfect idea of just completely going against the whodunnit by having the victim do it, and then reverse that they're still alive. It's such a mature idea that can only come from a love of genre.
3. Old Boy
- Director: Park Chan-wook
- Writers: Hwang Jo-yun, Lim Joon-hyeong, Park Chan-wook (based on the Japanese manga)
- Cast: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong
I resisted the urge to just make this a list of completely messed up movies, but
Oldboy's twist is so purely in line with its idea of vengeance. The reveal of Mi-do being Oh Dae-su's daughter is diabolically awful.
4. Fight Club
- Director: David Fincher
- Writer: Jim Uhls (based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk)
- Cast: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter
This is one of those movies that hits so hard, pun intended, you remember where you were when you first saw it. I was in my buddy's basement and everyone went so nuts we had to start the movie over when we realized Brad Pitt wasn't there.
5. The Usual Suspects
- Director: Bryan Singer
- Writer: Christopher McQuarrie
- Cast: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Pete Postlethwaite, Kevin Spacey
Another movie that necessitates an immediate rewatch, this slow burn of who Soze is hides all its twists in plain sight, and then allows them to walk out of the office.
6. The Sixth Sense
- Director: M. Night Shyamalan
- Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
- Cast: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
The twist might be more famous than what actually happens in this horror movie. But the reveal of Bruce Willis as a dead person is so wonderful and so emotional that it hits every time.
7. Psycho
- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Writer: Joseph Stefano (based on the novel by Robert Bloch)
- Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, Martin Balsam
I wonder what this was like in the theater in 1960. I would love to have been there. I can only gauge my reaction at home when I first learned Mom was dead and Norma was playing dress up.
Even More Best Plot Twist Movies Of All Time
Aside from my seven favorites, here's a list of more movies with plot twists you should check out.
- Memento
- Shutter Island
- Donnie Darko
- The Others
- The Crying Game
- The Village
- The Machinist
- The Prestige
- The Illusionist
- The Handmaiden
- Parasite
- Knives Out
- The Uninvited
- The Skeleton Key
- The Game
- Primal Fear
- Fracture
- The Gift
- Enemy
- The Invisible Guest
- Bad Times at the El Royale
- Get Out
- Se7en
- Identity
- Vertigo
- Chinatown
- Jacob's Ladder
- Planet of the Apes
- The Skin I Live In
- Ex Machina
- Black Swan
- Soylent Green
- Mulholland Drive
- The Cabin in the Woods
- Predestination
- Arrival
Summing Up The Best Plot Twist Movies
I bet your head is still spinning from all these movies. I genuinely love watching a movie with a huge twist and just embracing it.
Seeing them in a crowded theater is an experience I would not trade for the world.
What are some movies I left off the list?
Let me know what you think in the comments.
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