10 Excellent Movie Twists In Otherwise Mediocre Films

A great twist ending can often save an otherwise average or even mediocre movie, leaving a strong impression in its final moments with a slick twist. The plot twist is a delicate art in the world of cinema, best wielded by famous masters, as demonstrated by the many famous plot twists of M. Night Shyamalan. If executed well, a good twist can make audiences forgive a lot, resulting in many films that might be appraised far more harshly if it wasn’t for the last few minutes of their runtimes.

The best plot twists come with some set up, not coming out of nowhere while still being surprising enough to catch audiences off guard. While some bad plot twists can ruin otherwise great films, a great one can elevate an otherwise undeserving picture into far greater esteem. A little bit of cleverness goes a long way, and pulling a fast one over audiences in a satisfying manner can often be enough to distract from the fact that the rest of a film might be only decent, or even downright bad.

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10

Loki Is Alive & Impersonating Odin

Thor: The Dark World

As far as movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe go, Thor: The Dark World is consistently ranked as one of the lowliest. Bearing a dreadfully boring conflict with the forgettable villain Malekith and the dark elves, little is lost by skipping the action-fantasy follow up when catching up on the expansive franchise. That being said, this definition of a filler-film is somewhat saved by the last few moments, which skirts around the death of a central character.

Thor’s brother Loki was already thought to have died once before in Thor, so it’s not the most surprising thing in the world that the God of Mischief would manage to escape from the brink of “death” once again. But it’s the exact manner in which Loki weasles his way out of consequences this time around that makes the ending so special, as he gleefully takes his place on the throne of Asgard while impersonating his father. The fallout of this act and what Loki actually wound up doing with Odin are both followed up on in Thor: Ragnarok.

9

The Ending Reveals It’s A Prequel

Final Destination 5

When it comes to movies that are elevated far beyond their reasonable quality by a single clever twist, horror tends to dominate as a genre. After all, horror movies are inherently concept-based, meaning that a clever enough monkey wrench thrown into the plot can make all the difference. Final Destination 5 takes the last-minute plot twist to the next level by making it a far more meta-textual subversion of expectations.

For the most part, Final Destination 5 plays out like a stock-standard Final Destination movie, full of gruesome unlikely accidents that pick off the survivors of a disaster one-by-one. In the last moments, it seems as though some characters may have actually escaped death’s curse for the first time in the series. However, in a shocking final camera movement, the film reveals that the plane the “survivors” are boarding is the infamous Volée Airlines Flight 180, the plane whose crashing sets off the events of the first film.

8

Blofeld Being Bond’s Brother

Spectre

The 24th film in the expansive James Bond franchise, Spectre was a disappointment for many long-time fans of the series. Attempting to pivot the series into a far more Marvel Cinematic Universe-analgous crossover franchise, Spectre made some bold leaps in connecting previous Daniel Craig Bond entries in a manner that had never really been attempted in the series before. This put a bad taste in the mouths of many audiences, who saw the decision as a retroactive ruining of previous films, but the festivities at least came with one interesting twist.

Spectre introduced the classic Bond villain Blofeld for the first time in the Daniel Craig continuity, a long-awaited character that hadn’t been in cinemas since 1971’s Diamonds are Forever. His re-introduction was enhanced by the shocking revelation that Blofeld is actually Bond’s adoptive brother, having killed his own parents after seeing Bond as a threat. This twist might not stand up well to long-term scrutiny, but in the moment, it’s a pretty effective and unsettling mechanism to enhance Blofeld’s threat and bond to James.

7

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John Hartley Is Partners With The Bishop

Red Notice

Red Notice, ironically enough, is easy to go unnoticed in the modern era of filmmaking. A fairly generic crime caper with a star-studded cast of safe modern stars like Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Gal Gadot, the movie practically feels like it could’ve been A.I. generated, with decent action and MCU-esque quippy humor. For all its risk-aversion, Red Notice does at least make an attempt at subverting audience expectations with the final reveal of the ending.

The entire time, Reynolds’ Nolan Booth, a prominent art thief, is contracted by Johnson’s FBI Agent John Hartley to catch his criminal nemesis, a mysterious criminal known as “The Bishop”. Hartley and The Bishop end up double-crossing Booth together when it turns out that they’re not only literal partners in crime, but a married couple, as well. This results in a humorous series of flashbacks detailing their collaboration, including a daunting scene in which The Bishop tortures her poor husband to maintain her cover.

6

Esther Isn’t Actually A Child

Orphan

Creepy children are a time-honored trope in horror movies, with 2009’s Orphan stretching an entire film solely out of the concept of a young girl being adopted only to not be who she seems. Throughout the movie, the young girl Esther exhibits some increasingly disturbing behavior, including knowledge of sex a 9-year-old shouldn’t have and some incredibly violent tendencies. It’s soon revealed that Esther isn’t a 9-year-old girl at all, but a 33-year-old woman named Leena who takes advantage of her rare disorder that prevented her body from maturing past puberty.

What’s so incredible about this twist is that Orphan is actually based on a real case in which a grown woman with a similar condition took over an adoptive family posing as a young girl. For those that aren’t familiar with the story, Orphan is a pretty decent adaptation. The actual scares and tension do leave something to be desired, and the filmmaking falls apart without the intrigue of the twist, as proven by the obscure sequel, Orphan: First Kill.

5

Morty’s Real Identity

Click

Click is an incredibly bizarre chapter in Adam Sandler’s filmography. At first glance, the movie seems to be a typical Sandler star vehicle comedy from the early 2000s with a slight fantasy angle, telling the story of a frustrated family man who uses a mysterious remote to alter reality as he sees fit. Hilariously enough, the remote is sold to him by the enigmatic sales assistant Morty, played by Christopher Walken, in the mysterious “Beyond” section of a Bed Bath & Beyond.

After abuse of the remote ends up ruining his life, Sandler’s character confronts Morty, who hits him with a stunningly serious revelation – He is an angel of death. Morty ended up giving Sandler’s Michael the device, knowing that it would give him a newfound appreciation for his seemingly frustrating life. For a typical Sandler comedy, Morty’s reveal of his true identity is hits like a stack of bricks, but somehow works as a surprisingly poignant development.

4

The Main Villain Is Cthulhu

Underwater

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For the majority of its runtime, Underwater presents itself as a fairly run-of-the-mill iteration on Ridley Scott’s Alien starring Kristen Stewart. Rather than taking place in outer space, the movie follows the crew of an undersea research base who spring into action after a disaster forces them to abandon the facility. Before long, they’re picked off one-by-one by mysterious unidentified life forms, seemingly coalescing into some horrifying greater whole.

In one of the last shots of the film, it’s stunningly discovered that the creatures are paying fealty to a massive, hulking creature with tentacles sprouting from its face. This familiar silhouette can be identified as the Old One Cthulhu from horror author H.P. Lovecraft’s mythos, as confirmed by the film’s director. The surprise eldritch horror elevates a passing sci-fi horror concept into a clever and atmospheric tale of Lovecraftian terror.

3

Gabriel Manifests Himself

Malignant

Another horror movie absolutely carried by its twist, Malignant is an absolutely heinous film that keeps its viewers guessing until the very last moment. The movie follows a woman trapped in an abusive relationship who begins to experience strange happenings after her cruel husband injures her. She begins having visions of killings right as they happen, seeming to lose her memories and somehow be related to the mysterious and possibly superhuman killer.

It turns out that Malignant‘s Madison actually had an evil parasitic twin named Gabriel whom she absorbed in the womb, though he managed to survive as a teratoma-like face embedded in her skull. Periodically taking over and piloting her body backwards to enact the killings, Gabriel’s ultimate goal was to slay the adoptive sister that took over his place in Madison’s life. No matter how mediocre the scares and chills of Malignant may be, this positively bonkers twist more than makes up for them.

2

The Final Battle Was All One Of Alice’s Visions

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

The Twilight movies aren’t exactly known for their subversive storytelling or clever narratives, but the very final entry in the franchise does manage to pull a neat trick on unsuspecting viewers. The entire film series culminates in a stand-off between multiple vampire clans aided by the werewolves of Forks, Washington and the elite Italian vampires that run vampire society, the Volturi. Several of the vampires boast unique powers in addition to their standard abilities, as demonstrated by the final battle.

Though both sides take heavy losses, the leader of the Volturi, Aro, gets his head torn off in the carnage, killing him. In a dramatic zoom out, it’s revealed that all the fighting was just one of Alice’s future visions as perceived by Aro’s telepathy, prompting him to finally back off for fear of his life. Even among the most vocal detractors of the Twilight films, credit has to be given where it’s due for this genius way of tying off the central conflict of the series.

1

Amanda Is Jigsaw’s Protégé

Saw II

Despite such a strong start with James Wan’s original slasher flick, the Saw series quickly degraded in quality, with even the very first sequel being a painful step down. Saw II marked the start of less-than-clever traps that overly relied on self-mutilation, resulting in more of a tortuous viewing experience compared to the more visceral psychological thrills of the first film. However, Saw II at least had one neat trick up its sleeve that allowed the franchise to continue to expand like a rotten virus.

Returning from Saw, Amanda is introduced as one of the few survivors of the Jigsaw Killer’s sick and twisted games, first targeted due to her drug addiction. It seems as though Amanda is living out her worst nightmares by being trapped in yet another series of games, but the final moments of the film reveal that Amanda was actually in on the game the entire time. It turns out that surviving Jigsaw’s game gave her a new lease on life that left her with a zealous appreciation for the experience, hoping to do the same for others in future movies.

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