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Who doesnt love a good twist ending?
Some of the best movies ever made tend to surprise their audience just before the credits roll.
But which among them are actually the greatest of all time?
The appeal of plot twists are easy to understand, even if we dont fully understand why.
We recognize stories because of patterns, Tobin said, so were impressed when expert storytellers subvert expectations.
Stories with surprise twists involve several noteworthy kinds of labour, Tobin wrote.
We invest our attention and affections in characters and situations.
But remember to pick your jaws back up from the floor.
Saw (2004)
Virtually all the Saw movies contain some kind of a surprise or plot twist.
By the end, audiences may be dizzy from parsing out whats real and whats an illusion.
But they are surely left in awe as the film rolls up its sleeves to reveal its final trick.
But the reveal is still so infamous to this day, it deserves recognition even if its painfully ironic.
What few moviegoers expected, however, was a prequel featuring deeper ties to the original movies characters.
In the end, justice is delivered - but at what cost?
Its in The Invitations closing shot where the power of Kusamas twist ending is really felt.
In the end, Joel and Clementine are strangers only vaguely aware of the pain theyve caused each other.
That doesnt mean his brand of storytelling still isnt effective.
Such is the case with his creepy 2004 thriller The Village.
Parasite captivated audiences worldwide for a reason.
Besides its resonant themes about income inequality, its propulsive storytelling with unexpected sharp swerves is largely why.
But as the movie unfolds, all is not what it seems.
While David Lynchs movies are notoriously impenetrable, Mulholland Drive isnt indecipherable.
It simply takes true dreamers to know how to vibe with it.
The Game (1997)
David Fincher plays with his audience with his 1997 psychological thriller The Game.
Soon enough, everything about all that ails Madison is explained.
Rather, its about motives.
There, he meets a beautiful, cutting-edge A.I.
named Ava (Alicia Vikander).
Let The Ring be a warning to always remember the finer details.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a U.S.
Marshal who ventures to a mental institution in Boston to conduct a missing persons investigation.
Ultimately, what Donnie is seeing is his near future - a future that ends in death and destruction.
But Cole Sear (get it?)
Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock didnt just scare audiences with Psycho, he outright traumatized them.
Oldboy (2003)
It would be beautiful if it werent so ghastly.
In the end, its not about secret words or scorned lovers.
Its simply about youthful happiness, and how no amount of wealth can ever compensate for lost innocence.
