21 Movies That Might Have The Absolute Best Plot Twists Of All Time

"WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!?!"

Recently, Reddit user u/These_Ad1806 asked, "What movie has the best twist?" and there were a lottttt of common responses. Here are some of the agreed-upon best movie twists ever!

🚨🚨WARNING: SPOILERS (obviously) AHEAD!!!🚨🚨

1. In Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, when Darth Vader revealed himself to be Luke's father:

Lucasfilms

"I hear that when Vader tells Luke who he truly is, everyone just absolutely lost their minds."

—u/boredbrowser1

"This was one of my favorite childhood memories: seeing this with my dad and him yelling 'HOT DAMN!' in the theater. I was too little to understand the plot nuance, but old enough to know this was really important."

—u/NewSummerOrange

2. In Shutter Island, when it was revealed that Teddy was actually Andrew Laeddis, a murderer and psychiatric patient:

Paramount Pictures

"First time I watched Shutter Island, I was so floored."

—u/saltierthangoldfish

3. In Gone Girl, when it was revealed that Amy had planned her entire disappearance to frame Nick for murder:

20th Century Fox

"The screenplay is brilliant, and the editing dragged on the main portion of the movie perfectly to where you feel like the movie is over."

—u/Agloe_Dreams

4. In Psycho, when Norman killed Marion early on in the film:

Paramount Pictures

"It starts out being about a woman on the run with a suitcase full of money and then turns into a completely different movie a third of the way in."

—u/didnsignup4dis

5. In Crazy Stupid Love, when it was revealed that Hannah was "Nana" — aka Cal and Emily's daughter.

Warner Bros. Pictures

"Crazy Stupid Love has not one, but two of the best twists ever for a rom-com! I had randomly put it on one night, thinking it would be a generic run-of-the-mill comedy, but the setups are so good that those twists come out of nowhere but are still fantastic."

—u/jleichter18

6. In The Uninvited, when Anna realized that Alex died in the fire and she had killed Rachel:

Paramount Pictures

"Can't say I saw that ending coming."

—u/Luke5119

7. In Parasite, when it turned out the housekeeper's husband was living in the basement:

CJ Entertainment

"The scene where that maid tried to get into that secret basement just turned the movie upside down. That was so unexpected!"

—u/SaabudaanaKhichadi

"That's not even just a twist, that's an entire genre shift, and it's so well done."
—u/ladygesserit

8. In Spider-Man Homecoming, when Vulture was revealed to be Liz's dad:

Marvel

"Bit out of left field, but I really enjoyed the twist of Vulture being Liz's dad in Spider-Man: Homecoming. I remember being in the cinema when Vulture opened the door to Peter and everyone going, 'Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—.' It was refreshing, as most twists in big budget movies get spoiled way too often these days."

—u/killingjoke96

9. In Saw, when Jigsaw revealed himself to Adam as the apparent corpse they'd seen in the beginning:

Lions Gate Entertainment

"When the 'corpse' gets up, it threw me for a loop."

—u/funk_anonymon

"The music builds that up so well too. I think it was the first twist I saw in the cinema that got gasps, shrieks, and some nervous laughs from people who knew they were caught hook, line, and sinker."

—u/upadownpipe

10. In Se7en, when it turned out David's wife's head was in the box, and David was meant to fulfill the seventh sin:

New Line Cinema

"I was high as hell and eating some drive-thru Del Taco the first time I watched it. Bean burrito legit dropped out of my hand when I realized what was in the box."

—u/guyfawkeslulz

11. In Memento, when it turned out Leonard had killed his wife — and also that he'd killed "John G" already.

Newmarket

"Such a brilliant movie. I think the fact that it’s presented backward sometimes overshadowed how good the plot twist actually is."

—u/Prossdog

12. The Mist, when David was rescued immediately after killing his son and friends:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Dimension Films / The Weinstein Co.

"The ending was terrible, but in a good way — like, the twist was heartbreaking, but it was so good."

—u/ihorderocks

"I saw this in the theater, and it took me so long to process what had just happened. I legitimately haven’t watched the movie again because it just fucked me up so bad."

—u/X0dium

13. In The Sixth Sense, when Malcolm realized he's been dead the whole time:

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

"In a high school film and literature class, we had to show movies and talk about symbolism, artistic choices, etc. I chose The Sixth Sense. No one in the class had ever watched it before. The teacher (who liked my choice a lot) and I were on the edge of our seats the entire time. When the twist hit, everyone lost their shit."

—u/owlrecluse

14. In The Usual Suspects, when Kujan realized Verbal is Söze:

Gramercy Pictures

"No one ever talks about The Usual Suspects — such a good movie, and the twist had me so fucked up."

—u/puppylady01

15. In Orphan, when it was revealed that Esther was actually a 33-year-old woman:

Warner Bros. Pictures

"Orphan was pretty fucked up."

—u/Princess-Kit-Kat

"I didn't trust kids for a solid week after watching this movie."

—u/FluffPuppers

16. In Final Destination 5, when it ended with the events of the first film, revealing that it took place before that one:

Warner Bros. Pictures

"The whole theater gasped and clapped at the end because no one saw that coming at all."

—u/SYLOK_THEAROUSED

17. In 10 Cloverfield Lane, when Michelle escaped the bunker and discovered that aliens had, in fact, invaded:

Paramount Pictures

"The whole film is phenomenal, and the ending was like, omg, what the fuuuuck."

—u/Rona_Lightfoot

"The great thing about 10 Cloverfield Lane is that eventually you stop thinking about the initial reason they're in the bunker but, rather, focus on the story about two people stuck with a psychopath. However..."

—u/lazic_

18. In Fight Club, when it was revealed that Tyler and the Narrator were the same person:

20th Century Fox

"The first time watching Fight Club is way up there for me."

—u/Tortion

"I’m amazed I didn’t get it the first time around. It seemed so obvious in hindsight, yet I was oblivious. Amazing writing and cinematography."

—u/Guava_

19. In Arrival, when it was revealed that Banks's memories of her daughter were actually visions of the future:

Paramount Pictures / Sony Pictures Releasing International / Stage 6 Films

"I loved the twist in Arrival! Watching it start to all come together was awesome."

—u/zuzulex

"My wife and I had just had a baby girl when we watched it, and we bawled when that twist was revealed."

—u/bakere05

20. In The Others, when Grace realized that she and her family are dead and "the others" are the new family who have moved into her house:

Warner Sogefilms / StudioCanal

"I'm mentioning this movie not because it is the best but, rather, because it is hard to find digitally, for some reason: The movie The Others with Nicole Kidman has a great twist for its time."

—u/Mister_JayB

"This is one that's great to watch again after knowing the twist. So many scenes are recontextualized when you know 'the others’' perspective of what is happening in the house."

—u/marapun

21. And finally, in The Prestige, when Angier discovers that Borden is actually a set of twins:

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution / Warner Bros. Pictures

"Such a brilliant movie. They give you clues throughout the movie that you don’t even realize until the end or on rewatch."

—u/skatelikevirtue

"What's great is that it's actually a nontwist. Cutter could tell how the trick was done right from the beginning. He didn't suspect a twin specifically, but he knew it was a double."

—u/itsmevichet

Now it's your turn! What movies do you think have the best-ever twists? Let us know in the comments below!

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.