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7 Movie Plot Twists And Reveals That Were Genuinely Surprising And 7 That Were...Not So Much

I don't think I'll ever get over the end of "The Boy."

Jess Goodwin
by Jess Goodwin

BuzzFeed Contributor

As much as I love being able to guess a plot twist in a movie, I love being genuinely surprised even more.

Marble Media / Via giphy.com

Fortunately, there's no shortage of predictable and unpredictable plot twists.

NBC / Via giphy.com

Here are seven of each — take a look and let me know if you were surprised by them or not:

1. SHOCKING: This Orphan twist

esther taking off her makeup in orphan
Warner Bros.

I'm sorry, but anyone who says they predicted that 9-year-old Esther was actually a 33-year-old woman with a severe hormonal imbalance is a liar.

Here's the full scene:

View this video on YouTube
Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

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2. NOT SO SHOCKING: This Malignant twist

madison becoming gabriel in malignant
Warner Bros.

I watched this movie virtually with a couple of friends, one of whom had already seen it. I got a "what the hell" and a "HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS" when I kept guessing the twists. In retrospect, the name — a word often used to describe a type of tumor — should have given away the whole thing, but it hit me the first time I saw Gabriel's goofy ass running.

Here's the full scene:

View this video on YouTube
Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

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3. SHOCKING: This Mist twist

thomas jane crying at the end of the mist
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

I mentioned this movie in another recent post, because while I'm sure the twist ending didn't read as particularly funny in the script, the final product is ridiculous and hilarious. Still, I can say I was 100% not expecting it.

Here's the full scene:

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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Via youtube.com

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4. NOT SO SHOCKING: This Get Out twist

rose saying you know i can't give you the keys right babe in get out
Universal Pictures

I'm sure plenty of people didn't trust Rose from the word go, but her involvement in her family's misdeeds was pretty obvious once the photographs of her and their previous victims came into play.

Here's the full scene:

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Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

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5. SHOCKING: This Scream 3 twist

roman saying roman bridger director and brother in scream 3
Dimension Films

However you feel about the third Scream movie, the reveal of Roman not only being the killer but also Sidney's half-brother is pretty wild, and one I definitely didn't see coming.

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Dimension Films / Via youtube.com

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6. NOT SO SHOCKING: This Scream 5 twist

richie in scream 5
Paramount Pictures

I personally only guessed one of the killers in the latest Scream — mainly because of Richie's reaction to seeing Dewey shoot the other Ghostface — but a lot of fans called both killers before the final reveal.

I will say, predictable though the killers' identities may have been, the way Amber revealed herself was truly shocking.

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Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com

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7. SHOCKING: This Parasite twist

moon-gwang and geun-sae in parasite
CJ Entertainment

I was able to see Parasite in theaters, and the way the whole audience gasped when it was revealed the housekeeper had been hiding her husband in the basement of the house? None of us could have imagined.

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CJ Entertainment / Via youtube.com

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8. NOT SO SHOCKING: This The Visit twist

the mom from the visit telling her kids the people they're staying with aren't their grandparents
Universal Pictures

I really feel for M. Night Shyamalan. He just wants to surprise people, but because of The Sixth Sense, everyone's always on the lookout for the twists and turns. In the case of The Visit, the convenient estrangement between the mom and her parents, and the fact that the kids had never met their grandparents, made it pretty obvious that we were dealing with a couple of imposters.

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Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

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9. SHOCKING: This My Bloody Valentine twist

a little boy covered in blood hiding under a bed
Paramount Pictures

The original 1981 film had the benefit of the killer's motive — that as a child he'd witnessed his father being gruesomely killed by the original mining murderer, Harry Warden — not being revealed until after his identity was. Up until then, there was no reason to think anyone else was behind the attacks, and I'd been convinced it was Harry all along.

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Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com

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10. NOT SO SHOCKING: This My Bloody Valentine remake twist

jensen ackles and a miner in my bloody valentine
Lionsgate

Unlike the original, the My Bloody Valentine remake set up a motive for Tom right from the beginning. Between that and his behavior throughout, it came as no surprise that he was disassociating and hallucinating during every murder. 

The 2009 version also had the disadvantage of viewers potentially knowing who the killer in the original was and assuming the remake would go in a different direction. All that said, in my opinion, this was one of the better horror remakes of the aughts.

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Lionsgate / Via youtube.com

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11. SHOCKING: This The Boy twist

adult brahms in the boy
STX Entertainment

This reveal was another one that had the theater I was in in a tizzy. It was so unexpected I still didn't quite understand what was happening until, like, five seconds after adult Brahms came bursting out of the walls.

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STX Entertainment / Via youtube.com

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12. NOT SO SHOCKING: This Spider-Man: Far From Home twist

mysterio saying somebody get this stupid costume off me in spider-man far from home
Marvel

Obviously, anyone who knew Mysterio's deal from reading the comics wasn't surprised by his villainy, but I think most people who didn't know anything about him before watching the movie (myself included) could tell there was something not right about him.

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Marvel / Via youtube.com

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13. SHOCKING: This The Orphanage twist

laura crying in anguish in the orphanage
Warner Bros.

As surprising as it was, the big reveal at the end of The Orphanage — that Simón had not in fact been abducted, but tragically fell to his death in a secret room and had been in the house all along — was just as heartbreaking. 

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Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com