19 Movie Scenes That Were So Smart, I Can't Believe Someone Thought Of Them

"The 'Leap of Faith' scene when Miles jumps off the building and learns to trust himself is beautiful and breathtaking. It truly inspires me every time I watch it, and it was a brilliant idea to turn the camera upside down so it looks like he's flying."

—soleil__

"Timothée Chalamet's hand placement in this scene wasn't a coincidence. It was meant to mimic the statue (which purposely looks a lot like him) that he and Oliver unearthed earlier in the movie. Oliver's job was literally to study these statues, so he looked at them as works of art. Having Elio mirror these images suggests that Oliver also saw him as a work of art."

—Spencer Althouse

"The whole theme with water and hierarchy/height is really powerful. The poor family lives in a subbasement, not fully underground, so they look down on the housekeeper's husband, who lives in a basement. Instead of rallying against the upper class, they fight each other. It shows class warfare in excruciating detail.

"Then we see how the rich are so nonchalant about the rain, but it ends the lives of those below them. The rain is merciless. Despite all of the family’s fantastic and incredible efforts to climb the social ladder, that rain pummels them all the same, and you see the camera travel down, down, down as they go from the rich family’s house to their subbasement, submerged in sewage. It’s a painful reminder of how stacked the deck is against the poor."

—Lemonseed

"When Brooks was released from prison, the camera was placed on the outside and faced toward the barred gate. This alluded to how Brooks wasn't really a free man (he obviously felt more like a prisoner when he couldn't adjust to the outside world). But for Red, the camera followed him from the prison and through the gate, suggesting that he was stepping into a new life as a now-free man."

—Kayla Yandoli

"This twist ending is absolutely brilliant. It tugs at every single one of your emotions. It fully encompasses life, love, loss, and what could have been."

—Mariana26

"These are such small and subtle details, but after you see the end of the movie, you're able to piece everything together. The whole movie was riddled with tiny moments like this that prove how clever Jordan Peele is."

—Tessa Fahey

"The twists and turns in the whole franchise are great, but especially in that first film when the ‘killer’ was in the room with the victims the WHOLE TIME. James Wan is a mastermind of horror and psychological thriller."

—savannahg4e56476eb

—Lauren Garafano

"Once you realize the symbolism with the mahjong tiles, this scene gets 100 times better. For starters, Eleanor sat in the dealer's seat, which is also called the East seat (representing Asia), and Rachel sat in the West seat (representing America). As for the game, as I followed Rachel's tiles, I kept wondering why she didn't declare an early win. Then she drove home her point about turning down Nick's proposal, thus LETTING Eleanor win both in the game and in real life. It's such a cool scene with so many layers."

—shaunab4b1a86967 and adriennec4aa2fd0bc

"I remember watching this in the theater, and the audience stood up and applauded because of this scene. It's one of the best movies, and this is certainly one of the best scenes ever written."

—G3D

"It was so sweet. Also, as Forrest left Jenny's grave, a flock of birds flew by in the background."

—Amanda DeMarco and Nuffe

"The 'ghost' was really just Geun-sae, who escaped the basement at night to retrieve food from the fridge."

—CharliV

"I saw it in theaters and went in without knowing the big twist. Walking out with a group of people who were all equally shocked was such a fun experience! It's hard to replicate a movie and feeling like this now, since things get spoiled much easier, but wow, this twist was absolutely brilliant. No one ever saw it coming."

—bfranks87

"Throughout the movie, Jojo’s mom had to tie his shoes for him because he was still learning, so this scene was a beautifully heartbreaking callback to all of those moments. He couldn't successfully tie her shoe for her, which caused him to break down in tears. It was brilliant but devastating."

—jdclem630

"First a giant creature tried to smash them (mirroring the first movie when Harry and Ron rescued Hermione from a troll in the bathroom). Then they ran from Aragog’s spider offspring, just like when Harry and Ron came up against the spiders in the forest in Chamber of Secrets. Following this, Hermione launched a spell at the werewolf, Fenrir Greyback (werewolf Lupin was obviously huge in Prisoner of Azkaban), and they also fought Dementors. Then everyone fought together, mimicking Order of the Phoenix. Then it cut to Snape (Half-Blood Prince). It's all genius."

—jame

"The lyrics to the music appeared throughout the whole title sequence in graffiti and posters all over the city. There was a rhythm and purpose to everything, and the whole scene was done really well."

—neilgallagher86

"You think he's really searching for his wife’s murderer, but it turns out he'd already gotten his wife’s killer a long time ago... Teddy was just using him to help target other murderers. That twist made my jaw drop!"

—svsmith

"It's absolutely mesmerizing to watch, and you can't help but question how they pulled off this whole scene."

—tabby18

—o4a4b10bdd