From "Squid Game" To "Inception" – The 17 Most Unforgettable Plot Twists In TV And Movie History

There’s no way you saw these coming.

We've looked at the most disappointing plot twists, so now it’s time to check out the movies that got it right.

NBC

Now, these plot twists aren’t just ordinary, they’re so shocking that they probably left you on the floor.

🚨 Warning – Obviously, big spoilers ahead!🚨

1. Parasite (2019)

CJ Entertainment

The twist: You think you’re watching the Kim family infiltrate and embed themselves into the wealthy Park family. The film seems kinda straightforward, until we see the bunker under the Parks' basement. The housekeeper’s husband had been living under the house the whole time, hiding from loan sharks. 

Why it was so shocking: That is just one of the twists — and it just keeps twisting. From the moment you discover someone has been living under the house, the film becomes more and more unstable. Up until that point, you think you’ve got a fairly good idea of the genre and direction of the film, but Parasite will definitely leave you asking yourself ‘’What have I just watched?’’ I was really not smiling after watching this.

2. Westworld (2016–)

HBO

The twist: Westworld is a theme park with android hosts, where people go to basically do what they want. Bernard, the head of Delos’ Westworld programming division, is revealed to be a host by Dr Ford, a fact that Bernard himself was unaware of.

Why it was so shocking: "It doesn’t look like anything to me". And with that sentence, our worst fears were confirmed. Having Bernard work on the hosts lulled us into a false sense of security and so no one really suspected he could be one himself. The build-up to the reveal was also just masterful. Watch it below!

3. The Sixth Sense (1999)

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

The twist: It’s pop culture knowledge now, but this twist was pretty amazing at the time. Dr Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, is attempting to help a young boy who can see dead people. Turns out, Dr Crowe is actually already dead. 

Why it was so shocking: Firstly, ‘I see dead people’ is a terrifying line by itself. But the revelation that Cole Sear was communicating with a dead guy the whole time, came out of nowhere. It’s like one of those ghost stories you hear as a child, just 100x creepier.

4. Spiderman: Homecoming (2017)

Sony Pictures Releasing

The twist: Peter Parker is taking his high-school crush Liz, to Homecoming. When he arrives at her house to pick her up, her dad opens the door. Her dad is also the Vulture. Then, you screamed.

Why it was so shocking: You just don’t see this one coming. Not even one bit. When that front door opened, you either screamed or swore. It’s a genius twist and it plays on your expectations so well. Also, the drive to the Homecoming dance is painfully awkward.  

5. Squid Game (2021–)

Netflix

The twist: The participants are told to partner up, and many decide to choose people they trust and like. Unfortunately, in the game they have to play one can survive. Utterly painful.

Why it was so shocking: A pretty recent twist and one I know that got you. The show was full of shocking developments, but this was a tough one to watch. Two of our most loved characters face off against each other. There was another twist later on, but after the marble game, I’d sort of guessed that nothing could be trusted.

I’ll never look at marbles the same way again.  

6. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back

20th Century Fox

The twist: Luke Skywalker is trained by Ben Kenobi and Master Yoda to defeat the Sith and bring balance to the force. After losing a duel to Darth Vader, Luke is offered a chance by Vader to join the Sith and "rule the galaxy". He refuses, believing that Vader killed his father. Turns out, Darth Vader is his father. Cue hysteria.

Why it was so shocking:  Where else can you really begin but Star Wars? It’s very hard to top this because it’s so iconic. We’ve all repeated this line and it’s always fun to watch someone see it for the first time. I think this was so shocking because no one could have expected it. There were no leaks or fan theories on the internet back then, like there are now. Would have been better if Maury Povich was there though. More iconic.  

7. Inception

Warner Bros. Pictures

The twist: Dom Cobb enters people’s dreams to steal secrets and in this case plant an idea, a seemingly impossible task. Cobb is desperate to get home to his kids and finally completes the job that gets him there. After arriving home, he spins his totem to check whether he is still dreaming or not. We never actually see the totem fall, so we’re still unaware whether he made it out or not.

Why it was so shocking: Christopher Nolan managed to make a brilliant film out of everyone’s favourite story ending at school. Inception has us believe that Cobb made it out and is no longer dreaming. Happy ending. Except, it might not have been. I actually think the totem starts to slow down anyway, but it’s not definitively clear.   

8. Game of Thrones

HBO

The twist: Ahh the infamous Red Wedding. Robb Stark, the ruling King in the North, is celebrating his uncle's wedding unaware of the horrors about to ensue. A large portion of the Stark clan are betrayed and brutally killed in the most unexpected way. 

Why it was so shocking: Where do we begin with this! I mean this twist is absolutely heartbreaking. I just sat in silence after watching this for like eight minutes. You genuinely believe that Robb Stark is the main protagonist and then he’s gone. This is the sort of shocking plot twist that gives you trust issues.  

9. Psycho

Paramount Pictures

The twist: We believe that we’re watching murders committed by old Norma Bates, but she in fact dead, murdered by her son Norman many years beforehand. Norman dresses up as ‘mother’ and has been murdering people since.

Why it was so shocking: Another twist ingrained in pop culture, everything from the lighting to the music makes this twist even more horrifying. This twist actually stressed me out when I was younger because it was so creepy. 

10. Skyfall

Sony Pictures Releasing

The twist: James Bond escapes to Skyfall with M where he is pursued by Raoul Silva and his men. While we think Bond will once again fight off the men and save everyone, M actually dies.

Why it was so shocking: There are certain characters who are mainstays of the Bond franchise. M is one of them, having been around since Brosnan’s Bond, and Judi Dench is iconic in that role. This really set the tone for the new Bond films.

11. Shutter Island

Paramount Pictures

The twist: US Marshal Teddy Daniels and his partner arrive at a remote hospital for the criminally insane to look for an escaped killer. Daniels is in fact Andrew Laeddis, a dangerously violent criminal who murdered his wife. The whole ‘‘investigation’’ was an attempt to get Laeddis to bring his repressed memories to the surface.

Why it was so shocking: This twist is very good because you already think the story is wrapping up. This really turns the film on its head and makes you question everything that happened before. It’s because we see the film through Laeddis’ eyes that it becomes all the more shocking.

12. The Departed

Warner Bros. Pictures

The twist: Police Officer Billy Costigan Jr. infiltrates an underground organisation, while criminal Colin Sullivan infiltrates the police. Both men hunt to decipher the other’s identity. The climax of the film sees Costigan capture Sullivan, as he gets ready to take him into custody. When the lift doors open, Costigan is shot by another mole in the police department. Shots just keep coming after that.

Why it was so shocking: It seems like Sullivan has no way out and then the lift doors open. After that, characters start dying every five seconds and it becomes truly overwhelming. To make matters worse, Sullivan dies in a similar jump-scare way in the film’s climax. You definitely needed some deep breaths after this ending.  

13. Breaking Bad

AMC

The twist: Walt finds his lab partner’s girlfriend choking on her own vomit while asleep. Instead of helping, he leaves her to die.

Why it was so shocking:  I just had my mouth open the whole time because this was probably the moment where you realised that you definitely couldn’t side with Walt anymore. He would go on to do worse things but allowing Jane to die was truly awful.   

14. Fight Club

20th Century Fox

The twist: The narrator whom we follow around, and the chaotic Tyler Durden start a fight club together, which eventually evolves into an anarchist revolution. It is later revealed that they are in fact that same person.

Why it was so shocking: Once again the unreliable narrator rears its head, but this is one twist that is shocking but does start to make sense straight away. Nothing really matches the first time you see it, and anyway, we shouldn’t talk about it because the first rule ……  

15. Doctor Who

BBC

The twist: The Doctor is running to reunite with his old companion Rose Tyler but then he’s shot by a Dalek. He is carried into the Tardis and starts to regenerate, while we’re all in tears.

Why it was so shocking: Okay so, where do I begin? Firstly, the Doctor wasn’t supposed to regenerate here. It hadn’t been announced or anything, so I was freaking out. 

16. The Prestige

Warner Bros. Pictures

The twist: Two magicians Borden and Angier are locked in a battle, going to extreme lengths to outsmart one another. Angier is desperate to find out how Borden performs the ‘Transported man trick’. Borden’s friend and aide ‘Fallon’ is revealed to be Borden’s twin in disguise. Borden.

Why it was so shocking: You’re looking for a more complicated clue or reason for the trick but it was simply just a twin. The most shocking part of this is the lengths they went to keep the lie hidden. You could argue the clone thing was shocking, but I thought it was just stupid.

17. No Time To Die

Universal Pictures

The twist: Please don’t read this if you haven’t seen the film. After battling with Lyutsifer Safin, Bond is infected with nanobots that are programmed to kill Madeleine and Mathilde, his partner and child. James calls in a missile strike from the HMS Dragon to destroy the nanobot factory, killing himself, knowing that he cannot be with his newfound family. 

Why it was so shocking: Yeah, James Bond actually died. You just don’t expect Bond to die. I still can’t believe it now.  

What plot twists do you think should be on this list? Tell me in the comments!