A few years ago, I wrote a post about my 12 favorite plot twists. One thing I noticed about that post is that 9.5 out of 12 entries took place near the end of the movie (I say 9.5 because one of the entries had a twist in the middle and at the end). That’s what most people think of when they think of a plot twist; the movie is going along and then near the end we find out the key piece of information that shocks us and forces the hero to adapt one more time before triumphing.
While a twist at the end of a movie is always exciting, since writing that post I’ve seen a few movies that knocked me on my ass in the middle of the story. Although most screenwriting books will tell you the midpoint of a movie is a highly important shift in the stories’ tone, I love when a writer uses the midpoint to completely shock the audience and set the story in an entirely new direction.
Many of these twists/scenes are talked about by movie lovers, they’re not under-appreciated as plot points, but the fact that they occur at or near the middle of the story means they often get overlooked when people talk about twists. So, this post is to acknowledge some of those plot points.
So…why the word ‘stunner’ instead of ‘twist’? Did Stone Cold Steve Austin write this post? I wish, but sadly, no, he didn’t. I read an article recently that made a really interesting point about the difference between a plot twist and a plot reveal. We often use ‘plot twist’ as a catch-all term any time something highly unexpected happens. To quote the article, “A ‘reveal’ is simply a revelation, a new piece of information that affects the direction of the narrative for the characters from that point on. A ‘twist’, by contrast, is a realization that the past now has to be reconstructed in a different manner, that what we’ve been witnessing hasn’t necessarily been the truth.” It’s a very interesting distinction. However, for this particular post, I’m not necessarily interested in it. I’m just interested in movies that have an event that stuns the audience near the middle of the movie. I don’t care if it happens in the form of a twist or a reveal, I just want to be stunned. And that’s the bottom line…
‘Midpoint’ is another tricky idea. Will all of these literally be the midpoint of each movie? Most will, some won’t. I just want them to be close to the middle, well before the final act of the movie, such that our perspective is altered for a sizable amount of our viewing. So that’s that definition.
Given that this is about “stunners”, SPOILERS ahead.
To the list!
The most honored of Honorable Mentions:
The Godfather – Michael kills the Turk and the Cop. This is one of the best scenes in movie history and certainly one of the best midpoints of all-time. However, it’s not really a stunner as I think of it. Yes, we were all wondering whether or not Michael, the non-criminal member of the Corleone family, would actually kill these two men in public, one of whom is a police captain. The scene is an exercise in tension. We’re waiting on it. But don’t we know he’ll do it? The family sits down ahead of time and Michael proposes the plan to kill the two of them. A gun is planted in the bathroom of the restaurant. We know it’s coming. If we don’t know “it” is coming, we know something is coming. It’s one of the best scenes ever, but I wasn’t stunned in the same way I was with these other picks.
9). Pulp Fiction – Vincent is killed – minute 92 of 154 (~60% into the movie)
Isn’t this past the midpoint?
Yes.
How can you have a midpoint twist in a nonlinear story? I don’t know.
This isn’t a plot point you’ll see on many lists of best plot twists, or most shocking movie moments, but this event was quite surprising the first time that I saw this movie as a teenager. To that point, outside of Scream and another movie to be mentioned later, I hadn’t seen too many movies where one of the stars dies before the final act. John Travolta (Vincent Vega) is a movie star and at that point in the movie, we spent the most screen time with his character. That’s usually a recipe for longterm survival in a movie.
Also, Vincent gets killed off in kind of a silly way. I’ve already taught my son that if you’re in a criminal situation and you have to use the bathroom, bring your firearm with you. When Butch (Bruce Willis) arrives at his apartment and finds a machine gun on his kitchen counter, it’s kind of funny. The movie is tense up to that point and it’s almost comic relief that Butch would just be gifted this gun by a criminal who doesn’t want to bring it in the bathroom. The first time you see the movie, we’re wondering who’s in the bathroom. When Vincent opens the door, it’s a real shocker.
Is it the most shocking plot point of all time? No, it’s not even the most shocking thing to happen in that chapter of Pulp Fiction (everything in the pawn shop). But that’s why it’s #9!
8). A History of Violence – Tom is Joey – around halfway through
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the exact time-marking, but suffice it to say, the big reveal of this underrated movie is in the middle. Like many of the entries on this list, the movie has two distinct parts, before the reveal and afterward.
Tom (Viggo Mortensen) is a quiet family man who owns a coffee shop in rural Indiana. One day two criminals come into the shop and get violent, Tom saves the day, and makes the news. Although he’s not into the publicity, his exposure leads to thugs, led by Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris), to stalk his family. Fogarty keeps calling him “Joey”, and says ‘his criminal brother needs to speak with him in Philadelphia.’ There are a few confrontations with the thugs holding back before ultimately threatening his family at gunpoint. After Tom and his son manage to kill the thugs, Tom is taken to the hospital where his wife confronts him about the whole ‘Joey’ thing. He finally admits to it.
The reason this was shocking to me was how many times has the “wrong man” trope been done? Half of Hitchcock’s movies were about the wrong man getting into some kind of trouble. In The Fugitive, Stalag 17, Enemy of the State, and so many more, the wrong man is blamed the entire time until he can prove his innocence. It is quite common.
We see Tom fight early on in the coffee shop and he looks desperate, like someone who doesn’t know how to fight, just doing his best to ward off trouble. This cements him as an everyman.
However, in the big confrontation with Fogarty and his thugs, Tom showcases some actual fighting skills. All of a sudden, things look murkier and he actually admits to being a gangster in a previous life.
It’s very easy to think that he’s just the wrong man. Logically, as a viewer, it also seems likely that even if he is this “Joey” guy, that won’t be revealed until the very end. Instead, it happens in the middle and there’s a major shift in the tone of the movie.
7). The Talented Mr. Ripley – Tom kills Dickie with an oar in a boat – around halfway through
I couldn’t find the timestamp for this movie either, but suffice it to say it’s a movie of two halves. The first half is Tom going to Italy and becoming a part of Dickie’s life. The second half is Tom assuming Dickie’s identity while moving around Italy and trying to avoid detection. So, clearly, something crazy happens in between those two halves.
This is an interesting movie. Our main character is a conman, and it features beautiful A-list movie stars hanging out in the beautiful European scenery. That description could also fit Hitchcock’s 1955 classic, To Catch a Thief, or the Ocean’s sequel, Ocean’s Twelve. However, those movies are upbeat in tone, at times humorous, and feature handsome alpha males that get noticed everywhere they go. This movie is not like that.
We start out feeling okay about Tom Ripley. He’s a hardworking underdog, trying to claw his way out of his Manhattan basement apartment that’s, like, twenty feet underground. He lies a little here and there, but it doesn’t seem like he has a machiavellian plan, or that he’s even working a con. In some cases, his lies, or omissions, seem to be more out of politeness than anything else – like when Dickie’s parents assume he went to Princeton with their son, he gets flustered and he doesn’t correct them.
This misunderstanding leads to him taking on a curious assignment: Dickie’s wealthy father wants to pay him to go to Italy, find Dickie, and convince him to come back home to Manhattan. The father is under the impression that Tom went to college with his son, so it is dishonest, but Tom actually goes to Italy with the intention of doing the job he’s being paid to do. Of course, he meets Dickie, played by Jude Law at the peak of his beauty and charisma, and becomes intoxicated with Italy, Dickie and his lifestyle. Tom tells Dickie why he’s really there, and at Dickie’s urging, he agrees to lie to Dickie’s father, insisting he needs more time, so that he could travel on the father’s dime with Dickie and Marge (Dickie’s girlfriend). Dishonest, absolutely. Immoral, yes. But, Tom still seems like an alright guy. Again, it wasn’t his idea to do this, he’s just going along with it because he’s having fun and he doesn’t want to disappoint his friend. It is unquestionably wrong, but he’s still sympathetic.
As time goes on, we see Tom start to get jealous whenever Dickie is ignoring him or being chummy with someone else. Tom either has unexplored feelings of homosexuality or he’s aware of his orientation, but is deeply closeted due to the time period (the 50’s). Jealousy never looks good, but we still feel for Tom. We know he just wants to be noticed by a guy he likes, and we know it hurts him to be ignored.
Then the two friends go out on a boat. Tom has fully embraced leaching off of Dickie’s father; he proposes a plan to continue traveling, but is promptly rejected by Dickie. Tom feels wounded, and then it gets worse when Dickie insults Tom, expresses disapproval of what Tom has done (lying to his father), and tells him he doesn’t want to be around him anymore. A deeply hurt Tom snaps and hits Dickie in the head with an oar. He’s completely surprised at his own actions. But when Dickie gets up and attacks, all of Tom’s survival instincts and pent up anger take over and he repeatedly bludgeons Dickie. It’s a viciousness and a rage we haven’t seen from the more mild-mannered Tom. Although it feels earned, the viewer isn’t quite ready for it and the movie shifts completely to a story about a conman, lying and murdering his way through Italy, trying to live a high-class lifestyle while avoiding detection.
6). The Third Man – Harry Lime is alive – ~66th minute out of 93 minutes (71% of the way through)
This one is cheating a bit because we are well past the midpoint, technically this is probably the break into the final act of the movie. I’m including it on this list because it’s one of the most iconic character entrances and twists of all-time and it’s not in the final act of the movie, which to me, qualifies this reveal because it alters the course of the story.
A few things I’d like to say:
- Unfortunately, I knew about this twist before ever seeing the movie. So, I wasn’t shocked, but I know audiences in 1949 were very much shocked.
- The premise of this reveal is awesome. Harry Lime is thought to be dead. There’s a funeral. Though Harry isn’t there, he is a topic of conversation for much of the movie leading up to this. So he has this complicated mystique, and then, it turns out, he’s been alive this whole time.
- The legendary reveal scene, with Welles stepping out of the shadows and into the light, is superb.
- I dock points because Orson Welles’ name appears in the opening credits! Though, it isn’t top-billed like I remembered. But still! There were only four names on the screen at the time, and Welles was in the third position. Remember, this is eight years after Citizen Kane, so…he’s well-known. If people see Welles’ name in the credits, they’re going to be waiting until he comes on screen. Kind of ruins what should be this tectonic surprise. The alternative, of course, is to do what Kevin Spacey did for the movie Se7en. Spacey plays the villain, who isn’t revealed until the final act, but his name isn’t in the opening credits. Instead, he’s just the first name shown in the end credits. Otherwise, Harry Lime is an awesome reveal.
5). Vertigo – Madeline dies/Scottie can’t save her – ~79 minutes into 128 minute movie
To be clear, I’m saying “Madeline” dies because this entry is not referring to the big reveal of the movie – that Madeline was not really Madeline, and the whole thing was a setup. That happens a little bit later. I’m referring to the fact the Scottie (and the viewer) think Madeline actually died.
Technically, this isn’t really a twist/reveal, and it isn’t even the biggest twist in its own movie. However, the first time I saw this, I couldn’t believe it.
Our hero, Scottie, played by an all-time great “every man”, James Stewart, is paid to keep an eye on a disturbed woman, Madeline, played by the beautiful, Kim Novak. At one point, Madeline jumps into the San Francisco Bay and Scottie saves her. Most James Stewart movies involve him playing a likable hero who saves the day. He’s chasing after Madeline, and though she had a head start, we know Scottie’s going to stop her. At this point in time, I definitely forgot that he had vertigo, and that climbing these stairs would likely cause an issue. It didn’t occur to me that he would fail to save her.
It’s also worth noting that the scheme itself – Gavin hiring Judy to be Madeline and then hiring Scottie to follow her and fall in love, etc – it’s so ludicrous that it isn’t really something that could’ve been predicted. Though I wasn’t alive in 1958, I have to imagine that was particularly true back then, when all these movies with crazy plot twists hadn’t come out yet.
It was also like, if she’s dead, where do we go from here?Madeline’s death, and maybe more accurately, Scottie’s “failure” to save her in the middle of the movie was shocking.
4). Gone Girl – Amy is alive – around the middle
This twist is just wonderful. I will say, it was spoiled for me before the movie, which is a bummer because I didn’t get to really experience it. But either way, it’s extremely well-executed.
The twist works so well because the movie has two storylines that converge at that midpoint. There’s the present-day narrative, which is the day Amy disappears, with Nick and the police beginning the investigation. And then there’s Amy’s narration and flashbacks that detail how their courtship began and how far they’d fallen. She paints a bleak picture of where they were at, and of course, a rosy picture of how it started.
It isn’t unheard of, but there aren’t a ton of movies where the dead or missing character provides narration and talks about things from their point of view. So, that was an interesting component of Gone Girl. The picture she paints is not good, and although we’re pretty sure Nick is innocent in the case of Amy being missing, her point of view is able to muddy the waters on whether or not Nick was behind her disappearance. And we’re starting to wonder. And also, there’s all of the evidence that mounts. Until…
The camera cuts to Amy in the present day, driving away. Her narration explains how she thought of all this and planned it to a T. The twist undeniably impacts how we go back and view the first half of the movie. Since her “disappearance” and frame-up job is a lie, does that mean she’s been lying to us the whole time? Or does the fact that she went through all of this to set up her husband show just how desperate she felt? And then there’s the fact that her plan was to kill herself once Nick was imprisoned, which points to mental instability. Now we have to wonder what was real.
3). Parasite – The old maid/cook’s husband lives in the house’s underground bunker – around halfway
Talk about a stunner! Parasite was a critical hit and eventually won Best Picture at the Oscars. I didn’t see it until a year after that, and somehow this wasn’t spoiled ahead of time. Maybe because it was a foreign movie?
All that aside, it’s the most knocked on my ass I can recall feeling from a movie in recent memory, and for that, it gets the nod over Gone Girl. There are possibly twists that are more shocking, but I always end up hearing about them ahead of time. This twist had the perfect blend of tiny easter eggs so that it doesn’t feel too out of left field, but also shocking enough that it’s near impossible to predict.
Tyler Mowry has a great video about this twist, highlighting how with regard to the story, the revelation changes the external stakes, the characters’ internal stakes, as well as the philosophical stakes of the story. In addition to hitting on all of those levels, it was completely shocking and would’ve been impossible for a viewer to guess. Perfect.
2). Alien – Chest-bursting scene – around halfway
I will say at the top that this all-time stunning event was spoiled before I ever saw the movie. Unfortunately. However, I think Alien is the best horror movie ever and this midpoint event is the point where the movie pivots from an unsettling thriller to straight up horror.
The lead up to this scene filled me with existential dread. They’re in space, which is just uneasy, nothing good seems to ever happen in a movie set in space. When they investigate the distress signal and walk on the planet filled with giant eggs that appear to have hatched; you’re just waiting for something to go completely wrong. Then there’s a jump scare with an alien jumping out of a small hole attacking Jon Hurt’s character. They bring him back to the ship and he is quarantined with the alien stuck on his face. But eventually, the alien falls off. We’re out of the woods! Except…we’re not.
This midpoint stunner is the reason Alien is a top 5 lock on the list of movies I wish I could’ve seen in the theater. The rest of the movie is fantastic, but seeing this in the theater without knowing about it would permanently change someone’s brain chemistry.
1). Psycho – Marion getting murdered in the shower – around halfway
Could it be any other? I included this as my #2 choice for best plot twists of all-time, and looking back, even that feels too low. Of course, I had seen this scene long before ever seeing the movie. I knew the ultimate twist at the end of the movie as well, it stinks that it was spoiled, but the movie came out ~45 years before I ever saw it for the first time.
In my earlier plot twists post, I wrote the following about this scene, “the shower scene from Psycho is one of the most famous scenes in movie history. It is also one of the most functionally impactful scenes in movie history.” There are many reasons for a scene to be great, acting, dialogue, cinematography, but one aspect that isn’t discussed enough is the impact a scene has on a movie, or rather how it functions within the movie. And though it’s a hard topic to assess, I don’t know if there’s a scene that does more for a movie or for the movies in general. Think about every aspect of this twist, and what it means for the movie and the viewer:
a). As with Alien, this midpoint stunner causes a genre shift within the movie. The movie starts out as a psychological thriller. To quickly summarize, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) plays a woman living in Arizona who steals $40,000 cash from work and flees to California to start over and marry her boyfriend, who currently lives there. On her way to California, she is spotted by her boss, she evades the police, trades in her car and is always looking over her shoulder. Right there, that’s a thriller! Hitchcock notoriously made thrillers, and the early events of the story fit the bill.
During a heavy rain storm, she pulls into a vacant motel and has dinner and conversation with the boyish and nervous manager, named Norman Bates. She hides the money in a newspaper and alerts Norman that she plans to leave at the crack of dawn. Again, she’s on the run, which is more typical of a thriller.
She decides to take a shower and in the middle of it all is violently stabbed to death by a mysterious figure. What?!?! The typical thriller would’ve had the police catch up with her, or the owner of the money catch up with her, an employee of the money’s owner catch up with her, or just an opportunistic criminal that gets wind of the money and attacks. But that doesn’t appear to be the situation. It’s a tall mystery woman. She has no dialogue. We don’t see her take the money when she’s done killing Marion. So now, there’s apparently a killer on the loose – aka a horror movie.
b). The star of the movie, Janet Leigh, gets killed at the midpoint. That was unheard of at the time, which was completely shocking to the audience. It isn’t really too common now other than Game of Thrones killing off main characters. If the most famous person you’ve seen on screen, the character who’s been in every scene so far, gets killed off early, now the audience is uneasy. They thought they had a bead on the story and they don’t. It opens up the door for anything to happen.
c). The scene is viscerally stunning with the stabs, the fast camera cuts and piercing score. That in itself is violent and shocking, particularly for 1960. The audience must’ve been stunned.
Related, this scene pushed Movies forward in terms of how far they could go with the violence and nudity that could be shown on screen.
d). The “monster” was a regular person. To that point in movie history, there weren’t really movies about killers. It was often either a crook killing for money or a monster like Godzilla killing because it’s a monster. This killing was stunning because the “monster” behind this attack was a regular person with no discernible financial motivation.
e). This scene sets up the even bigger twist at the end, that Norman is the one doing the killing while impersonating his mother. That’s a shocking and famous twist as well, and it’s all set up because we see the female silhouette during the killing.
f). This scene, and the rest of the movie, basically creates the slasher genre. Love it or hate it, a whole new genre of movies was birthed from this scene, at least in the U.S. Halloween wouldn’t come out until eighteen years later, and though it’s the first real slasher movie that kicked the genre off in earnest, Halloween was notoriously inspired by Psycho.
Highly impactful in the movie. Highly impactful for movies in general. Completely stunning at the time, and if the scene wasn’t so famous, it would still be stunning for today’s viewers as well.
Honorable mentions: Reservoir Dogs, Mulholland Drive
Movies that would be in consideration, but the stunning scene was spoiled by the trailer: The Birds, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Sixth Sense
Movies where the stunning twist isn’t at the climax, but still happens a too late in the movie to qualify for this list: Chinatown, Se7en
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