Movies are known to lure viewers in with their dazzling cinematography, incredible actors, and well-developed plots. They can grab your attention with thrilling trailers that have you on the edge of your seat or advertisements that result in guesses from crowds as to what the film could possibly be about. 

However, what truly makes one movie stand out amongst the many others that exist  are the plot twists that catch us off guard. They come out of nowhere, striking us when we’re most vulnerable and leaving us stuck or with no words.

In the end, plot twists are one of the many plot devices a movie employs that leaves a lasting impression on its viewer. 

That all being said, because some of the best movies are the ones with the most shocking twists, I would like to recommend to you five movies with twists that’ll have your jaw on the floor and mind trying to comprehend what just happened. 

Warning: spoilers ahead!

• Shutter Island (2010)

Shutter Island is an eerie, psychological thriller that follows Marshall Teddy Daniels on a journey to Ashecliffe Hospital, an insane asylum located on an isolated and chilling island. He’s there to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a female patient, but things start to not add up as he looks deeper and deeper into the asylum. Along with dealing with the recent deaths of his wife and children, Daniels begins to lose himself during his investigation, confusing imagination with reality.

As you watch the film, you become just as confused as Daniel. You start to question what is actually happening, and with the constant flashbacks of Daniels’s life, things get suspicious quickly.

Because of this, it came as a big surprise when it was revealed that Daniels was a patient at the asylum all along! He was simply playing out an investigation and struggling to cope with the passing of his family. 

All throughout the movie, we had believed that the doctors and patients were evil, but in reality, even though they’re not great people, they weren’t the villains. Shutter Island’s twist ending is just one of the many reasons you should watch it. 

• The Village (2004)

The Village is a horror movie that surrounds a small and remote colonial village. It’s encircled by heavy, dark woods that all of its residents fear due to the “monsters” that lie within. However, the inhabitants realize that they need medical supplies and must venture out into the woods to get some from “the towns”. Ivy, the blind daughter of the Chief, offers to go, but not before the man she loves is stabbed and locked in a closet. 

Before Ivy goes, she’s told that the so-called “monsters” are actually their own villagers in costumes trying to scare people from leaving. This is the first time that we realize something is a bit off. 

Ivy travels through the forest and eventually reaches the other side and there we see a park ranger. While Ivy doesn’t seem to be very shocked by this, the viewers watching are rattling their brains trying to explain why there is a colonial village in the 21st century.

It’s then revealed that in the 1970s, a professor at a university founded this village and had people that he met at a grief counseling clinic to join him. By staying inside this secluded village that is completely separated from the rest of the world, they would be safe and protected from all outside dangers.

Thus, the titular village had stayed completely isolated from the world, and in doing so, had convinced the people born in it that this was the way of the world and audiences that the movie took place in colonial times. The horror and mystery themes of this film make it a great watch. 

• Us (2019)

Us begins with a young girl named Adelaide watching a commercial for an organization called “Hands Across America.” Later that night, she enters a funhouse and encounters her doppelgänger in a mirror. 

Years later, Adelaide has her own family and decides to vacation in the same place she grew up in, but is haunted by the memories of what happened there. Things take a dark turn quickly, when a family that appears to look exactly like Adelaide’s appears in front of their house. They break in and explain to Adelaide that they are a sort of “shadow” version of her family and need to untether themselves. However, Adelaide and her family are able to escape.

The film goes on to show crowds of people being attacked by their doppelgängers and it’s not until later that we find out the truth about them. It’s said that “the Tethered” were originally genetic clones created by the government to control the real people on the surface. The experiment ended up failing, and these people were left underground, having no choice but to mirror the actions of their twins above and survive on rabbit meat. It’s actually kind of cruel and sad. 

Adelaide is then able to kill her counterpart and safely escape with her family. Many believed that this was the end of the film and were happy to see that the whole family survived. However, suspicions rose as we were taken back to Adelaide’s childhood and the night she saw her twin in the funhouse. At that moment, we realize that the original Adelaide was choked and dragged underground while unconscious, leaving her doppelgänger to replace her life on the surface. This was a shocking and unexpected twist, because throughout the film, we assumed that the Adelaide we were watching was the original and “good” version. 

As the movie ends, Adelaide gives a sly smile to the camera, and it’s understood that she was evil all along. This twist had me totally taken aback, after having rooted for what I assumed was the “good” Adelaide turning out to be a fake all along! 

• Orphan (2009)

Orphan is a film about an orphan named Esther. Esther is said to be a 9-year-old Russian girl who gets adopted by loving couple Kate and John after their third child ended up being a stillbirth. Esther exhibits weird behavior from the start, such as injuring a pigeon in front of Kate and John’s other two children and badly hurting a classmate. Kate begins to become convinced that Esther is no normal 9-year-old, but John seems to be clueless. 

Esther then goes on to commit even more violent acts, including causing a deadly accident with a Sister, breaking her own arm to convince John that Kate hurt her, and attempting to kill her foster brother. 

It’s at this point that Kate learns the truth about Esther. Esther is actually Leena Krammer, a 33-year-old woman who suffers from a disorder that stunts her physical growth and makes her appear as a child. Leena is extremely violent and had murdered at least 7 people before she was adopted, causing her to spend lots of time in mental institutes. 

This twist was shocking, because no one was expecting for “Esther” to actually be a grown woman with a little known genetic disease and disorder. It was obvious that she wasn’t normal from the start and there definitely had to be something different about her, but the fact that she wasn’t even a child was very surprising. Orphan brings lots to the table with its shocking ending. 

• Fight Club (1999)

Fight Club is about a man only referred to as the “Narrator.” On a flight home from a business trip, he meets another salesman named Tyler Durden and the two hit it off. 

When the Narrator arrives home, he finds that all of his belongings were destroyed in an explosion. He decides to give Tyler a call and stay with him, but not before the two head to a bar and come up with a great idea: Fight Club. 

Fight Club is a secret club where men routinely meet to physically fight each other. But things get out of hand when Narrator finds out that Tyler has created an anti-corporate organization called Project Mayhem and recruited members from their club. Its purpose is to vandalize and destroy.

In the end, as the movie is heating up and the Narrator is trying to stop Tyler from blowing up various buildings, we find out that Tyler and the Narrator are the same person. The Narrator appears to suffer from dissociative personality disorder and realizes that when he thinks he is asleep, his alter, Tyler, takes over and lives out his life.

The way that the movie is played out leads people to assume that Tyler and the Narrator are two completely different people and it never seems as though it could be any different. So, when it was revealed that they were, in fact, the same person, audiences were shocked, and so was I the first time I watched it. So although many film buffs critically acclaim Fight Club for its tough themes and blunt attitudes, the way it was done and the way the twist ending was pulled off  is really the masterpiece here, although I’m sure film buffs everywhere understand that!