A well-crafted plot twist can take a movie from good to great—in fact, some movies
are regarded as classics specifically because of twists that completely recontextualize
the story.
But sending the narrative in an unexpected direction sometimes just ends up making a
film worse.
As great as it feels to be surprised by an excellent plot twist, these movies would have
been better off without them.
As always, beware the spoilers ahead.
Remember Me
There's nothing wrong with a simple romance movie, and as far as that element goes, Remember
Me isn't too bad.
Its leads, Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin, are solid enough
in their roles and boast some nice chemistry.
And while it may veer into cliché, the film still certainly has its charms.
But all of that goes completely and inexplicably down the drain in the movie's final moments.
The film has become infamous for its final act, which reveals that the entire story has
been leading up to Robert Pattinson's character being in the World Trade Center on September
11th.
It's a subject matter that Remember Me bungles badly, taking a horrific tragedy and using
it as cheap emotional manipulation.
"I mean, why aren't you RIVETED?"
Aside from being deeply insensitive, it's also a case of blown potential, as the romantic
drama is just fine without resorting to the careless and contrived finale.
The Village
The biggest problem with The Village is that its twist turns it into a much worse movie.
Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's last-act plot twists helped launch his career, but
they ended up becoming notorious to the point of parody after this one.
The horror film appears to center on a small 19th century village, which has been surrounded
by mysterious monsters, but it's actually revealed that the creatures don't exist.
They're just the town elders in costume, trying to scare people into staying put in their
safe community.
That's all well and good enough until the second twist arrives to reveal the film actually
takes place in the modern day, and the village elders created these monsters to keep their
people protected from the woes of the outside world.
With just the first twist in place, the movie might work as solid social commentary, but
the second rug pull makes the movie needlessly convoluted.
Spectre
Given the film's title, it's not surprising that Spectre centers on the villainous organization
headed up by Ernst Blofeld, one of 007's greatest villains, or that Christoph Waltz was brought
in to portray the criminal mastermind, despite some slack attempts at secrecy.
"So, thank you, cuckoo."
But instead of simply rebooting the iconic villain, Waltz's character is also eventually
revealed to be Bond's adoptive brother, making a surprise return after faking his own death.
The twist is completely superfluous: the original Blofeld is a force of pure evil, and he doesn't
need to be tied to Bond in any way to be effective.
The revelation that Bond has a secret brother who ended up orchestrating the events in the
previous Daniel Craig-led Bond films strains all credibility for his run in the franchise.
"It was me, James.
The author of all your pain."
Put simply, it's a twist that twists too hard.
Savages
Oliver Stone's film adaptation of Savages initially seems to end like the book— with
the demise of basically every character providing a sort of closure.
It also fits in well with the way the storytellers want viewers to see the three main characters—they're
too wild for this world, and it only makes sense for them to go out in a blaze of glory.
Unfortunately, Stone tacks on a twist wherein the ending is revealed to be an elaborate
fantasy playing out in the head of one character.
Instead, the bad guys get arrested and the good guys get out clean, riding off into the
sunset.
This disjointed happy ending isn't just a cheat—it feels like a painfully safe move.
High Tension
When crafting a good plot twist, it's incredibly important to consider whether it upends the
plausibility of the story.
Unfortunately for Alexandre Aja's High Tension, its Hail Mary of a twist ending—in which
the killer is revealed to be a dissociative identity of the protagonist—sends plausibility
down the drain.
The film, up until that point, is a pretty straightforward slasher that stands out for
its artful gore.
So why the needless twist?
Shots filmed from the villain's point of view make little sense after the twist, and the
film's opening is even more confusing when it's watched while knowing who the killer
turns out to be.
Secret Window
Speaking of misuse of dissociative identity disorder, Secret Window also stumbles in its
presentation of the illness.
It should be a slam dunk of a movie.
Based on a Stephen King short story, it's about a writer who retreats to a cabin in
the woods to craft his next book, only to be confronted by a deranged stranger named
Shooter who claims he has plagiarized one of his works.
"You stole my story."
Tensions between the two escalate and eventually turn to violence.
The twist is that Shooter doesn't exist and is instead a result of our lead's mental unwellness,
which—conveniently—has never manifested in the movie until this moment.
Sometimes this twist works, like with Fight Club and Primal Fear.
But in Secret Window, it comes off as uninspired, which is ironic considering how much we hear
about stories needing to stick the landing throughout.
"The only thing that matters is the ending."
Scream 3
The first film in the Scream franchise features a twist that is revelatory for the horror
genre: there are two culprits behind the film's slaughter spree, not just one.
"Surprise Sidney."
The twist is so good that it's repeated in the sequel, Scream 2, and still mostly works.
For the third film, though, the filmmakers go with a new twist, it ends up being just
plain dumb.
Part of the reason the first two films in the franchise enjoy such reverence is that
they function as critiques of the genre—they're self-aware, and skewer the typical tropes
that had started to bore audiences.
The problem with Scream 3's needlessly complicated reveal is that it resembles something from
the films the franchise itself satirizes.
The revelation that the baddie in this film is Scream protagonist Sidney's secret half-brother—and
that he has effectively orchestrated the events of the entire series—is completely unbelievable.
It's a jump-the-shark moment in a franchise that scoffs at cliche and closes out the original
series with a whimper instead of, well, a scream.
But, hey, credit to Stu for trying to tie everything together and save the story…
again.
"If you find yourself dealing with a backstory and a preponderance of exposition, then the
sequel rules do not apply."
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