Top 10 Movie Plot Twists of the Last Decade
#10: Adelaide Is The Doppelgänger
“Us” (2019) This horror film began with a young Adelaide having a terrifying encounter with her doppelgänger. So, we understood why the protagonist was horrified to see her sinister double again over 30 years later. But it turned out that we didn’t know Adelaide as well as we thought. In the film’s final minutes, it’s revealed that the protagonist we were following the entire time was actually the doppelgänger. It turned out that the double locked Adelaide away and assumed her identity when they were kids. This twist immediately made us want to go back and rewatch the film for clues of this turn. But more importantly, the reveal made it impossible for us to say who was the true hero and unquestionable villain of “Us”.
#9: Tyler Knew About the Deadly Dinner
“The Menu” (2022) Margot thought the pretentious Tyler had just hired her to attend an extravagant meal. Unfortunately for her, the head chef running the dinner had made plans to kill every one of his guests. While his murderous intent was surprising on its own, viewers were hit with another appalling confession after the killing started. It’s revealed that Tyler always knew about the sinister nature of this dinner. The admission that he hired Margot just to guarantee he could attend the fatal meal enraged both her and the audience. Although Chef Slowik is still the biggest villain of the movie, Tyler was more malicious than we could’ve ever expected. Thankfully, the despicable man got his just desserts in the end.
#8: An AI Betrays Her Human Partner
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“Ex Machina” (2014) In this sci-fi movie, a programmer named Caleb is asked to test to see if a robot with artificial intelligence named Ava could pass as human. During their talks, she keeps hinting that her creator Nathan is an evil jailor. A sympathetic Caleb decides to betray the human who made Ava so she can escape. After the AI successfully kills her creator, it looked like she’d walk into the sunset with her human ally. But AVA decided to lock Caleb away while she escaped into the real world alone. This cruel twist allowed the AI to move amongst humanity without anyone suspecting a thing. Meanwhile, Caleb realized that he failed a test he didn’t even know he was taking.
#7: Harlan Never Had to Die
“Knives Out” (2019) While many murder mysteries wait until the last second to expose the villain, one winding tale took a different approach. Around 40 minutes into “Knives Out”, a flashback showed the kind nurse Marta accidentally giving her patient Harlan a fatal dose of morphine. He then decides to take his own life so she wouldn’t be accused of murder. After covering up this incident, Marta learns that she was 100% guiltless. It’s revealed that Harlon’s grandson Ransom tried to trick the nurse into administering too much morphine. However, Marta had given her patient the right medication all along. This stunning turn instantly made Harlan’s death hit harder. His senseless death elevated what could’ve been another murder mystery into a tragic tale for the ages.
#6: The Grahams Are Being Targeted By a Coven
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“Hereditary” (2018) Shortly after Annie Graham’s mysterious mother Ellen died, she lost her daughter Charlie. The matriarch finally found comfort after she met a woman named Joan. This new ally even showed Annie how to reach her deceased daughter in the afterlife. Unfortunately for Annie, conducting a second séance kicks off a series of horrifying supernatural events. In the midst of their suffering, Mrs. Graham realizes that her friend Joan had ill intentions the whole time. This new ally also happened to be part of a coven that Annie’s mom used to lead. These twin revelations made the story even more compelling and tragic than it had been. No matter what the Grahams did, they were always doomed to suffer.
#5: HYDRA Agents Hid Within S.H.I.E.L.D.
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014) Although this spy thriller is full of terrific twists, its biggest swerve impacted an entire universe of movies. The massive turn occurs after Captain America learns that there may be a traitor hiding in the heroic organization S.H.I.E.L.D. After some investigation, he learns that villainous HYDRA operatives have been planted at virtually every level of the good agency. Cap is then forced to break S.H.I.E.L.D. apart to expose the evil lurking within. After this plot point made “Winter Soldier” more thrilling, Hydra agents reared their ugly heads in other Marvel projects. The excellent reveal ensured that we’d think twice before trusting anyone in this universe again.
#4: The Hidden Houseguest
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“Parasite” (2019) It was hilarious to see members of the Kim Family lie and get multiple people fired so they could all work at a wealthy home. But we got concerned when a recently let go housekeeper named Moon-gwang returned to the rich home to get something from the basement. As it turned out, she had placed her husband in a secret bunker under the house so he could hide from debt collectors. This extremely sudden character debut set off a series of progressively darker twists that shaped the rest of the film. It also completely shifted the tone of the movie from a con artist comedy to a tense social thriller. After we descended into that basement, we were set down a path of no return.
#3: Amy Was Never In Danger
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“Gone Girl” (2014) When Amy Dunne goes missing, her husband Nick seems clueless as to what could’ve happened. A series of flashbacks then show us that there were deep cracks in their marriage. As evidence piles up against Nick, we begin to suspect he wasn’t as innocent as he seemed. But everything changes around the halfway point of the film. Suddenly, it’s revealed that Amy is…completely fine. As an added kick to the gut, she’s been framing her husband for her disappearance to get back at him. This pivotal story beat throws everything we’ve seen into question while making us hungry to discover why Amy would concoct such a horrific scheme. Her sudden rememergence ensured we’d be glued to the screen up until the very end.
#2: The Armitages Run a Body Snatching Scheme
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“Get Out” (2017) After a black man named Chris arrives at the White Armitage home, he finds himself at the center of several anxiety-inducing incidents. He eventually reaches a breaking point and convinces girlfriend Missy to leave the house. But she decides not to give him the keys and leaves him to her vicious family. It’s only after Missy’s shocking betrayal that we learn that the Armitages plan to implant another person’s consciousness into Chris’ body. Additionally, we’re told that the Black characters we saw around the family home already suffered that terrible fate. This game-changing story beat made every scene that came before feel more sinister. “Get Out” became a much more horrifying experience once you knew Chris’ instincts were dead on.
#1: Louise Can Travel Through Time
“Arrival” (2016) Throughout this sci-fi film, protagonist Louise keeps seeing increasingly vivid memories of a daughter she tragically lost to disease. At the same time, the professional has to learn an alien language to communicate with extraterrestrials. These two plot points finally intersected when Louise privately talked to an alien. After witnessing another vivid memory in front of the extraterrestrial, Louise reveals that she never had a daughter. It was then explained that her visions of her child were flashforwards. Louise could peek into the future because the alien language she learned allowed her to move her mind through time. Unless you were Louise herself, there’s no way you saw this brilliant reversal coming. The twist enhanced the story, enriched the characters, and left us completely stunned.
