Top 10 Movie Characters Who Were Dead the WHOLE Time

“Source Code” (2011)
This sci-fi thriller has plenty of twists and turns that keep you guessing. Following a train bombing, the US government uses experimental tech that lets one man experience those events in an attempt to stop further attacks. Army Captain Colter Stevens is that man, yet he is completely unaware of what’s happening when the movie begins. In fact, the last thing he remembers is being on tour in Afghanistan. He’s charged with finding the bomber, yet he can only relive the same 8-minute increment before the explosion. Stevens believes he’s in a simulation, and those in charge are pretty cagey with information. Eventually, it’s revealed that he died in action, and his mind is only being held together by the source code machine.

“Safe Haven” (2013)
Based on Nicholas Sparks’ novel of the same name, “Safe Haven” follows Erin, a woman on the run from her abusive, cop husband. In a new town, she falls for Alex, a widower, and father of two children. However, he isn’t the only new person Erin lets into her life. She also befriends her neighbor, Jo. While Jo seems just like the supportive friend archetype found in multiple romantic movies, there’s a lot more to her. In the end, Alex gives Erin a letter from his late wife, Carly, who left it for the next woman he’d fall in love with. The picture inside reveals that Jo was really Carly’s spirit, watching over her family and ensuring her husband would find love again.

“Goodnight Mommy” (2014)
Being a single parent is excruciatingly hard, but the twins in “Goodnight Mommy” really put their mother through the wringer. Or, at least, one of them does. The film follows Elias and Lukas, who believe their mother has been replaced by an imposter after she returns from facial surgery and starts acting more aggressively. In order to get the truth out of her, the boys resort to some pretty disturbing methods, including tying her up and super-gluing her lips closed so she can’t yell for help. However, the mother is far from the villain the boys think she is. Elias is suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, hallucinating Lukas as he hasn’t come to terms with his twin’s drowning.

“Last Christmas” (2019)
Who doesn’t love a good holiday rom-com? Well, if you want one with a happy ending, maybe “Last Christmas” isn’t for you. It follows the down-on-her-luck Kate, who falls for the far more optimistic Tom. Throughout, Tom’s charming nature rubs off on Kate, causing her to change her life for the better. She reveals to him her life was saved through a heart transplant one year prior. And if you’re familiar with the Wham! song the movie gets its name from, you may have guessed what was coming next. Kate learns that Tom was killed in a bike accident and that he was the organ donor who saved her life. At least she still gets to have a goodbye with his ghost.

“Carnival of Souls” (1962)
If a movie opens with someone miraculously surviving a car crash, viewers should be skeptical. But in the 1960s, this type of twist was far from common. Mary Henry walks away from such an event and moves to Salt Lake City for a new job. Unfortunately, she starts having disturbing visions of a strange, pale-faced man and his accompanying ghouls. She also goes through periods where no one can see or hear her. All the while, she’s drawn to an abandoned pavilion, which used to be a carnival before it closed down. At the end, she sees a pale version of herself dancing with the Man while the ghouls surround her. Cutting back to the opening, it’s revealed Mary never survived the car crash.

“Passengers” (2008)
Usually, it’s one person who has been dead the whole movie. But “Passengers” went the extra mile. It follows a support group of plane crash survivors and their therapist, Claire Summers. When one of them goes missing, Claire believes the airline is responsible and trying to cover up its fault in the crash. As more members begin to disappear and Claire witnesses things she can’t explain, the truth becomes much harder to swallow. As it turns out, the survivors and Claire all died in the crash. Those who disappeared only did so when they were ready to move on. As for the rest of the characters, they were made up of familiar faces to ease the group’s passing.

Following a stay in a mental institution, Su-mi returns home to find things aren’t going so well. Her father is distant, her stepmother is ruthless, and there just may be a ghost in the house. The only person Su-mi can rely on is her sister, Su-yeon, who is seemingly being mistreated by their stepmother. Except, she isn’t because she doesn’t exist. In a barrage of twists, the film reveals that Su-mi has Dissociative Identity Disorder and has been hallucinating her dead sister the entire time. Not only that, but the real Su-yeon is the ghost and she gets vengeance against the stepmother responsible for her death. The remake, 2009’s “The Uninvited” changed a lot of story elements, but at least kept the ‘dead sister’ twist.

“Jacob’s Ladder” (1990)
“Jacob’s Ladder” is a cult classic thanks to its twisted imagery and intense plot. It follows a Vietnam vet attempting to live a normal life. However, he suffers from disturbing hallucinations. Although it shows Jacob injured in battle at the beginning, the film does a good job steering you away from the twist. Several other members of his unit experience similar visions, believing themselves psychologically experimented on without their knowledge. Well, they were experimented on, just not in the way they think. The army had developed a new drug that made users more aggressive and decided to test it on Jacob’s platoon. It caused some to turn on one another, which is how Jacob died. The movie is actually playing out in Jacob’s dying mind.

“The Others” (2001)
“The Others” follows similar plots of other haunted house movies: a family must deal with lurking spirits in their home. In addition to Nicole Kidman’s performance and Alejandro Amenábar’s direction, the film was praised for how it implemented the ‘dead all along’ twist. Set directly after WWII, it follows Grace as increasingly spooky events begin happening in her home. It quickly becomes clear that the house is haunted, though who exactly is doing the haunting is where the twist comes in. The so-called spirits Grace has encountered are actually a new family interested in buying her home. And a particularly scary old woman ghost is really the medium they hired. Grace herself is a ghost, having taken her own life as well as her children’s.

“The Sixth Sense” (1999)
It’s impossible to talk about movie characters that were dead the whole time and not immediately think of Malcolm Crowe. The child psychologist is shot by a former patient in the opening, yet seemingly recovers. For the majority of the movie, he attempts to help the troubled Cole, who reminds him of his old patient and claims to see dead people. The evidence that Malcolm never survived his shooting was littered throughout, yet Cole’s struggle was too captivating for most to notice. These days, it’s one of the most well-known twists of all time. Although it was surprising, it wasn’t just there for shock value. “The Sixth Sense” showcased the power of unresolved feelings and unfinished business, with Malcolm’s journey to realization being absolutely heartbreaking.