Top 10 Movie Reveals That Give Us Chills

“Planet of the Apes” (1968)

Charlton Heston plays Taylor, an astronaut who crash lands on a mysterious planet where apes are the dominant species and humans are kept in cages. Prodded and experimented on, Taylor makes his daring escape with the help of some primate allies. But as he and his companion, Nova, walk along the coastline, he comes upon a brutal and shocking discovery - a crumbling Statue of Liberty, half-stuck in the ground. The planet he crash landed on is Earth. At least, this is what’s left of Earth after a presumed nuclear war. “Planet of the Apes’” twist ending was like something out of the best “Twilight Zone” episodes. It makes sense. That show’s creator, Rod Serling, wrote this ending, too.

“Arrival” (2016)

Throughout this 2016 moody science fiction drama, linguistics expert Louise Banks is trying to figure out how to communicate with the extraterrestrials that have landed on earth. Once she deciphers more of their language, though, she comes to understand its true power. Throughout the movie, she is painted as a grieving mother. Memories of her deceased daughter haunt the story. But the aliens’ language actually distorts human perception of time, and in learning it, we realize Louise has been experiencing flashforwards of a daughter who has yet to be born. She must move forward with the knowledge of all that will happen in her future, the good and the bad.

“Parasite” (2019)

This Oscar winning South Korean film uses a creepy thriller plot to illustrate some disturbing and devastating commentary on class dynamics. A working class family cons their way into the home of a wealthy employer, but their deception nearly comes to an end one rainy night. The former housekeeper arrives, explaining that her husband is hiding in the house’s creepy basement, living like a prisoner as he hides out from loan sharks. She will expose their secret if she exposes hers. That’s when the movie goes from a dark comedy about class strife to an all-out horror show.

“Gone Girl” (2014)

Just as its lead character seems to have two separate halves, “Gone Girl” feels like two different movies. At its halfway point, Amy Dunne is revealed to be the mastermind behind her own disappearance. She narrates the details of her nefarious plot against her husband without emotion. From her secret pregnancy to the diary entries we’ve been hearing in voiceover, it’s all been faked, designed to paint her as a perfect victim and her husband as a cold-blooded killer. The lengths Amy goes to to convince everyone she’s been murdered is enough to put anyone off of marriage for a long time.

“Atonement” (2007)

Briony Tallis accuses a man of a crime he did not commit, and its effect is felt for decades afterward. Her sister’s doomed love affair with a boy from a lower social status was always going to be difficult, but her accusation kept them apart for years. The movie follows Briony as she comes to realize her mistake and tries to rectify it. In the last scene, though, we learn that the second half of the movie was actually the product of Briony’s novel. The two lovers never met again after that fateful night. Both died tragically, robbed of the happy ending they deserved.

“The Others” (2001)

There’s plenty of mystery and intrigue going on in this post-World War II haunted house thriller. Nicole Kidman plays Grace, a war widow whose two children are extremely sensitive to sunlight. The arrival of new servants sets in motion a chain of horrifying events that convinces the family their house has been invaded by ghosts. In its final sequence, we learn that Grace went mad when her husband failed to return from the war, and she and her children died by her own hand. They are the ghosts in this ghost story. The supernatural events have been caused by the new owners, who are trying to cast the spirits of Grace and her children out of the house.

“Oldboy” (2003)

A relentless, action-packed thriller from South Korea, Oh Dae-Su is a man imprisoned by a mysterious man for several years. His bloody quest for answers is complicated when he falls in love with a young chef named Mi-do. When he finally faces his enemy, Dae-Su is presented with a photo album of his wife and daughter, whose growing up he missed due to his imprisonment. To his horror, the album reveals that Mi-do is Dae-Su’s daughter. His entire ordeal is a longstanding and vicious revenge plot carried out by a former schoolmate. The revelation and its aftermath are chilling to watch unfold.

“The Usual Suspects” (1995)

Dave Kujan, a Customs agent, is assigned to investigate a deadly shootout. Told in flashback and mostly through the point of view of supposed low-level criminal Verbal Kint, “The Usual Suspects” is a dizzying crime movie with a devilish plot twist. Its enigmatic story culminates in one of the great movie reveals. Kint is not at all what he seems. It isn’t until he leaves his interrogation that Agent Kujan realizes that the man was spinning a yarn for him. Kint is Keyser Söze, the feared criminal mastermind he told Agent Kujan all about. He pieced his entire story together using details he found around the agent’s office.

“The Sixth Sense” (1999)

This blockbuster ghost movie created a sensation when first released. Young Cole Sear’s confession that he can see dead people became a meme before memes were even a thing. But its most incredible stroke of genius was its late reveal that Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, did not survive the first scene, which sees him shot by a disturbed former patient. His wife’s coldness to him and the fact that no other character ever speaks to him suddenly make so much sense. He’s been dead the entire time. Director M. Night Shyamalan would have to keep topping himself with every new movie. Unfortunately, no new plot twist may ever freak us out like this one did.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Magician Alfred Borden’s Illusions Are Made Possible By His Twin Brother

The Narrator Realizes He Is Actually His Alter Ego