Top 10 Plot Twists That Everyone Saw Coming

In this adaptation of Stephen King’s novella, Johnny Depp plays Mort, an author with a serious case of writer’s block. In addition to going through a messy divorce, he’s being hounded by the murderous John Shooter, who accuses him of plagiarism. It doesn’t take long for the audience to notice that Mort is the only character that Shooter directly interacts with on screen, leading us to deduce that the mysterious stranger is a figment of his imagination. The multiple personality disorder twist was seemingly a trend in the early 2000s, as “Hide and Seek” starring Robert De Niro pulled the same stunt barely a year later. We’d say, “You stole my story,” but even when “Secret Window” did it, the idea wasn’t very fresh.

Going into this live-action “Scooby” movie, we can’t say we expected Scrappy-Doo to be the criminal mastermind. The second he popped up in a flashback, though, even younger viewers thought, “Oh, so they’re really going to make him the bad guy, huh?” The flashback doesn’t serve a purpose other than introducing Scrappy and giving him a motive. It doesn’t take a seasoned sleuth to sniff out where this mystery is going. Sure, Sugar Ray and Pamela Anderson made pointless cameos, but the filmmakers weren’t going to bother animating Scrappy for one scene and not have him be the villain. Honestly, it would’ve been funnier if they cut the flashback, and Scrappy just suddenly appeared in the climax. At least we wouldn’t have seen that coming.

“The Sixth Sense” was far from the first movie to employ a twist ending, but it definitely kicked off a modern trend. Many subsequent films tried replicating the same shock factor. Even 20 years later, “Last Christmas” attempted to be “The Sixth Sense” of holiday rom-coms. The genre might’ve been different, but the twist is virtually the same with Emilia Clarke’s Kate realizing that Henry Golding’s Tom is a ghost. Not just any ghost, but the ghost of the organ donor who gave her his heart. They really took the Wham! song literally. This twist might’ve worked in a half-hour Christmas special, but as a feature, the audience quickly realizes that Tom wears the same outfit and doesn't interact with anyone else for a reason.

When Shia LaBeouf was cast in this sequel, everyone jumped to the conclusion that he’d be playing Indiana Jones’ son. They even called this out in LaBeouf’s “SNL” monologue leading up to the film’s release. Being so predictable, the story would’ve worked much better if they got this plot point out of the way upfront. Instead, they drag it out for almost half the movie. Even when Mutt mentions that his mother is named Mary, it doesn’t dawn on Indy that this could be Marion, who he left at the altar about 20 years earlier. The world’s greatest archeologist! When Marion finally lets the snake out of the bag, it feels less like a twist and more like a bad punchline that we all foresaw.

“Saw” movie endings are hit-and-miss. People still talk about the first film’s jaw-dropper. The same can’t be said about “Spiral,” which was supposed to breathe new life into the franchise. While the film has its moments, the “big twist” couldn’t stick the landing. It’s obviously not a coincidence that William Schenk joins the police department around the same time that a mysterious killer starts replicating Jigsaw’s crimes. Even when Schenk seemingly dies, it doesn’t throw us off his scent. In hindsight, you’d think Zeke would’ve reached out to Schenk’s next of kin, realizing he fabricated his family. Maybe this twist could’ve been salvaged if Schenk was related to John Kramer, but the reveal that he was the son of a murdered witness is pretty underwhelming.

Ben Affleck got top billing in “Pearl Harbor” and was prominently featured in the trailers. Even if you went into this wartime romance without seeing any advertising, we doubt anyone would’ve believed that the filmmakers would pull a Marion Crane. When Affleck’s Rafe is presumed killed in action, his best friend Danny and best girl Evelyn turn to each other for comfort. Yeah, you all see where this is going. Yet, it’s still treated like a drama bomb when Rafe resurfaces, revealing that he survived the plane crash. Well, at least things can’t get any more awkwa- “Rafe, I’m pregnant.” Yeah, we saw that coming too. Don’t worry, this movie will check off all the cliched soap opera twists, including Danny dying upon learning of his fatherhood.

To this movie’s credit, we didn’t anticipate it opening with John Connor’s death. It was controversial, but perhaps this could take the franchise in a new direction. The minute we meet Dani Ramos, though, it’s clear that she’s going to be the next John… clear to everybody except Dani and Sarah Connor. Sarah assumes that Dani will give birth to humanity’s savior. Granted, Dani has no combat training, but neither did Sarah when she first clashed with a Terminator. Wouldn’t the idea that Dani might be the future resistance leader cross Sarah’s mind? By the time Sarah puts two and two together, she’s late to the party. The film acts like this reveal is revolutionary when in reality, it’s just recycling the same story.

The behind-the-scenes drama surrounding this psychological thriller was more fascinating than the movie itself. That’s not to say we didn’t get some top-notch production values and performances, but tell us if this sounds familiar. Our heroine lives in a nostalgic community where the women are told not to venture beyond certain borders. From the moment you hear this setup, you know that the film is actually going to be set in modern times, especially if you’ve seen “The Village.” Making Alice’s world a simulation doesn’t add much to the equation. Maybe it would’ve been interesting to see what happens to Alice after she escapes, but the film just kind of ends there. At the very least, you could’ve left us on this line: “Damn, the whole thing was just a virtual reality experience.”

Surprise villains are among the most frustrating modern movie trends, especially when everybody figures it out from the cast list alone. For the final entry in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy, it was announced that Marion Cotillard would star as Miranda Tate, a character who’s never appeared in the comics. Fans immediately concluded that Miranda was an alias for Talia al Ghul. Cotillard insisted that she wasn’t playing Talia and that Miranda was “a good guy,” but she didn’t fool anybody. Well, she did fool Batman, who doesn’t realize Miranda’s true identity until she stabs him in the back. The world’s greatest detective! The only real surprise here is that young Talia is played by Joey King of “The Kissing Booth” trilogy.

Being the second entry in the rebooted “Star Trek” series, introducing Khan as the villain was the next logical step. When Benedict Cumberbatch joined the cast, we all knew who he’d be playing, but “Into Darkness” learned nothing from “Dark Knight Rises” a year earlier. The filmmakers, marketing team, and actors did everything in their power to cover up the fact that Cumberbatch was Khan. This was like trying to hide an elephant in a one-room apartment, however. If anything, their efforts to keep this twist under wraps only seemed to draw more attention to “John Harrison” inevitably being Khan. Reflecting on the sequel, J. J. Abrams acknowledged a few things that he might’ve done differently, including trying to conceal Khan’s role in the film.

Which plot twists did you see coming from a mile away? Let us know in the comments… but we guess leave a spoiler alert?