Top 10 Teen Movie Plot Twists You Didn't See Coming
#10: Regina George Gets Hit By a Bus “Mean Girls” (2004)
Top 10 Most Iconic Regina George Quotes
Topping the box office in 2004, this teen comedy focuses on Cady’s struggles fitting in with the popular crowd at a new high school. Just like Cady, we all idolized The Plastics’ popularity. Who wouldn’t want to fit in with them? Regina and Cady embark in a friendship facade, but when the Burn Book is exposed, their friendship starts to implode. While the audience expects Cady to be next in line to dethrone Regina of her Queen B status, what happens to Regina during a heightened argument between them comes completely out of left field: the Plastics’ leader is abruptly and unexpectedly taken down by a school bus. Talk about karma rolling back around to get you!
#9: Bella Swan-Cullen Lives on as a Vampire “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” (2011)
The forbidden love between a vampire and a human in the Twilight Saga captivated our hearts; however, Bella’s life and safety always seemed vulnerable during her relationship with Edward. In this second-to-last installment of the series, Bella is impregnated with Edward's partial vampire child, but due to the strain on her health, he must make a devastating decision. Edward opts to save Bella by injecting her with his venom after childbirth, which ultimately deprives her of her humanity. Watching him perform this act while taking into consideration his previous reluctance and reticence was quite the surprise. And then, just when all human life from Bella appears to be drained, the sound of her new vampire life begins to beat and she opens her eyes.
#8: Micah Gets More Than Just Guidance from the Guidance Counselor “Easy A” (2010)
Written by Bert V. Royal, this quirky teen comedy focuses on high school student, Olive Penderghast. She inadvertently develops a false promiscuous reputation, which results in mandatory meetings with the school guidance counselor, Mrs. Griffith. At one point, it becomes known that Micah, the boyfriend of Olive’s nemesis Marianne, has contracted a sexually transmitted infection. This is a peculiarly touchy situation, since Micah is part of Marianne’s strict church group. Given Olive’s so-called tainted character, all suspicions point to her as the transmitter. To our and Olive’s astonishment though, Mrs. Griffith confesses the secret affair to her. This relationship between a (legal) student and a guidance counselor was never anticipated and had us side-eyeing Mrs. Griffith for the remainder of the film. On that note, she is probably the last person Olive should be seeking guidance from…
#7: Mark Loring Admits His Feelings for Juno MacGuff “Juno” (2007)
Top 10 Most Badass Mark Wahlberg Movie Moments
Creative genius Jason Reitman directed this young adolescent film centralizing on the pregnant Juno. The story follows the teen carefully hand-picking a family that she feels comfortable enough around to raise her unborn child. In the hopes of creating a bond between her and the soon-to-be parents, Mark and Vanessa, she spends quality time with both members of the family. As Juno is expecting to welcome her child into a happy home with a solid foundation, she is blindsided when Mark admits that he has developed feelings for her - who is only sixteen. Mark destroys their adoption agreement and abandons his marriage all in a few scenes, while his attraction to Juno and his decision to separate from his wife leave a repulsive taste in our mouths.
#6: Kitty Sends Out Love Letters “To All the Boys I've Loved Before” (2018)
In this film, Susan Johnson and Sofia Alvarez present the story of the reserved Lara Jean Covey, who writes love letters addressed to her crushes. Without the intention of sending the letters, she keeps them safe by hiding them in her closet… or so she thinks. The biggest shock in this teen rom-com is who the distributor of the letters is. The culprit ends up being Lara Jean’s seemingly innocent little sister, Kitty. In Kitty’s defence, she was trying to help her sister go for what she truly wants - that being, Peter Kavinsky. And in the end, her twisted scheme works out for Lara Jean. We’re even given an extended look into their blossoming love story in the sequel, where Lara Jean ultimately chooses Peter over John Ambrose.
#5: Jamie Sullivan’s Health Confession “A Walk to Remember” (2002)
Jamie Bell Interview: Tintin Premiere Red Carpet
This teen romance has a soft spot in our hearts. To sum it up, Landon Carter, a rebellious student, must partake in the school play to avoid more serious punishment for his bad-boy behavior. If he promises to avoid falling in love with her, do-gooder Jamie Sullivan says she will agree to help him. Of course, Landon does fall for her. The movie follows the blossoming romance between the two, which inevitably causes the audience to root for them. But then, Jamie pulls the plug on their happily ever after when she announces to Landon that she has Leukemia and hasn’t been responding to treatment. We won’t spoil the ending, but just thinking about it makes our hearts break for Landon and Jamie all over again.
#4: Billy Loomis & Stu Macher Are Revealed as Ghostface “Scream” (1996)
As a teen horror film, this entry differs slightly from the rest on this list, but there’s no denying Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s revolutionary take on the slasher genre packs a mind-boggling twist. The film centers on Sidney Prescott, who begins receiving threatening phone calls. Unfortunately, her friends fall victim to the masked assailant making these calls. The audience is taken on a long haul to try and solve the case. As if knowing that people close to her have had their lives taken isn’t earth-shattering enough, Sidney’s worst nightmare eventually comes true: during an attack, Billy, her boyfriend, and his co-conspirator, Stu, also her friend, step forward and admit to what happened, which makes us, the audience, do exactly what the movie’s title is - scream!
#3: Thomas J. Sennett Dies from Bee Stings “My Girl” (1991)
On-screen childhood love stories often end with a happy ending. Unfortunately, in Howard Zieff’s film, this is not the case. Vada Sultenfuss and Thomas J. Sennett are best friends who spend most of their time together. As a hypochondriac, Vada chooses to be scared of death and mostly everything else. Thomas J. suffers from several allergies, which limits him from most activities. One thing we know is that they are not afraid of each other and their friendship grows into something more. One day, Thomas J. braves locating Vada's lost mood ring while knowing it’s under a bees’ nest. So when we find out he died from an allergic reaction resulting from a bee attack while attempting to be Vada’s hero and that the two didn’t have the chance to say good-bye, our hearts are completely shattered.
#2: Simon Spier's Secret Admirer “Love, Simon” (2018)
In this teen rom-com, Simon withholds his sexual orientation, fearing true acceptance from friends and family. When he’s told of an online post by a fellow student written under the alias “Blue”, Simon is encouraged to explore his sexuality. Remaining anonymous, Simon as “Jacques” reaches out to Blue by email. While bonding, several events transpire, one being that Simon is outed. This leads Simon on a hunt to track down the real Blue. Simon invites his pen pal to reveal himself at the school carnival. And when Blue is ultimately revealed as Bram, one of Simon’s peers whom he caught kissing a girl, our jaws dropped. After Bram explains himself, the two are able to fearlessly ignite their relationship together.
#1: Augustus "Gus" Waters Is Dying “The Fault in Our Stars” (2014)
This tragic teen film was developed on the basis of John Green’s 2012 novel. While attending a cancer support group, Hazel Lancaster sparks a friendship with Gus Waters over common interests, including novels. She recommends one written by Peter Van Houten that relates to their situations. The two chase the author to Amsterdam and on their journey, they fall in love. Hopeless romantics everywhere were cheering for Gus and Hazel to live happily ever after…but we were thrown a mega-curve ball when Gus confesses that his cancer has come back and his life will soon come to an end. We were in just as much shock and heartbreak as Hazel was because - up until that point - we were led to believe that Gus was strong, and possibly even stronger than her.
