The tasty Jameson Ginger with a twist of Lime got us in the mood to celebrate five of the top twists in movie history. So this weekend, sit yourself down with a Jameson Ginger and lime, line up the five films below and prepare yourself for the twistiest evening of all twisty twists. Twist.
By Eoghan Doherty
It goes without saying really but we cannot stress this enough – this article is absolutely jam-packed full spoilers so…
SPOILER ALERT
Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
The great things about the best film twists is that it insures that you immediately want to go back and watch the film all over again, seeing everything in an entirely new light.
Plus you can pretend that you saw the twist coming all along when you watch it with first-time viewers. Sure you did.
However, recommending top quality films while simultaneously revealing their brilliant twists is a bit like somebody buying you a chocolate teapot, but here it goes…
THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
M. Night Shammalammdoowopdowoppeebop (or M. Night Shyamalan to his friends) really came to the film world’s attention when he wrote and directed the excellent supernatural horror, The Sixth Sense.
After being attacked by an ex-patient at the opening of the film, we follow child psychologist Dr Crowe on his next case study, a young boy who claims he can communicate with people who have died.
Here’s one of the more famous scenes where both actors (Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment) show off how good they are at whispering:
But here’s the moment that Dr Crowe finds out that he’s the one who’s actually been dead the ENTIRE TIME.
Holy shitbuckets.
Additional spoiler alert – the quality is shit.
CITIZEN KANE (1941)
One of the greatest films ever made, Orson Welles’ directorial debut follows the path of an investigative journalist as he searches for the meaning of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane’s dying last word: “Rosebud.”
As the film concludes, the journalist Thompson gives up the hunt, believing that he’ll never get to the bottom of the mystery. The viewer, however, watches on as Rosebud is revealed to be the name of Citizen Kane’s childhood sled, representing the only time in his life that he was ever truly happy. *weeps uncontrollably*
This particular twist has been described as the “greatest secret in cinema” and additionally, “Rosebud” was allegedly the pet name for the certain female nether region of Marion Davies, the mistress of William Randolph Hearst, the man who’s life Citizen Kane was partly based on.
And here’s Family Guy’s Peter Griffin with his own unique take on how to properly spoil a movie twist:
FIGHT CLUB (1999)
We’re sorting of breaking the first rule of Fight Club by talking about Fight Club.
And I suppose we’re probably breaking the second rule of Fight Club by, well, still talking about Fight Club.
We have to though because the film has a top notch twist. The film is one of JOE’s personal favourites anyway but maybe we’re biased because director David Fincher called us a “fellow pervert,” but that’s another story for another time.
Ed Norton plays the unnamed protagonist, an everyman who hates the life he leads and his white-collar job. After a chance encounter with effervescent soap maker Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), he forms a “fight club,” going on to wreak chaos across the States with his anarchic group of followers.
The moment that blew everyone’s mind though, is when Norton realises that Durden isn’t real and has actually been a figment of our protagonist’s imagination throughout.
Sweet baby Jeebus in Heaven:
An immensely satisfying rewatch of the film also reveals that Fincher included little subliminal flashes of Durden at key moments through the film. Genius.
The film also led to the brilliant theory that iconic 1980’s film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off could actually be read in the same way as Fight Club, insofar that Ferris is actually a figment of Cameron’s twisted imagination:
THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995)
We still haven’t forgiven that di*k in Physics class in secondary school who spoiled the amaaaaazing twist at the end of The Usual Suspects before we’d even had a chance to see the film.
We will have our revenge. Oh yes random secondary school Physics student (you know who you are), we will have our revenge.
Kevin Spacey, after spending the entire film regaling his police interrogators with tales of the infamous and evil Keyser Soze, walks out of police headquarters a free man, only to cooly light a cigarette and turn his crippled limp into a relaxed walk, thereby revealing that he’s been Soze all along.
Faking a limp the whole way through the film? Now THAT’S acting.
STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)
The daddy of all film twists. Quite literally.
It’s been often copied, but never bettered – the moment when Darth Vader reveals to Luke Skywalker that he is actually his father. Enough said.
Here’s the classic twist moment with another obligatory Family Guy bonus:
This moment from the second film in the original and greatest Star Wars trilogy may be so ingrained in pop culture now, but it is still an incredible moment when people watch it for the first time.
Check out this amazing video when one dad caught his own son’s reaction to the big reveal:
These films may be five of the greatest twists but there are plenty more out there. Some honourable mentions go to the following: The Departed, Se7en, Memento, Soylent Green, The Prestige, Planet of the Apes and The Crying Game. Be careful with that last one – JOE had their own “Crying Game” moment in Copper’s recently. Not a pleasant experience.
Or, for handiness, just have look (or not) at this all-inclusive spoiler poster:
Spoiler alert – that’s the end of the article. Check out the Jameson Facebook Page for a chance to win the perfect night out!
