These aren’t just films with great endings. They’re films that would have been complete failures without an eleventh hour twist. Click the images to watch the endings at YouTube.
10. Citizen Kane (1941)
“I don’t think any word can explain a man’s life. No, I guess Rosebud is just a… piece in a jigsaw puzzle… a missing piece.”
It may be the stuff of a film professor’s wet dreams, but ask any film student and they’ll tell you, Citizen Kane is a two hour set-up for a three-minute scene. In fact, the whole movie can basically be abbreviated to its closing shot and line.
9. The Usual Suspects (1995)
“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”
The conclusion to Kevin Spacey’s best performance makes this one of the best crime movies ever. The final scene turns everything that came before it on its head. More than that, the movie’s final revelation makes the rest of the movie’s fragmented plot make sense.
8. Saw (2004)
“Most people are so ungrateful to be alive, but not you. Not anymore.
What’s the difference between a bad horror flick and a fantastic thriller? The quality of the twist at the end. Saw’s Agatha Christie-style ending vaulted the film from a second-rate slasher to one of the most chilling horror films in recent history.
7. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
“Grant these pilgrims we pray a happy journey and peaceful days…”
Yeah, it may be one of the classics of science fiction, but all the thrill of the film is in its last ten minutes. Without the alien landing, this is just a film about a guy gone round the bend. It’s the big payout that the people come to see.
6. The Wicker Man (2006)
“The drone must die! The drone must die! The drone must die!”
It’s difficult to choose between the 2006 and the 1973 version of this film. Both feature a chilling ending that’s hard to see coming. With a few masterful strokes, the story goes from a rather dull mystery to horror with fantasy overtones.
5. A.I. (2001)
“If you want for my happiness, then you know what you have to do.”
Maybe one of the least understood films released in recent days, the ending of A.I. was so widely criticized that the DVD extras include an interview in which director Steve Spielberg actually explains it. It also happens to be one of the dullest sci-fi movies released in the last decade. However, if you manage to stay awake through the first two hours and do understand the end, it’s a real tear-jerker.
4. Unbreakable (2000)
“I should have known way back when. You know why, David? Because of the kids! They called me Mr. Glass.”
This is the film that gave me the idea for this list. The last minutes of Unbreakable transform it from a film about a character who happens to run a comic book store into a really well executed super hero origin story.
3. Crash (2004)
“It’s okay Daddy. I’ll protect you.”
Crash ends with what may possibly be the most touching bit of child acting in Hollywood history. The scene elevates the film from the obscurity of dramatic films with a similar racial themes like Grand Canyon to a critically-aclaimed Academy Award winner.
2. Se7en (1995)
“Because I envy your normal life, it seems that envy is my sin. Become vengeance, David. Become Wrath.”
Se7en makes the list for riding the fine line between gruesome slasher and intelligent thriller right up until the last possible minute. Had the final twist not been so well executed, it might have been relegated to the same shelf as the last three entries in the Saw franchise.
1. Michael Clayton (2007)
“Do I look like I’m negotiating?”
Here’s the best example of how ten minutes can turn an entire film around. Even the trailers for this film agreed, Michael Clayton is alllll about the last five minutes. The film’s protagonist goes from being a jerk to being the hero of the piece in the space of a few line, and Tilda Swinton’s reaction alone is worth the price of admission.
Near Misses
Before you beginning berreting me for missing the obvious choices, let me reiterate that the theme of this list is movies that were falling flat right up to the last moment. 12 Monkeys, The Blair Witch Project, Momento, Planet of the Apes, and The Sixth Sense all featured memorable twists, but they were fairly gripping prior to their ends. Their special effects and unique premises made them intriguing prior to the last ten minutes of their stories.
Movies like Hancock, Hide and Seek, Vanilla Sky, and a number of others were disqualified because, while they end with a twist, their twists actually ruined the rest of the movie, in my opinion. Still others, such as The Others and The Village were improved by their conclusions, but audiences sat down expecting a twist right from the outset.
So, while further suggestions are welcomed, be prepared for a big, wet “meh.” I’ve ponied up my selections, and I’m sticking to them.
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