I recently watched “The Sixth Sense” for the first time. Over the years I’d heard so much about the “crazy twist” near the end of the movie (but avoided the specifics), and I can honestly say that I didn’t see it coming. Then, like millions of moviegers have done since the film was released in 1999, I immediately started to think back through the story to try to piece it all together, knowing what I now knew.
This experience got me thinking about other cinematic twists, and not ones that take place midway through a movie or involve things such as a character dying or a change in tone, but legitimate, final scene shockers that come out of left field and completely change everything you thought you knew about the movie up to that point.
Of course, there are the classics in this category: “Citizen Kane”, “Psycho” and “Planet of the Apes” (a personal favorite). Online lists on the subject also include 90s hits “The Usual Suspects”, “Se7en”, “American Psycho”, “Memento” and “Chinatown”.
But these lists include very few movies from the past 10-15 years. And the reason is no surprise: rarely have recent films provided a “Sixth Sense”-type twist. Blockbusters “Frozen” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” include big surrpises, but they come too early in the story and aren’t shocking enough to qualify.
After some research I’ve come-up with three films that do belong in the conversation (spoliers ahead, so be warned):
“THE INCREDIBLES” (2004) – It’s a minor one, but let’s be honest, when Jack-Jack’s superpower was revealed during the climax, you absolutely do not see it coming.
“MEN IN BLACK 3” (2012) – During the finale flashback featuring Will Smith’s Agent J and the younger version of K (Josh Brolin), the trilogy comes full circle in a completely unexpected and emotional way.
“THE LEGO MOVIE” (2014) – The most legitimate of the three. The final moments, when the story goes from fantasy to reality, is a real mind-blower. And moviegoers (and critics) did a nice job keeping the big surprise a secret. “LEGO” was the Best Animated Feature of ’14 and earned the Critics Choice Award in that category nearly a year to the day after its release. It also deserves the “Statue of Liberty” Award for featuring the best closing twist of any film of the 21st century.