Murder mysteries is one of cinema’s quintessential genres, making discovering movies that subvert expectations an incredibly rewarding experience for many viewers. While there are plenty of mediocre mysteries where you can guess the killer or the ending in the first few minutes, there are several movies with incredible plot twists where viewers don’t know what will happen next.
Some movies feature plot twists that redefine a character’s nature completely, bring a drastic change of tone, or recontextualize the previous events, making for some mind-blowing resolutions that most viewers couldn’t anticipate at all. While there are plenty of worthwhile murder mysteries, these thrilling movies boast some of the greatest plot twists that pull an incredible surprise on the audience.
Identity
Identity is a psychological thriller, directed by James Mangold, that follows 10 strangers who end up staying in a run-down motel during a storm and are killed one by one. Beyond its claustrophobic atmosphere that is reinforced as the plot progresses and its stellar cast, Identity is the perfect film for mystery fans who want to test themselves.
What seems like nothing more than a series of chained events and a sort of tribute to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None begins to build up effectively at the end with one of the greatest plot twists that will fool the audience. This exciting recontextualization of the story makes Identity a great choice for viewers looking to be flabbergasted.
Knives Out
Knives Out is a whodunnit film with a colorful visual style and plenty of dark humor that masterfully blends flashbacks and manages to draw viewers in to try to solve the case. In the film, Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) goes to investigate when a renowned novelist, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), is found dead in an apparently locked room.
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Not only does the crime scene complicate the case, but so does the victim’s long list of heirs. With the help of Thrombey’s nurse, Benoit begins to put the pieces together while determining each character’s motives, like a Clue board game come to life. However, Knives Out subverts expectations with twists that change what viewers seem to understand about the crime.
The Secret In their Eyes
Set in Argentina in the 70s, The Secret in Their Eyes is an Academy Award-winning film that, beyond a crime, intertwines an unconventional love story with the consequences of justice and revenge. It follows Benjamín Espósito, who decides to write a novel about a brutal murder case that changed him and the lives of the people around him two decades ago.
How Benjamín seeks to find the murderer not only keeps viewers on edge, but the film is also full of social criticism by portraying a corrupt system and the political landscape of the time. Equally disturbing and moving, The Secret in Their Eyes is slow-paced, but it won’t disappoint with its major revelations that will leave viewers stunned.
The Usual Suspects
Although it may seem like simply the story of a final heist that went very wrong, The Usual Suspects is decidedly misleading. Starting with a scene with several corpses and a mysterious figure on a dock, the film follows the perspective of the criminals six weeks earlier, becoming a visual puzzle full of clues that will gradually gain intensity.
The film is endowed with great tension, superb performances, and a complex narrative as the police investigation spirals into a web of crime perfectly interwoven under a figure that seems to represent the Grim Reaper himself. With one of the best final lines of recent years in cinema, The Usual Suspects is a must-see thriller for every fan of the genre.
Mother
Mother, directed by Bon Joon-Ho (Parasite), revolves around a single mother who undertakes an investigation to prove that her mentally challenged son accused of the murder of a young woman is innocent. The film brings viewers an accumulation of feelings and reflections, with touches of dark humor and unexpected moments that feel like a bucket of cold water thrown in their faces.
This search for the truth is a vehicle to offer an intimate portrait of a classist society full of injustice but also the love and sacrifice of a mother, showing how far one is capable of going for those they love. Mother is loaded with emotions and knows how to make viewers empathize with the characters, for better or worse.
Gone Girl
Impeccably directed by David Fincher, Gone Girl is one of the most memorable thrillers in recent years. It follows the story of Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), who, after reporting his wife missing, ends up becoming the main suspect in her murder. The film not only has a magnificent performance by Rosamund Pike, but is also daring and fascinating.
The facade of a seemingly perfect marriage begins to crumble throughout the story, making Nick appear increasingly more guilty. However, viewers won’t know what to believe once perspectives change. Its jaw-dropping twist is what has cemented Gone Girl‘s status as a masterpiece that continues to be talked about even more than a decade after its release.
Memento
One of Christopher Nolan’s most acclaimed titles, Memento is a complex noir film in which viewers have to navigate the turbulent memories of a man with amnesia who tries to discover who killed his wife. In the film, Leonard (Guy Pearce) uses a series of tattoos on his body as clues to piece together the truth behind the murder.
The film’s fragmented narrative and shifts leave the audience completely disoriented. Every revelation, every twist in the mystery of his wife’s death is masterfully woven in Memento so that viewers don’t know if the events are real or not, questioning their own perceptions until unraveling the complexities of Leonard’s psyche.
Still, this is what makes Memento a hypnotic and wildly engaging viewing experience and a must-see for those who enjoy unconventional films. As Leonard’s relentless quest for revenge becomes more twisted towards the end, Memento’s shocking final twist is sure to leave viewers open-mouthed and pondering.
- Release Date
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May 25, 2001
- Runtime
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113 minutes