Twist Endings

PhantomScreenwriter

PhantomScreenwriter

What are people's opinions on twist endings? Does anyone feel they are like flashbacks in the sense that they have become a cliche story telling technique?

I think the best films that have pulled off the twist ending are Seven, The Sixth Sense and the very first Saw film, to name a few. I feel that if done well a twist ending can be a great way to end a film especially if it delivers a shock or surprise that wasn't predicted ahead of time.

But what makes a really good twist ending? I think a good twist is one that doesn't cheapen the rest of the film and feels natural in context of the type of story being told.
 
They are a bit of a cliche, but I still enjoy them. The Saw movies are probably the best at it. Lately, I find myself expecting a twist, and then it's not a twist, and I actually find it really refreshing, haha.
 
The best twist endings are the ones you never see coming. And, there are usually a series of twists before the grand fanale.

Examples, The Hidden, Silence of the Lambs, The Matrix, The Cold Light of Day, and Dead Man Down.
 
I grew up on The Twilight Zone, so I'm predisposed to liking a twist ending. Like any other technique, there are good and bad uses.

For me, it boils down to how good the rest of the story is. If the story is boring once you know the twist, even if you don't guess it, then it's not very well done. But if the movie is still engaging even if you know the twist, or in some cases, even MORE engaging, then you've got a good story.
 
Twist endings can be really rewarding if done right.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. Your movie should be a compelling movie even without the twist. For example: The Sixth Sense is a pretty creepy ghost story as well as a touching story of a man recovering from a tragedy and a boy learning to deal with demons. The Usual Suspects is a funny, thrilling and suspenseful crime/heist movie. Both those movies would be pretty good films even without their twist endings. True, they would not be the cultural touchstones that they are now, but they certainly would both be interesting to watch.

2. Make sure your twist retroactively deepens the entire movie and expands your themes. There are great twist endings that don't necessarily do this (Diabolique, Primal Fear, No Way Out, etc.) but it is always better if they do. (Chinatown, Presumed Innocent, The Manchurian Candidate, The Prestige, The Empire Strikes Back, The Shawshank Redemption, etc.)

3. Just make sure your ending doesn't mean for the viewer that everything he or she just saw in the previous 90 minutes is a complete lie. These endings can submarine even good films.
 
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ahennessey said:
Twist endings can be really rewarding if done right.
1. Your movie should be a compelling movie even without the twist...
2. Make sure your twist retroactively deepens the entire movie and expands your themes.
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These are really good points. I really like 50 First Dates (romcom) for its twist ending in a genre that rarely sees one.

My sci-fi feature I am working on features a twist but not necessarily at the ending.
 
Flashbacks are indeed frequently overused but done right they can be great.

But you can have a great twist without a flashback as well.

My opinion of twists: love them. Most audience members do.

Just go a good one. Not the type of 'twist' that ended the TV series Lost.
 
Thanks for the responses, what has been posted makes complete sense. From a story construction stand point what do you think it's better to do - construct the narrative from beginning to the end where the twist (if the twist comes in at the end, it may arrive earlier) will occur or work backwards from the twist at the end to the beginning?
 
If you have a great twist idea then you could try to work the story to fit the idea. If you don't, work on the story and then maybe a twist will come to you or maybe it won't but you still end up with a good story.

For my romantic comedy, I had a great idea for the twist and came up with a better story that needed a revision of the twist that took forever to figure out. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes it takes time...
 
PhantomScreenwriter said:
Thanks for the responses, what has been posted makes complete sense. From a story construction stand point what do you think it's better to do - construct the narrative from beginning to the end where the twist (if the twist comes in at the end, it may arrive earlier) will occur or work backwards from the twist at the end to the beginning?
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I don't much like the idea of there being "the narrative" and "the twist". To me, that's the indication of a gimmicky twist. A twist should be a natural part of the narrative, and the writing skill comes from presenting the twist in open sight throughout the movie/series, but misdirecting viewers so they don't realise.

A good twist, for me, is one where I feel that, had I paid enough attention, I could have figured out what was going on from the first act/episode. Rewatching will only serve to highlight how well crafted the misdirection was.

A bad twist is one that is clearly just tacked on, and provides the viewer with no way of coming to that conclusion.
 
They are becoming a cliche, especially in a lot of indie films lately, at the festivals. I saw the first Saw film, and thought it had a bad ending, cause the twist created some big plot holes, earlier in the story I thought. That's one that felt tacked on for me. Seven , Oldboy, and No Way Out, are some of the best twists and felt natural.

I agree, that I would rather see a series of twists come earlier in the film. Sometimes saving it for the ending, is not the best, idea, cause then you don't have as much time to do a lot with the twist once it's revealed. An example would be The Dark Knight Rises, where once the twist was revealed, they didn't really have a lot of time to develop it afterwards, cause they had to move forward with the action. TDKR still did not better than usual though in my opinion.

But I usually like something else to happen in the happen for a bigger climatic ending, after the twist is revealed earlier. But it all depends on the story too.
 
I had the ending of Shutter Island spoiled for me before watching the movie but when I finally decided to watch the film I was trying to see the clues throughout the film until the twist is revealed, as an exercise, and there were many things I didn't notice, one of which is a character fumbling while performing an action that someone proficient wouldn't.

I guess Maz it's similar to the "all the events were just a dream. The End." type scenario which is like a tacked on twist.

Yeah Harmonica there's films that fail if they save the twist until the end. One of these I think is The Village.

One movie I forgot to mention earlier that had a really good twist is Frailty, directed by Bill Paxton.
 
I always struggle to think of examples to illustrate what I mean, but the dream one is an extreme example. The sort of thing that is a more common tacked-on twist is when a character turns out to be the culprit/criminal with nothing to indicate this was the case before or, worse, introduces inconsistencies as a result of the revelation.

I've watched more TV than movies recently, and I can think of a few shows that have really well-executed twists in the final episodes of a 10-13 episode run recently. Suddenly lots of little things in earlier episodes make sense... proper storytelling.

I think the most divisive twist is probably Fight Club. I love it, but there are others who think it's just silly. I remember being blown away by it the first time I saw it. And I've never seen The Sixth Sense, and I don't think there's any point doing so now, as it is possibly the most spoiled film in history :)
 
maz said:
I think the most divisive twist is probably Fight Club. I love it, but there are others who think it's just silly. I remember being blown away by it the first time I saw it. And I've never seen The Sixth Sense, and I don't think there's any point doing so now, as it is possibly the most spoiled film in history :)
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True, the Fight Club twist is a real audience divider. I haven't seen Fight Club since, but I remember being very disappointed in the ending when I saw it in the theater. However, the other people I saw it with loved it.

Re Sixth Sense. I actually would argue, and I know I'm in the minority, that The Sixth Sense is still very watchable even if you know the ending. In fact, it kind of makes the movie more interesting to watch in some ways. But, yeah, I really loved that feeling when I was completely surprised by the ending in the theater.
 
ahennessey said:
True, the Fight Club twist is a real audience divider. I haven't seen Fight Club since, but I remember being very disappointed in the ending when I saw it in the theater. However, the other people I saw it with loved it.

Re Sixth Sense. I actually would argue, and I know I'm in the minority, that The Sixth Sense is still very watchable even if you know the ending. In fact, it kind of makes the movie more interesting to watch in some ways. But, yeah, I really loved that feeling when I was completely surprised by the ending in the theater.
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Just out of interest, what did you find disappointing about the Fight Club ending? I agree it requires suspension of disbelief to extend beyond the story to the structural/POV aspects of the film, but it tied up a lot of things for me in a very satisfactory way. I may be biased, however, as I love everything about that film :)
 
maz said:
And I've never seen The Sixth Sense, and I don't think there's any point doing so now, as it is possibly the most spoiled film in history :)
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But, as an aspiring filmmaker, you should see it; if nothing else than to see an iconic film with an iconic twist. There's also some beautiful footage and some terrific acting. The directors commentary is interesting as well - they thought that they had blown the twist half-way through the film.

The-Sixth-Sense-1999.jpg
 
Come to think of it, the script I sold to an Indie producer called THE HAND OF NEMESIS that he renamed NEMESIS had a supernatural twist ending.

The producer moves it around a lot without notice. But, at least he let me have a copy I could download. I was okay with the way it turned out.

If you do a twist ending, it can't come out of nowhere. The story has to lead up to it. Some stories are crafted more subtle than others. But, in the end, your audience must see in their own minds how the story led up to the twist.
 
maz said:
Just out of interest, what did you find disappointing about the Fight Club ending? I agree it requires suspension of disbelief to extend beyond the story to the structural/POV aspects of the film, but it tied up a lot of things for me in a very satisfactory way. I may be biased, however, as I love everything about that film :)
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I can't really remember the film (I remember thinking the film wasn't that good - though I know most people like it). But in the book, the twist is less of a twist, it's suggested all the way through. If I remember, it's suggested on the first or second page. You might not pick it up on your first read, especially if you're not reading too carefully, but it becomes super obvious if you re-read it. So, at least in the book, there is no way to not have the twist - it wouldn't make sense without it. Is that the same in the film (I saw it a number of years ago and found it pretty forgettable)?
 
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