10 More Disturbing Plot Twists In Non-Horror Movies
Horror films don't have the monopoly on traumatizing audiences...
When it comes to disturbing an audience, a well-executed plot twist is one of the most effective tools in a filmmaker's arsenal. Flipping the whole story on its head and pulling out the rug from underneath can make an entire film one hell of an unsettling experience, and this device is frequently an effective way to create an atmosphere of dread and hammer home a movie's themes.
In terms of the most chilling plot twists out there, some might (understandably) think first of the horror genre. Psycho, The Wicker Man, Saw, The Others, Don't Look Now, Barbarian, The Orphanage - they've all got twists that'll haunt you long after the film ends.
Nevertheless, horror movies don't have a monopoly on messed-up plot twists. In fact, far from it. Just take the following ten movies, for example. None of them are horror flicks, and they come from a variety of diverse genres; sci-fi, psychological thriller, period drama, one of them is even a documentary. What they all have in common is that they've got brutally disturbing plot twists that give the best of the horror genre a run for their money.
10. Snowpiercer - Gilliam Was In On It
Kicking off the list is this much-underrated plot twist from Bong Joon-ho's brilliant post-apocalyptic thriller Snowpiercer, which revolves around a train circling a frozen earth. With tragic inevitability, the train has become a segregated class society and those at the back of the train are living in squalor. Curtis (Chris Evans) leads an uprising against those in charge of the train. However, by the time he reaches the front, nearly all of his allies are gone, including his close friend and mentor, Gilliam (John Hurt).
In the film's unforgettable final half-hour, Curtis finally meets the leader of the train, Wilford (Ed Harris), who reveals that Gilliam was actually allied with him. He and Gilliam conspired to incite a rebellion, and the purpose of this was actually to reduce the population of the train's tail-end to manageable levels. All along, Curtis was never really a revolutionary, he was just a plaything of those who ruled over him, and this twist was a clever way to hammer home just how corrupt and evil the Snowpiercer's society really was.
Also, what a horrendous betrayal this was. Compared to this, Lando Calrissian stabbing Han Solo in the back looks like nothing.