Ah, plot twists. Where would the cinematic medium be without its plot twists? Though often derided by critics and audiences - especially when they render a picture something akin to incomprehensible - there's something inherently satisfying about the idea of a "twist." Though a bad one can do away with all the good that comes before it, a worthy rug-pull can imbue a movie with added layers of light and shade; it can inject a picture with hidden depths; it can increase the likelihood that you'll go back. Over the course of each and every year, audiences often find themselves plopped down in front of lots of pictures that thrive on their ability to blow-minds with some well-placed plot twists, and 2014 was no different. Though there were certainly a healthy number of ill-judged and ultimately dissatisfying twists on show - many of which were contained within some of the year's biggest movies - 2014 also gifted audiences with lots of films that really knew how to utilise those all-important plot twists for the better. Here, then, are the best twists of 2014: the ones that stuck in your memory banks and refused to vacate for a surprising long time. The best twists linger on for days, of course, forcing you at metaphorical gunpoint to revaluate everything you saw - or everything you thought you saw - to find new meanings and hidden depths. For the purposes of this article, a plot twist shall be classified as "a sudden and often unexpected change of direction in the plot, implemented to shake up or shock the viewer." Please be warned: this article contains heavy spoilers. Don't venture onwards if you're the kind of person who goes insane over the revealing of plot details. Seriously.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
