10 Greatest Plot Twists In The History Of Cinema
8. Gone Baby Gone (2007)
The Plot: Two Boston detectives (Casey Affleck and Ed Harris) go out of their comfort zone to search for a missing four year old. They suspect a local drug dealer, but nothing is certain. The investigation becomes both a professional and personal crisis for Patrick Kenzie (Affleck) as he begins to questions the morality of the case. Based on the Dennis Lehane novel.
The Twist: The missing girls kidnap was faked, and she has been living with police captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) all along. Doyles own young daughter died years earlier, the missing girl becoming a sort-of surrogate.
Why Its Great: Not only for the initial surprise, but for the questions it creates. Kenzie finds the missing girl, Amanda, leaving in peaceful bliss with the loving Doyle and his wife. Her own mother, Helene (Amy Ryan), is, if not quite abusive, then at least negligent. This poses simple questions of right vs. wrong that are far from simple. Does Kenzie do the right thing and return the girl to her devastated mother, or does he do the other right thing and leave the girl in an all-round better situation? This creates a kind-of twist within a twist, and Gone Baby Gone is all the more powerful for it.