10 Greatest Plot Twists In The History Of Cinema
5. The Game (1997)
The Plot: Fincher again. Loner millionaire Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) is given a gift by his brother (Sean Penn) on his 48th birthday: a subscription to a live-action game of his life. Giving into curiosity, Orton begins it, not knowing it will come to consume him.
The Twist: Where to begin with this one? The Game, run by the mysterious CRS (Consumer Recreation Services), at first seems to be sinister. With Orton trapped on a rooftop and surrounded by CRS employees, he shoots Conrad (Penn) and leaps to his death just as Conrad was about to reveal that the game was just a joke that got out of hand. Great twist, right? But no, were not done, because Orton falls through a specially placed breakaway glass ceiling to land into a party that celebrates his birthday, and the completion of the actual game. The lesson? Orton must not become like his father, who leaped to his death on his own 48th birthday, an act Orton witnessed as a child.
Why Its Great: Probably the most absurd entry on this list, The Game makes it on for its sheer commitment to the twist, and for the unrelenting insistence upon it. This is a dazzling, hallucinatory film, and the twist is only one part of Finchers grand illusion. The Game is a guessing-game throughout, and just when you think you have the answer, it takes another turn, leaving you as crazed and clueless as the hapless Van Orton.