10 More Best Movie Twists You Genuinely Never Saw Coming
7. There Never Was An Aaron - Primal Fear
Primal Fear's closing reveal is one of those goddamn moments that cements a movie's legacy forever more, while also securing Edward Norton a well-earned Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.
The legal thriller follows hotshot defense attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere) as he defends a teenage altar boy, Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton), accused of murdering an Archbishop.
It's eventually revealed that Aaron did kill the Archbish, albeit in revenge for being sexually abused, and moreover, he was also suffering from dissociative identity disorder at the time of the killing, adopting a sadistic alternate personality called Roy.
As such, Aaron is found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a psych hospital, but during his final meeting with Vail, he reveals that he faked the whole damn thing.
No, Aaron hasn't been suffering from DID at all - he cooked it up to effectively allow him to get away with murder. And to make matters even worse, when Vail asks him if Roy ever existed, Aaron offers the ice-cold reply, "There never was an Aaron."
Aaron had been faking a shy guise for the entire movie, when the more violent, sociopathic Roy was his true persona the entire time. All a shell-shocked Vail can do is leave the courthouse in disbelief, and the audience can certainly relate.
This is one of those twist endings that'll live rent-free in your head for years.