10 More Best Movie Twists You Genuinely Never Saw Coming

Best Picture-winning crime caper The Sting follows two grifters, Gondorff (Paul Newman) and Hooker (Robert Redford), as they hatch a plan to perform the con of a lifetime on vicious crime boss Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw).

The pair's elaborate ruse involves creating a fake betting parlour where Lonnegan can be compelled to place a bad bet and lose a massive amount of money.

But once the gambit plays out and Lonnegan angrily demands his money back, the FBI storms the parlour to arrest Gondorff, while letting a compliant Hooker go.

An infuriated Gondorff then shoots Hooker, before FBI Agent Polk (Dana Elcar) shoots Gondorff, at which point Lonnegan is escorted from the scene.

Once they're gone, however, Gondorff and Hooker reveal they're absolutely fine - the shootings were staged and "Agent Polk" is actually a conman working with the duo to ensure both Lonnegan and the real authorities think the duo are dead.

And like that, Lonnegan never returns for his money, entirely unaware that he just got robbed by two men he believes are dead. Incredible.

By the end of the movie, the audience is basically trained to trust nothing they're presented with, and yet, it still manages to pull a fast one on them - a con within a con. And that is The Sting's true genius.