10 Most Dishonest Editing Cuts In Film History

1. Louise's Past Is Actually Her Future - Arrival

And our list ends now with proof that dishonest editing isn't always bad, and sometimes it can even amplify a film's themes quite beautifully.

Denis Villeneuve's fantastic sci-fi drama Arrival opens with an emotionally shattering montage in which we witness linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) raising her young daughter, which tragically climaxes with her child dying of an incurable disease as a teenager.

The montage is backed by Louise's mournful narration, that her daughter's death was "the end." She then adds, "But now I'm not so sure I believe in endings and beginnings," as the scene cuts from the hospital where her daughter died to the present, where Louise is teaching at a university.

The cut between the two locations obviously implies that Louise's daughter died in the past, with the narration serving as a "bridge" between the hospital and the university.

But as the film's third act reveals, Louise's burgeoning knowledge of the alien language ultimately allows her to view time in non-linear fashion.

As such, Louise's daughter wasn't yet born and we were instead being shown a glimpse of the future, where she conceived the child with her love interest in the movie, Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner).

It's a quite ingenious use of editing to not only trick the viewer but also play with the film's own non-linear perspective on time. That it happens to be completely devastating is surely what makes it work in spite of its obviously manipulative intent.