11 Recent Movie Plot Twists You Never Saw Coming

8. Missing - June's Father Is Behind It All

Malignant Annabelle
Sony Pictures Releasing

Missing, a screenlife thriller about Los Angeles teenager June (Storm Reid) trying to find her mother Grace (Nia Long) after she disappears during a vacation in South America, might not have quite lived up to the sheer brilliance of its predecessor - 2018's Searching - but it was still an impressive nail-biter. Furthermore, it did one-up that first film in one way: the climactic twist was better, and a little less predictable. 

The movie's entire plot is filled with clever twists and turns, and it saves the best one for last: June's apparently-dead father, James, is alive and behind the entire scheme. Years earlier, Grace had actually gone into witness protection to escape James, who was an abusive criminal. 

This is one of those twists that is barely signposted throughout the film, and while sometimes such an out-of-nowhere twist is jarring (looking at you, Now You See Me), in this case, it's a reveal that's both blindsiding yet also believable in the context of the plot - efficiently tying all of the story's mysteries together and leading to a thoroughly tense climax. 

As well as being a follow-up to Searching, Missing is also set in the same universe as the aforementioned Run, and made by the same creative team. These guys certainly know how to put together a good mystery.

 
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Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.