20 Amazing Movie Plot Twists That Never Get Talked About
17. There Never Was An Aaron - Primal Fear
Primal Fear was all the proof we needed that Edward Norton was a generational acting talent, evidenced by his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination as teenage altar boy Aaron Stampler, who is accused of murdering an Archbishop.
He's defended by highfalutin defense attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere), and while for most of this legal thriller we assume that Veil will successfully defend Aaron, the ending turns everything horrifyingly on its head.
Firstly, we learn that Aaron did kill the Archbishop, albeit in revenge for being sexually abused, and he was apparently suffering from a dissociative identity disorder at the time of the murder, where a psychopathic alternate personality called Roy took over. Aaron is promptly found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a psychiatric ward, where during a final meeting with Veil he reveals that he faked it all.
Not only was Aaron not suffering with DID, Aaron never really existed; the violent Roy is actually his real personality, and he simply cooked up Aaron for the sake of his ingenious plan.
This is just one of those endings that leaves you totally flabbergasted, and yet it isn't championed nearly enough online.