20 Most Idiotic Film Twists Of All Time

2. It Was All A Dream - Boxing Helena

Boxing Helena
Orion Pictures

The Twist: Almost the entire events of the movie, where surgeon Dr. Nick Cavanaugh (Julian Sands) amputates hit-and-run victim Helena's (Sherilyn Fenn) arms and legs, are the product of a dream Nick has while Helena is in surgery.

Why It's Stupid: Because "it was all a dream" is literally the laziest twist ending any writer can pull out of their a**, and making the whole movie a figment of a man's imagination just makes it feel kinda worthless. Was Jennifer Chambers Lynch (daughter of David) afraid of committing to a more horrific finale? What was the point in completely undoing what was mostly an intriguingly screwed up film?

Thankfully this sort of ending is so universally reviled that filmmakers very rarely opt for it these days.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.