7 Movies That Secretly Give Away The Plot At The Very Start

3. Total Recall - Every Major Plot Point Gets A Sly Nod

The Citizen Kane of revealing the plot in the opening, Total Recall throws out so much of relevance to the later half of the film in the first twenty minutes that even rewatching it for the umpteenth time there’s still new stuff to pick up on.

It's still open to debate whether Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Doug Quaid is really awake or not throughout the film; there's just the right level of allusion to future events to make it impossible to know for sure whether what's happening is a dream or just extreme coincidence. Regardless of the truth, as a narrative Total Recall is peppered with clues to what's going to happen later on.

Obviously there’s the entire spiel Schwarzenegger’s Doug Quaid gets at Rekall - he’ll go to Mars, he’ll be a secret agent, he’ll meet a sleazy, athletic girl and, most memorably, there'll be blue skies - but the rant Dr Edgemar (allegedly Rekall's president, who's allegedly entered the dream) gives also winds up heavily prophetic - Doug’s allegiance does indeed switch maniacally and, in a case of a metaphor being taken rather literally, the walls literally come smashing down moments after he’s killed the bad doctor.