8 Movies That Fooled Us Twice

The best stories are about how you tell them. Even if an audience knows what's going to happen, as long as the story is good people will be able to go home happy. But you know what's better than a great but predictable story? A good twist.

A lot of films live on the shock of their twist; a turn in the story or a revelation that changes everything. A great twist is memorable and, in many cases, enough to sell a film on alone. Many stories are built around that moment, setting expectations to subvert them and catch viewers off guard. Unfortunately, many moviegoers are so twist-suspicious these days, they'll be looking for any and all signs of what's to come.

So, what's a movie to do? In many cases, the best answer is to throw another one in them that they don't see coming.

It's not an easy thing but a film that can catch us off-guard more than once is a beautiful thing. After all, we all want to be surprised and brought along for the ride. Even big brain moviegoers who are deciphering the clues of one storyline might find themselves shocked when another twist comes flying out of leftfield.

Whilst Jordan Peele was an established sketch comedy writer at the time of 2017’s Get Out, nobody quite expected him to be able to write a modern horror classic with the kinds of twists that would make Alfred Hitchcock proud.

Get Out’s Chris meets his white girlfriend’s family for the first time and a series of strange events leave him rattled.

As Chris finds himself concerned for his safety, he tells his girlfriend Rose to pack her stuff and leave. It’s then that he discovers that she’s been not only lying about her relationship history, but that she has been in on the schemes of her family since the beginning. This seemingly perfectly normal girl has led him to his doom.

Whilst the film has a prevailing air of uncertainty and danger, Get Out goes from feeling like a traditional “messed up slasher family” story to something much more uncomfortable. After being knocked out, Chris awakens and is privy to the entire truth. Rose’s family have a racially-charged motive; abducting black men and women to use as hosts for their minds, believing them to be physically superior specimens.

Get Out is not a jump scare kind of horror, and instead its rollercoaster of events is what makes it truly tense and unnerving. This back-to-back revelation is perfectly placed to take us through to the film’s crescendo and Chris’ one chance at escape.