Epic Plot Twist: 25 Movies That Will Leave You Speechless

Raiph Fiennes

Movies featuring twists and turns are always interesting but can leave you bewildered, confused, or even irate. I often find myself speechless following an insanely dramatic and painful ending. Check out 25 films that will make your jaw hit the floor and stick in your mind for hours, if not days, after the credits roll. Warning: spoilers ahead.

1. Snowpiercer (2013)

Snowpiercer, Tilda Swinton
Image Credit: The Weinstein Company.

Snowpierecer is an intense movie about a frozen apocalyptic world where all of humanity lives on a high-speed train. Classism is a huge theme in this movie, but when things all fall apart, it doesn’t matter who you are. The bittersweet ending is both shocking, beautiful, and tragic.

2. The Lobster (2015)

The Lobster (2015)
Image Credit: Picturehouse Entertainment.

The Lobster is a truly disturbing movie about an alternate and dark world where finding a partner is a life-or-death situation. Colin Farrell’s character is interesting but offputting, and the ending leaves you speechless and probably uncomfortable.

3. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Marvel movies don’t usually leave me in disbelief, but this one got me. Avengers: Infinity War has one of the most surprising and memorable endings of all the Marvel films. Watching the jarring scene just before the movie ends will definitely leave you in a moment or two of shock.

4. Atonement (2007)

Atonement James McAvoy
Image Credit: StudioCanal.

As far as tragic endings go, Antonement’s final moments are pretty high up there. The ending of the film will leave you with an achy heart and an agape mouth because it’s so painful and brutal that it’s hard to believe. Make sure you have tissues handy.

5. Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

bridge to terabithia
Image Credit: Summit Entertainment.

Bridge to Terabithia is one of the movies that seems really wholesome and uplifting until it punches you in the gut. I also find it to be one of the most visually beautiful films, so the whimsical nature of the movie makes the ending even more grim.

6. Ex Machina (2014)

ex machina
Image Credit: A24.

When it comes to robots versus humans, the humans always come out on top, right? In Ex Machina, the robots win this round. The end of the movie is shockingly brutal and intense, and it will leave you with your jaw on the floor.

7. The Mist (2007)

Frances Conroy in The Mist (2017)
Image Credit: Dimension Television.

In case you didn’t already know, The Mist has one of the wildest endings that will leave you speechless well after the credits are done rolling. It’s easy to imagine how many crazy ways this plot could play out, but you still won’t see the final scene coming.

8. Melancholia (2011)

melancholia
Image Credit: Nordisk Film, Concorde Filmverleih, and BIM Distribuzione.

While you kind of see the end of Melancholia coming the whole time, it’s still unbelievable to watch it. It’s such a sad, slow ending that it feels surreal. And even though it may not be shocking, it will definitely leave you in a weird mood, unsure of what to say or how to react.

9. The Knowing (2009)

knowing
Image Credit: VINCE VALITUTTI / Summit Entertainment.

The Knowing is a Nicolas Cage movie about aliens and premonition and other fun supernatural stuff. The ending always catches me off-guard, as Cage’s character gives his children away to the alien race, saving them while everyone else supposedly perishes.

10. Hereditary (2018)

Hereditary Toni Collette
Image Credit: A24.

Hereditary is a scary movie from almost beginning to end, but the final scenes will still chill you to the bone and surprise you. It’s violent and petrifying, but you won’t forget it anytime soon. As always, Toni Collette is amazing and delivers an insane performance.

11. The Witch (2015)

Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch (2015)
Image Credit: A24.

The Witch was one of those movies that I wasn’t completely into until the very final scene that sold me on the whole film. A young Anya Taylor-Joy plays the abused daughter of a 1600s New England family but finds solace with the devil.

12. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers Brooke Adams
Image Credit: United Artists.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a fabulous 70s horror movie that will keep you hooked the whole time. The ending always gets me because it’s so dramatic and gives you a strong feeling of hope right before slamming you back into the ground again.

13. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Blair Witch Project
Image Credit: Artisan Entertainment.

One of the reasons The Blair Witch Project ending will leave you speechless is because it’s so abrupt and the story feels unfinished in an eerie way. While the ending will leave you in disbelief, your mouth will be wide open through most of this unsettling movie.

14. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon
Image Credit: Miramax Films.

Every time I even try to recommend this movie to someone, I get a little misty-eyed and have to compose myself. Even though you probably know the movie is tragic in the end, the way everything happens will still leave you feeling tortured and wronged.

15. The Menu (2022)

the menu
Image Credit: Searchlight Pictures.

The Menu is a fabulous movie that will engage you right off the bat. It’s about a luxury, exclusive restaurant with an unhinged head chef who holds his guests hostage. The ending is pure perfection, as the main character sails away to safety while chowing on a cheeseburger.

16. The Whale (2022)

The Whale Brendan Fraser
Image Credit: A24.

The Whale has a delightfully surprising ending that is half-uplifting and half-heartbreaking, so do with that what you will. The main character, who is lovable but frustrating, gets a happy ending as well as a sad death, so it’s sure to leave you with a lot of feelings.

17. The Truman Show (1998)

the truman show
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.

The first time you watch The Truman Show, the ending will have you on the edge of your seat. Truman can stay in the world he’s always known or venture into reality, and both options seem wholly possible until he finally chooses.

18. Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Triangle of Sadness Vicki Berlin, Dolly De Leon, Charlbi Dean
Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Triangle of Sadness is a wild movie that has plenty of twists and turns. It starts off following two superficial influencers in a half-hearted relationship, and by the end, it becomes a movie about class and life and death. The end leaves you with lots of unanswered questions and strong feelings.

19. The Ornithologist (2019)

The Ornithologist, Paul Hamy
Image Credit: Nitrato Filmes.

This movie will leave you speechless for days. It’s about a birdwatcher who gets lost in the woods and experiences a series of horrifying and complicated events that change him forever. The end won’t just leave you speechless, as the whole movie is purely insane and somewhat stressful.

20. Close (2022)

Close (2022). Eden Dambrine
Image Credit: Lumière.

Close is a tragic movie about two young boys who have an insanely close, possibly romantic, relationship that ends up tearing them apart. The film is clearly tragic from the get-go, but the ending will still leave you reeling for hours.

21. Nightmare Alley (2021) 

Nightmare Alley
Image Credit: Searchlight Pictures.

Nightmare Alley is one of the darkest movies I’ve ever seen. It has a star-studded cast and a disturbing plot that follows fraudsters on their way to get rich. However, the movie ends as it begins in a crazy turn of events that will make you sick to your stomach.

22. Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)

Luckiest Girl Alive, Chiara Aurelia
Image Credit: Netflix.

Luckiest Girl Alive takes you on a wild and tragic ride as a woman recounts her past trauma of assault and terrorism. The movie is set up in a way that keeps you guessing for most of it, and the end is shocking but beautifully satisfying too.

23. It's a Disaster (2012)

It's a Disaster, David Cross
Image Credit: Oscilloscope Pictures.

This crazy film is about four couples who get trapped at a brunch together when it turns out the world is ending. They all do some questionable things and betray one another in various ways, but the intense ending shows them all drinking poison together in a comical but hectic moment.

24. The Little Things (2021)

The Little Things, Denzel Washington
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

The Little Things is a complex and compelling mystery thriller movie starring Rami Malek. It seems like a typical detective film, but things take a dark turn. The final moments of the film reveal a complicated and disturbing realization that will leave you in disbelief.

25. The Hurt Locker (2008)

Hurt Locker Jeremy Renner
Image Credit: Summit Entertainment.

The main character in the brilliant and emotional film The Hurt Locker makes a very surprising decision at the end. He returns to war because he simply doesn’t know how to live a normal life anymore, and the final scene comes as a surprise. It will leave you with a myriad of complex feelings.

Source: Reddit.

Author: Veronica Booth

Title: Freelance Writer

Expertise: Food, Entertainment, Movies, TV, Fashion, Lifestyle, Celebrity

Bio:

Veronica is a food, fashion, and entertainment writer from Boston, MA, with a passion for all things lifestyle and culture. She graduated from Boston University in 2019 with a bachelor's in English literature. From Anna Wintour to Angelina Jolie to Alton Brown, she has her finger on the pulse of all things Hollywood and celebrity.

If she's not in the kitchen crafting new recipes, then she's binging the latest HBO series and catching up on the hottest trends in Vogue.

She has written for and been syndicated by publications like The Weather Channel, The Daily Meal, The Borgen Project, The Good Men Project, The Express, MSN, Wealth of Geeks, and Not Deer Magazine. Her writing experience ranges from global news articles to celebrity gossip pieces to movie reviews to homemade recipes and more.