by Steven Koch

Created on: July 05, 2010

Today it is difficult find a movie in which the ending is not transparent or predictable so when one comes along it is a true pleasure. I have five examples, four of them fairly new (less than 35 years old) with one older classic. There will be spoilers in this article so be forewarned.

The first of the newer movies, The Empire Strikes Back must be on any list of great twist endings. We are stunned when we see Luke Skywalker (the personification of good) suddenly lose his hand in a laser sword battle against the representation of evil, Darth Vader.  We are surprised when we see Vader’s ‘softer side’ as he reaches out to help Luke. We share Luke’s horror when we hear “Luke I am your father” hissing from the great black helmet.  Luke’s childhood image of his father, whom he was told was killed by Darth Vader, is forever shattered as we realize they are one and the same. This scene helped cement the mythology of the Star Wars saga and ensured that each episode that followed would create speculation as to what the next great surprise might be.  

Usual Suspects is my next candidate for great twist endings. Kevin Spacey plays Verbal Kint: the classic victim. He isn’t too smart; he’s crippled by a bad foot and he is used by everyone; a role he accepts just so he can survive. Following his arrest he reluctantly tells of the massacre on the ship where all the other career criminals in his gang have been killed. As Kint weaves his tale about the infamous Keyser Soze, you can see the near panic in his eyes as the police promise to protect him from a man who slaughtered his own family to prove he had no weaknesses. When Kint is finally freed by Customs Officer, Dave Kujan, played by Chazz Palminteri, we follow Kujan’s eyes around the office and pick out all the familiar names and places that were sewn into the fabric of Kint’s fairy tale. When we see the final name on the bottom of Kujan’s shattered coffee cup, we realize that Kint is a master manipulator and liar, but it is not until the literal twist (when Kint’s clubbed foot suddenly straightens out and he walks calmly down the street to be picked up by Soze manservant), that we realize Kint was the brains behind the whole plot.

When The Sixth Sense first hit theatres few knew the name M. Night Shyamalan. After surprising everyone at the end of this tale of Cole Sear, (Haley Joel Osment), a boy who can see and speak to dead

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