Thrillers can push the boundaries of narrative structure more than most other genres, creating some unforgettable stories which defy audience’s expectations. Across most film genres, stories can often be relatively easy to predict. Heroes tend to overcome their flaws and defeat the villains. However, it can be more interesting when certain movies take a risk that might upset their audiences, all in search of a more shocking ending.
Thrillers are great for delivering surprising endings, but the best examples are always those that aim for more than mere shock value. Once it comes, a twist ending can feel oddly inevitable, since they allow audiences to piece together the enitre narrative in retrospect.
10
The Lighthouse (2019)
Robert Eggers Crafts A Beguiling Dark Drama
It can be hard to categorize The Lighthouse, because Robert Eggers’ black-and-white film doesn’t pay much attention to genre conventions. There are elements of horror, fantasy and even dark comedy, but The Lighthouse could also be described as a psychological thriller.
It’s not just hard to predict the ending, but it’s a challenge to anticipate where the story might go from one moment to the next.
From the earliest moments that the two lighthouse keepers arrive at their isolated post, they start to rub each other the wrong way. Eggers’ unsettling style is constantly surprising, and it blurs the lines between reality, fantasy and false memories. It’s not just hard to predict the ending, but it’s a challenge to anticipate where the story might go from one moment to the next.
9
The Prestige (2006)
Nolan’s Period Thriller Saves Plenty Of Reveals For The Final Act
In between two of his Dark Knight movies, which had to conform to more standard narrative structures, Christopher Nolan created one of his most unpredictable thrillers. The director has a reputation for experimental storytelling, and he also knows how to execute a twist ending in style.
The ending of The Prestige piles up a few jaw-dropping reveals on top of one another. It makes for an immensely satisfying finale, but the most intelligent part is that Nolan reveals all the clues he dropped along the way. Just like a magic trick, The Prestige gets inside the audience’s minds to fool them.
8
Parasite (2019)
The Oscar-Winner Has A Shocking Gear Shift
Parasite initially appears to be a dark comedy, combining elements of social satire and an old-fashioned crime caper to create something as infectiously entertaining as The Sting or Ocean’s Eleven. Bong Joon-ho snatches this playful tone away in an instant, however, and Parasite morphs into a disturbing thriller.
Due to the way that Bong plays with tone and genre in Parasite, it’s always hard to anticipate his next step. There’s plenty of residual hope from the first half that the Kim family will overcome the odds and rise to the upper echelons of high society, but this is no fairy tale. Still, the ending of Parasite is shocking in more ways than one.
7
The Third Man (1949)
The Noir Classic Still Has The Capacity To Surprise Audiences
The Third Man deserves its reputation as one of the greatest thrillers ever, and it still packs a punch all these years later. It remains one of Orson Welles’ best movies, even though he didn’t write or direct it, unlike some of his other hits. The Third Man is arguably his most compelling performance of all, as he plays an enigmatic smuggler in post-war Vienna.
The Third Man starts off as a murder mystery of sorts, but Welles’ introduction changes the entire complexion of the story. It morphs into a dangerous crime thriller where anything seems possible, which culminates in an iconic game of cat-and-mouse in Vienna’s shadowy sewers.
6
Gone Girl (2014)
David Fincher’s Crime Movies Buck Convention
Many of David Fincher’s best movies eschew the trends of the crime genre to create unpredictable thrill rides. Se7en, Fight Club and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo all keep audiences guessing, often with some brilliant twists, but Gone Girl sets itself apart by being even harder to anticipate.
Gone Girl gradually reveals more about the true nature of its characters, but it isn’t just Amy who’s pulling the strings. Nick also has some disturbing layers which get gradually teased out, until Amy’s virtuoso revenge plan becomes a battle of wits. The ending delivers an unexpected climax to this game, and Fincher proves to be the perfect director for Gillian Flynn’s writing.
5
Vertigo (1958)
Hitchcock’s Classic Thriller Has Set The Agenda For The Genre Ever Since
Vertigo is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest movies, and a clear instance of the director driving the art of cinema forward. It’s no coincidence that so many thrillers have taken cues from Vertigo since it was released, and its aesthetic flourishes and daring twists still feel fresh.
Vertigo represents a turning point in the thriller genre, as films started to delve deeper into the psychology of their characters. Vertigo is also notable for the way that Hitchcock projects this psychological exploration with his visuals and sound. He creates a frightening atmosphere that sets the stage for a twisty, unpredictable narrative.
4
Shutter Island (2010)
Martin Scorsese’s Psychological Thriller Is Never As It Seems
Martin Scorsese’s movies often focus on characters with fractured psyches, like in Taxi Driver, The Departed and Cape Fear, for example. Shutter Island takes this to the next level, firmly placing it in the territory of a psychological thriller. The narrative takes several twists and turns, ultimately leaving the mystery of a missing patient at an isolated psychiatric hospital far behind.
It’s clear from the early stages that Shutter Island conceals some secrets, but this doesn’t necessarily help the audience piece together the puzzle. Even for those who can anticipate Shutter Island‘s big twist, there’s a final image that has the power to haunt the audience long after the credits roll.
3
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Kubrick’s Swansong Is One Of His Most Peculiar Films
Stanley Kubrick’s movies prove that he’s a master of adapting to different genres. With The Shining, Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey, he has contenders for the greatest movie of all time in three completely different genres. It’s interesting to note, then, that Eyes Wide Shut has always had a mixed critical reputation, despite the fact that Kubrick hailed it as his personal favorite of his own films.
Eyes Wide Shut just about fits into the category of a psychological thriller, but it’s quite unlike most other movies that come under the same umbrella. Kubrick juxtaposes the heightened absurdity of the party with the more mundane urban concerns that make up the majority of the narrative, as if Eyes Wide Shut briefly slips into a dream world. This intentionally confuses the audience, making it hard to ascertain the logic of the story.
2
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017)
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Movies Follow Their Own Logic
Whether it’s a dark comedy or a psychological thriller, Yorgos Lanthimos’ movies can be easily identified based on the director’s unique tone. He pushes ᴅᴇᴀᴅpan humor to its absolute limits, and his characters often speak in stilted dialogue that doesn’t sound natural at all. The Killing of a Sacred Deer sees Lanthimos using these techniques to craft a bleak thriller with allusions to the Bible and other mythological stories of creation and destruction.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer initially hides a lot its strangest elements, like the fantastical, opaque magic of its villain and the unexplained diseases that strike the characters. This makes it all but impossible to predict what’s going to happen next, since the audience is always struggling to grasp the rules that govern the story alongside most of the characters.
1
Chinatown (1974)
The Neo-Noir Classic Ends With A Bang
Chinatown is an icon of the neo-noir genre, partly because it illustrates so succinctly what makes the genre different from film noir detective thrillers which came out several decades earlier. In a more traditional film noir, the shocking finale of Chinatown would probably be unthinkable.
Just as the specifics of the murky crime narrative start to come into focus, the story takes a few wild turns.
Chinatown represents the New Hollywood movement, when morality became more complex and thought-provoking, and happy endings were no longer a given. Just as the specifics of the murky crime narrative start to come into focus, the story takes a few wild turns that throw everything up into the air once more.
