Many of the best movies of all time have an innate knack for leaving their viewers utterly lost for words by the time that proceedings draw to a close. While this is often a testament to the sheer quality of the wider production, it’s worth noting that this state of affairs typically persists in cinema’s most shocking entries, be that off the back of a uniquely dark central premise, a jaw-dropping plot twist, or a mind-blowing conclusion that leaves viewers totally lost for words.

From acclaimed dramas that verge on becoming horror movies to complex sci-fi films that require multiple watches to fully understand, many of cinema’s most jarring numbers have a habit of lingering in the viewer’s mind long after the credits have rolled on proceedings, leveraging explosive bombshells and harrowing subject matter to the maximum effect possible. I was left completely speechless after the credits rolled for these movies, with these showstopping films standing as a testament to the impressively twisted capabilities of some of Hollywood’s greatest creative minds.

10

Promising Young Woman (2020)

Directed By Emerald Fennell

Featuring an electrifying Carey Mulligan performance in the leading role of Cᴀssie Thomas, it’s hard to accurately describe just how empty I felt after the credits rolled on 2020’s Promising Young Woman. Haunted by the death of a close friend who took her own life after being raped at a college party, Cᴀssie abandons a medical career to enact a campaign of retribution against those she deems responsible in Emerald Fennell’s revenge thriller, a series of events that eventually culminates in her own demise.

Mirroring the fraught nature of its premise, Promising Young Woman is unapologetically devastating, tackling the harrowing themes of trauma and Sєxual ᴀssault head on. Seeing Cᴀssie die horrifically at the hands of Nina’s rapist makes for indescribably desolating viewing, even if Promising Young Woman’s ending reveals she left arrangements to ensure justice for her friend. While it’s cathartic to see the movie’s villains get their just deserts, it’s hard to feel anything other than mute emptiness in the aftermath.

9

Oldboy (2003)

Directed By Park Chan-Wook

While its visceral performances, brutal action sequences, and masterful cinematography left me transfixed, Oldboy’s unforgettable twist ending virtually removed my ability to speak. Following Choi Min-Sik’s Oh Dae-Su as he seeks vengeance against a mysterious man who imprisoned him in a H๏τel room for 15 years, Park Chan-wook’s 2003 action thriller is notorious for one of cinema’s most harrowing endings, a conclusion that whips the rug out from underneath the unsuspecting viewers and completely changes the landscape of the entire movie.

After tracking down his tormentor, Yoo Ji-Tae’s Lee Woo-Jin, Dae-Su’s world is shattered by the revelation that his love interest Mi-do is none other than his long-lost daughter. Threatening to tell Mi-do the truth, Woo-Jin gleefully reveals that he engineered their relationship through hypnosis in revenge for Dae-Su’s part in his sister’s suicide, prompting Choi Min-Sik’s charge to cut out his own tongue as penance. One of the most disturbing twist endings of all time, the shock factor of this earth-shattering revelation is compounded by the fact that it comes completely out of left field.

8

Life (2017)

Directed By Daniel Espinosa

In a genre notorious for bleak and harrowing finales, 2017’s Life might possess modern sci-fi’s most terrifying conclusion. Chronicling the rampage of a murderous extraterrestrial enтιтy dubbed Calvin aboard the ISS, the closing act of Daniel Espinosa’s picture features one of the nastiest twists in cinematic history. Evoking a sensation of pure despair within me, Life’s shock ending sees an attempt to fire Calvin into deep space using an escape pod backfire in spectacular fashion.

After unintentionally colliding with debris in her own pod, Rebecca Ferguson’s Miranda North is the unfortunate individual left to tumble uncontrollably into deep space as she screams in despair. Compounding matters, Jake Gyllenhaal’s David Jordan had willingly sacrificed his own life to try and pilot Calvin’s pod into space. The only reward for his heroism? Jordan gets a front-row seat for the end of the world when arriving fishermen open his pod after it accidentally splashes down on Earth instead, unleashing Calvin and presumably signaling humanity’s demise. Simply put, it’s so bleak that I was lost for words.

7

Shutter Island (2010)

Directed By Martin Scorsese

A masterful psychological thriller guaranteed to mess with your head, 2010’s Shutter Island is known for one of cinema’s most shocking endings. Martin Scorsese may be one of cinema’s finest directors, but he’s not necessarily known for his twists, compounding the mind-blowing aura of the movie’s iconic curveball revealing that Leonardo DiCaprio’s U.S. Marshal, Teddy Daniels, has actually been a patient in the island’s mental hospital all along.

The discovery that the hospital’s doctors had simply been playing along with the delusions of Andrew Laeddis, a psycH๏τic patient who killed his wife after she drowned their three children, is so mind-blowing on first watch that it left me utterly gobsmacked; a seismic narrative development that instantly casts the entire film in an entirely new light. The exemplary quality of Scorsese’s psychological thriller lulls viewers into dropping their guard before the director deals out a devastating narrative knockout blow they never saw coming, a plot twist that frequently leaves its open-mouthed audiences incapable of speech.

6

The Prestige (2006)

Directed By Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan has produced some of cinema’s most memorable endings, but arguably none can match the conclusion of 2006’s The Prestige for sheer shock factor and entertainment value. Chronicling the bitter rivalry between two magicians as they seek to upstage one another using their own versions of a teleportation illusion, Nolan was already notorious for whipping the rug out from beneath his audience following his twist-loaded triumph, 2000’s Memento. However, this still wasn’t enough to prepare most viewers for what he had in store for them on this occasion.

Loaded with mind-blowing bombshells and jaw-dropping twists, the gruesome truth behind the “Transported Man” magic trick and the revelation of Borden’s twin brother’s existence left me dumbfounded upon first viewing, transfixed by the sheer intricacy of the director’s narrative. Arguably Christopher Nolan’s best movie twist, this jaw-dropping finale never fails to leave audiences in a state of silent shock.

5

The Substance (2024)

Directed By Coralie Fargeat

It stands to reason that one of the most shocking movies in recent memory would leave my jaw on the floor by the time the credits rolled, and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance proved to be no exception. A spectacularly gruesome 2024 body horror that deftly balances cutting social commentary on societal atтιтudes towards women with some of the most grotesque visuals in cinematic history, I had never seen anything quite like this gleefully satirical tour de force.

Featuring a knockout performance from Demi Moore, early reviews for Fargeat’s outing had painted the movie in a promising light, but did little to prepare this writer for one of the most impressive and ambitious horror films of the 21st century. The Substance’s blend of haunting scenes and nauseating visuals makes for an outing that invariably leaves audiences completely dumbstruck, building to a psychedelic blood-soaked crescendo that captures the essence of a living nightmare.

4

The Usual Suspects (1995)

Directed By Bryan Singer

An iconic entry that turns thirty this year, 1995’s The Usual Suspects is notorious for one of cinema’s most famous plot twists, a divisive narrative curveball that is typically either revered as a stroke of genius or dismissed as a predictable load of nonsense. This writer falls into the former camp, considering that the twist unmasking Kevin Spacey’s unᴀssuming con artist Roger “Verbal” Kint as the legendary crime lord, Keyser Söze, left me thoroughly lost for words on first viewing.

While there is some truth to the criticism that labels much of the movie’s plot as clichéd and easy to predict, all of that is forgiven in light of the sheer intricacy and epic scale of The Usual Suspects’ final twist. A wicked array of red herrings provide hints that Kint was Söze all along on a second viewing, but the movie’s brilliant bombshell ending is so meticulously constructed and executed that it’s consistently been leaving first-time watchers utterly speechless for three decades.

3

Hereditary (2018)

Directed By Ari Aster

One of the most terrifying horror movies of all time, it’s hard to express just how frightening Ari Aster’s Hereditary is on first viewing. Many of the iconic horror movie’s scenes are so disturbing that they literally leave their viewers frozen in silent fear, from Charlie’s appalling decapitation in a car accident, to Annie beheading herself with piano wire. Many of Hereditary’s most nightmarish visuals remain seared into my mind’s eye to this day, underlining Aster’s offering’s credentials as a movie that is so unsettling that it will leave you lost for words.

Case in point? Hereditary’s ending sees the ghastly coven members gather to worship a mannequin bearing Charlie’s severed head in her old treehouse, before crowning Alex Wolff’s newly possessed charge as the demonic “King Paimon” to conclude proceedings in indescribably eerie fashion. It wasn’t entirely clear what I had just witnessed on first viewing, but the immediate aftermath of Aster’s film left me tongue-tied with terror all the same.

2

Parasite (2019)

Directed By Bong Joon-Ho

The first non-English-language movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite is the quintessential example of a film where nobody wins. Following a poor family who insidiously infiltrate a wealthy family, this wicked 2019 black-comedy thriller concludes in morbid fashion befitting of its relentlessly nihilistic vibes, an ending that sees Song Kang-Ho’s Kim Ki-Taek purportedly condemned to a lifetime of existence in the house’s subterranean bunker after murdering Mr Park in the chaotic medley precipitated by Geun-Sae’s breakout.

Compounding the harrowing aura of proceedings, Ki-Taek’s morally devoid family are the ones who suffer the most in the aftermath. Placed on probation for fraud alongside his mother, Ki-Woo has lingering brain damage from Geun-Sae’s attack, while his sister Ki-Jung is revealed to have died from her wounds. Simply put, it’s one of modern cinema’s most devastating and shocking entries, a movie that ends in such bleak fashion that it knocked the words out of me.

1

Se7en (1995)

Directed By David Fincher

Following a serial killer who commits his murders based on Christianity’s seven ᴅᴇᴀᴅly sins, 1995’s Se7en is renowned as one of cinema’s most dark and brutal entries. It was a reputation that I was aware of before embarking on David Fincher’s acclaimed crime thriller, but it didn’t make what was about to come any easier when it arrived. The sheer brutality of the murders perpetrated by Kevin Spacey’s “John Doe” left me gobsmacked with horror long before the movie’s notoriously desolating ending rolls around.

Promising to disclose the location of the “envy” and “wrath” victims, Doe gets the depraved end to the game he was after. Revealing that he envied Mills’ wife, Spacey’s psycH๏τic killer coerces Brad Pitt’s charge into vengefully shooting him by having her severed head delivered to him in a box. Leaving this writer in a state of speechless dismay, the pair complete Doe’s game by becoming the embodiment of the two final sins in one of cinema’s darkest endings.