A Glean movie guide
The Art of the Plot Twist
Don't blink.
Masterful films that pull the rug out from under you when you least expect it.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Sixth Sense
A haunting drama where a child's secret leads to one of cinema's most famous perspective shifts.
Following an unexpected tragedy, child psychologist Malcolm Crowe meets a nine year old boy named Cole Sear, who is hiding a dark secret.
- 02
The Usual Suspects
A masterclass in unreliable narration that builds toward a legendary final revelation.
Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.
- 03
Parasite
A genre-bending social thriller that pivots sharply at the midpoint into something entirely unexpected.
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
- 04
Fight Club
An intense psychological journey that recontextualizes everything you thought you knew about the protagonist.
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.
- 05
Memento
A brilliant, reverse-chronological puzzle that forces you to solve a murder alongside a man who can't remember.
Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.
- 06
The Prestige
A complex tale of rival magicians where the final reveal is hidden in plain sight from the very first frame.
A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
- 07
Oldboy
A visceral and shocking mystery that culminates in a devastating revelation about the protagonist's past.
With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.
- 08
Arrival
A cerebral sci-fi epic that uses its high-concept premise to deliver a deeply emotional and temporal twist.
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
- 09
Get Out
A sharp social critique wrapped in a tense thriller with a chilling third-act revelation.
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
- 10
Psycho
The classic Hitchcock masterpiece that famously breaks the rules of storytelling to shock its audience.
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.
- 11
Shutter Island
A moody, atmospheric investigation where the line between reality and delusion slowly dissolves.
World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by troubling visions and a mysterious doctor.
- 12
Knives Out
A clever subversion of the whodunnit genre that keeps you guessing by revealing its secrets in layers.
When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.