Plot twists are most commonly found towards the end of a movie, if not during the very ending itself. But a twist ending is not the only kind of plot twist out there, and while it might be less common, there are certainly some movies that have iconic, classic twists that happen far earlier.
By putting a plot twist at the halfway point of a story, a film might not be able to build to the twist as methodically, but it does let filmmakers shake up a story well before its end. Films like these usually have great twists that take their stories in unexpected directions at or before the halfway point of their runtimes. It's safe to say they're all unpredictable watches for any viewers going in blind, and make for exciting, unexpected viewing.
This article contains spoilers for each entry.
'Psycho' (1960)
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Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1960 horror film might have the most shocking early plot twist in cinema history. For about 40 minutes, the audience follows Janet Leigh's character as she steals money from her work and drives to a motel to hide. There, she meets the unusual Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who apparently runs the place with his mother. After that, she steps into a shower and, moments later, is brutally and suddenly stabbed to death by a shadowy figure.
With the film's main character dead and about an hour of the movie left to go, the film pivots to follow another group of characters investigating her disappearance. The shower scene is so iconic that there's even an entire documentary on it, and nowadays, almost everyone knows about it. But at the time — some 50 years before HBO's Game of Thrones — it was unheard of for the main character to die so early and so suddenly. It's a big part of why Psycho is such a classic, and remains a compelling horror film to this day.
'From Dusk Till Dawn' (1996)
From Dusk Till Dawn might be well-known nowadays as a vampire film, but the twist could have taken audiences in 1996 completely off-guard. It starts as the kind of dark comedy/crime film Quentin Tarantino had become well-known for making (with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction), as it was written by (and starred!) the guy.
But this story of two criminal brothers taking a family hostage and hiding out in a seedy, remotely-located bar ends up becoming an action-horror survival movie when their hideout ends up being populated by vampires. While it doesn't stack up to either Tarantino's or director Robert Rodriguez's best efforts, From Dusk Till Dawn is still a fun ride, doubly so for anyone who managed to go in expecting another Tarantino crime film free of supernatural elements.
'Parasite' (2019)
Winning Best Picture at the 2020 Oscars, Bong Joon-ho's masterful black dramedy is full of unexpected twists and turns, constantly keeping the viewer on their toes as the tense and tragic story about class warfare and the imbalance of wealth in society unfolds onscreen.
Parasite's biggest twist takes place around the halfway point, when a door opens to reveal a new, underground section of the house belonging to the wealthy Park family, while the Kim family is inside. It adds a whole other level to the story (literally and figuratively), as it shows the house's previous housekeeper had been hiding her husband down there for years. From there, things keep on ramping up, and the already unpredictable and fast-paced story just becomes more engrossing and powerful, all the way up to its explosive and hard-hitting ending.
'The Crying Game' (1992)
Set during the Troubles in Ireland, The Crying Game switches gears more than once. First, it's about the unlikely friendship of Fergus (Stephen Rea), an IRA member, and Jody (Forest Whitaker), a British soldier. When Jody is killed, Fergus sets out to find and look after Dil (Miranda Richardson), Jody's lover, as he'd promised.
But the big turn the story takes is when Fergus, after falling in love with Jody's lover, finds out Dil is transgender, to Fergus' surprise (and initial discomfort). But Fergus still maintains feelings, and the two form a unique bond, all the while Fergus' associates from the IRA try to track him down. For its time, it handles its themes around sexuality and gender identity well, and for 1992, it was groundbreaking, but may not hold up as strongly if watched from a modern perspective. Still, the plot twist is an all-time famous one, and the way it impacts the plot and character development does make for engrossing viewing.
'One Cut Of The Dead' (2017)
One Cut Of The Dead begins as a one-take zombie film. The first 40 minutes play out with no cuts, as a film crew is attacked by zombies while making an independent movie in a remote location. After 40 minutes, the end credits roll... but the movie still has more than 50 minutes to go.
That's when One Cut Of The Dead reveals the first 40 minutes to be a movie within the movie. The film jumps back in time to show the preparation of this movie, and the way the real film crew made this movie about another film crew getting attacked by zombies. All the awkward pauses and strange things that happened in the first 40 minutes are explained during the film's hilarious and quite touching final act, which shows the behind-the-scenes drama that was overcome for the crew to pull off their one-cut zombie film.
'Death Proof' (2007)
Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof has a pretty huge event that happens at the halfway point. It might not be a plot twist so much as it is an attempt to one-up Psycho by having the villain, serial killer/car enthusiast Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), kill all the film's main characters up until that point in a gigantic, gruesome car crash.
The second half gets underway with another group of main characters who are similar to the first, but with one big difference... when Stuntman Mike goes after them, they manage to fight back, getting in a huge and impressively high-speed car chase where they successfully turn the tables on Mike. A homage to the unpredictable and violent exploitation films of the 1970s, it may not be one of Tarantino's best-known works, but for the dramatic plot switch-up and extended car chase, it's worth a watch.
'Spider-Man: Far From Home' (2019)
While the films in the MCU sometimes adhere too closely to a formula (like in many of the franchise's lesser entries), the second film in the Tom Holland Spider-Man trilogy certainly doesn't suffer in that regard. After Peter Parker teams up with Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio to take on a force of apparently inter-dimensional monsters, it seems like things will ramp up towards a climax with the two as a duo.
Only, that's not what happens. It turns out Mysterio's faking the monsters through intricate holograms, and just wants to appear to the world as a hero. The second half ends up being about Spider-Man combating Mysterio and trying to reveal to the world his deception, which culminates with Mysterio letting the world know Peter Parker is Spider-Man. It's an eventful and solid mid-point plot twist, all the more of a pleasant surprise for happening within a franchise that detractors describe as formulaic.
'The World's End' (2013)
The third film in Edgar Wright's beloved Cornetto Trilogy, The World's End starts as a movie about middle-aged men who were friends at school reuniting and going on a massive 13-stage pub crawl. What it ends up being — from about halfway onwards — is a sci-fi action comedy about the end of the world. The existence of blue-blooded robots taking over the town doesn't sway Gary (Simon Pegg), who wants to finish the pub crawl at all costs.
In a way, it sticks to its pub crawl-centric premise, but naturally, the science-fiction elements complicate things, and make the film unique and unpredictable. While maybe not as popular as Shaun Of The Dead or Hot Fuzz, The World's End is just as good, and ends up being surprisingly profound and even quite sad, due to the way it tackles themes of getting old and the bittersweet sting of nostalgia.