Who doesn’t love a good twist? If done right, twists can enhance the story and keep things interesting. They can turn a great movie into an unforgettable one likeStar Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back.Or they can even elevate a mediocre film into a decent, memorable flick. Twists keep audiences on their toes by keeping them guessing and engaged instead of bored because they think they know what’s going to happen already.
Fans of these moments will be glad to know there’s no shortage of the best plot twist movies on Netflix to choose from. The streaming giant has steadily accumulated a number of critically acclaimed and widely popular films, withthe best movies with a twist on Netflix utilizing the cinematic tool in brilliant ways. Without any spoilers, there are a few standouts worth seeing at least once.
16’Red Notice' (2021)
Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber
One of the most successful andmost watched films in Netflix history,Red Noticedoesn’t seem like the type of film that would have a major, earth-shattering twist, yet said twisthelps it stand out among Netflix’s other action blockbusters. The film follows a top FBI profiler (Dwayne Johnson) and a notorious art thief (Ryan Reynolds) as they are forced to team up together to defeat a shared enemy, a legendary art thief simply known as The Bishop (Gal Gadot). They find themselves traveling across the world in a quest to retrieve a mythical treasure before The Bishop can get their hands on it.
Red Noticehas a twist that completely recontextualizes the entire film, making every previous scene have a different meaning than how they were originally shown to the viewers. A big reason this twist is as effective as it is comes from the lack of twists in other large-budgeted Netflix originals, making it all the more shocking thatRed Noticewould even have a twist, let alone such a massive, centralizing one. It’s the perfect example of how a twist can have a much greater impact if the audience isn’t expecting a twist in the first place.
Red Notice
15’The Woman in the Window' (2021)
Directed by Joe Wright
Inspired by gripping mystery thrillers likeRear Window,The Woman in the Windowdirectly plays into notions of misdirection and confusion asit weaves a plot that purposefully hides elements from both the protagonist and the audience. The film seesAmy Adamsas Anna Fox, an agoraphobic woman who spends the majority of her days isolated in her apartment before suddenly making a connection with her neighbor, Jane. However, Anna soon witnesses Jane being murdered when spying on her through her building’s window, only to be shocked that not only is Jane alive, but looks like a completely different person.
The core concepts and intrigue surrounding the plot ofThe Woman in the Windoware ingrained within mystery and various twists, with the film not truly making sense until various developments clear the full picture. The way that the film even uses different actors to add to the confusion and tension that the main character faces proves to make that much more of a compelling central mystery.
The Woman in the Window
14’Apostle' (2018)
Directed by Gareth Evans
DirectorGareth Evansbrings a truly bizarre world to life withApostle. When a young woman from a wealthy family is taken hostage by a strange cult, her brother, Thomas (Dan Stevens), is forced to infiltrate the island where the cult resides and try and rescue his beloved sister. There, he finds more than he bargained for, and risks everything in the process.
Apostlesets up a compelling mystery with plenty of twists and turns throughout. What starts off as a slow burn in the first act ofthe cult-themed moviequickly devolves into a chaotic, disturbing, bloody nightmare that putsThe Wicker Manto shame. With some excellent cinematography, a layered antagonist, and creepy mystical elements,Apostlefits perfectly within the “island cult” subgenre.
13’Fractured' (2019)
A compelling dramatic thriller whose main twist serves as a painful, emotional wedge that recontextualizes the entire film,Fracturedproves to be one of the more underrated and underappreciated films in Netflix’s lineup. The film follows family man Ray (Sam Worthington), who, on a cross-country road trip with his family, has to bring his daughter and wife to the hospital to care for his daughter’s broken arm. However, after spending hours in the hospital waiting room, Ray soon learns that the hospital has no record of him or his family ever being checked into the hospital.
Fracturedis the type of thriller thatslowly but surely reveals its more sinister and painful truths the longer it goes on, building up to its strikingly effective main twist. While more inquisitive viewers may be able to pick up on the direction that the film is heading towards and the gravity of its twist, it doesn’t take away from the impactful emotional weight of the story and the repressed pain of Ray as a character.
12’It’s What’s Inside' (2024)
Directed by Greg Jardin
A wild body-swap horror comedy that ramps up the swapping and chaos to an absurd degree,It’s What’s Insidehas proven to be one of Netflix’s biggest surprises in recent memory. The film follows a group of college friends that finally reconnect for a wild pre-wedding party that takes a wild turn when an estranged friend ends up being invited. He arrives with a mysterious piece of technology that allows people to swap consciousness with one another, with them deciding to play a supercharged social deduction game where they have to figure out who is who.
It’s What’s Inside’s very notions for mystery and social deduction lend itself to having several wild twists, each one proving to be more impactful and overwhelming than the last, especially when bodies begin to drop. It can make for a wild and sometimes confusing story to keep track of, having 8 different people across 8 different bodies to keep track of, althoughIt’s What’s Inside’s endingdoes a great job of wrapping everything together. At the same time, however,the ending provides one final twist that recontextualizes the entire film and paints it in an entirely new light.
It’s What’s Inside
11’The Guilty' (2021)
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Made during the COVID-19 pandemic,The Guiltyis an intriguing, fast-paced drama about a disgraced cop put on desk duty who receives a call from a distressed woman trapped in someone’s car.Taking place all in one location and relying completely onJake Gyllenhaal’s acting skills, the film manages to keep the viewer’s attention throughout its 90-minute runtime.
Having run into obvious difficulties brought on by the pandemic, directorAntoine Fuqua directed the entire moviefrom a van with the use of monitors and walkie-talkies. This bottle thriller manages to keep the tension high and engaging even with limited resources. Its twist reminds viewers to think twice about strangers.
The Guilty (2021)
10’The Old Guard' (2020)
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
Anyone who enjoys more grounded superhero movies that are heavy on action has likely already seenThe Old Guard.The 2020 film directed byGina Prince-Bythewoodis based on an eponymous comic book that’s centered on a group of immortal mercenaries who are out for revenge. Their immortality also comes with the ability to heal any injuries, thus preventing them from dying.
StarringCharlize Theron,KiKi Layne, andMatthias Schoenaertsamong other talented actors,The Old Guardpacks a punch and is entertaining from start to finish. There’s more than one twist, with the first relating to an unexpected betrayal, and the other connected to a surprising revelation about their immortality. There’s also a final shockingending that sets upThe Old Guard 2, a sequel that’s already in production.
The Old Guard
9’Tully' (2018)
Directed by Jason Reitman
While many striking movie twists come from the perspective and attempt to shock and surprise the audience to keep them on their toes,the primary twist ofTullyinstead has the tone and style of a comforting realization and inevitability. The film follows Marlo (Charlize Theron), a mother of three who finds herself in way over her head after a newborn has further complicated her life. She finds herself being gifted a mysterious night nanny by her brother, known as Tully (Mackenzie Davis), and while hesitant at first, Marlo soon forms a powerful connection with Tully.
Tully as a film is all about the equal parts pain and joy that come from the experiences and sacrifices of motherhood, with the core twist and dynamic between Marlo and Tully fully embracing the film’s core themes. While the film’s major twist certainly comes as a shock and changes the perspective of the film, it doesn’t come from a place of negative, shocking energy, but instead a more symbolic place of growth and self-acceptance.
8’I’m Thinking of Ending Things' (2020)
Directed by Charlie Kaufman
As is typical ofdirector Charlie Kaufman’s works,I’m Thinking of Ending Thingsis a wonderfully weird masterpiece that’s never what audiences expect. The film has a deceptively simple premise: A young woman (played byJessie Buckley) is meeting her boyfriend Jake’s (Jesse Plemons) parents, so the two of them drive to the couple’s farm.
Soon, the film transforms into a surrealist dream (or nightmare) as the line between reality and fantasy blurs. The simple visit to her partner’s parents soon turns into something completely bizarre. The divisive plot twist towards the end is open to viewers' interpretation, making it that much more intriguing and worth watching.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
7’The Platform' (2019)
Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
One of thebest socially conscious horror moviesfrom recent years,The Platformdepicts a “Vertical Self-Management Center” full of exploited residents who are switched every now and then between the different floors. The reasoning behind the switches is to change who gets to eat from “the platform” first, which comes down from the top filled with food, but is inevitably empty by the time it gets to the lower floors.
The conflict that arises from the tower’s residents soon devolves into gruesome violence, and efforts at trying to fix the system only seem to fail.The Platformhas a crucial subplot linked to its heartbreaking plot twist that provides a profound perspective on the brutality and desperationin the underrated sci-fi horror film.
