Cinema has the ability to create great moments of realization. The audio and visual qualities of the medium allow it to align the viewers' perspective with that of a particular character or characters as they unravel a mystery or discover a shocking plot twist. Here are some of the greatest moments of realization in film.
Chinatown (1974)
“She’s my sister and my daughter!” This horrifying truth jumps from the mouth of Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) as private investigator Jake “J.J.” Gittes (Jack Nicholson) demands answers to the confusing web of crime and deceit encompassing Los Angeles in this classic crime film. It’s the only explanation that connects the various twisted dots Jake has found about Evelyn, her sadistic father Noah (John Huston), and young Katherine (Belinda Palmer), but the sickening fact shakes him to the core as he realizes the depths of the depravity he's discovered. The film shows its age by having Jake physically beat the truth out of Evelyn, but while this adds another layer of discomfort for modern viewers, we're glad scenes like this don't exist in Hollywood anymore.
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Like most things in The Godfather trilogy, the feud between Don Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) and his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), only comes to a head after a slow burn of escalating tension. The viewer has known for a while that Fredo was involved in the attempted assassination of Michael carried out by rival mobsters and Michael himself obviously has his suspicions, but the moment he confirms them is still devastating. Michael mentions Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese), an employee of enemy mobster Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), to Fredo, who claims he’s never met him. But later Michael overhears Fredo describing his friendship with Ola. The shot of Michael sitting behind Fredo weeping is heartbreaking and Pacino’s frightening intensity makes the moment Michael tells Fredo he knows an iconic one in American cinema.
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
"No, I am your father," Darth Vader (David Prowse and James Earl Jones) says to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Little can be said about this, the most famous movie plot twist ever, that hasn’t been already. The jaw-dropping reveal made the Star Wars franchise what it is today and the scene in which it is delivered still holds up. Prowse and Jones are at their most imposing as Vader, and Hamill captures the weight of the revelation crashing down on Luke in some of his best work as the character.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Before the horrific allegations against director Bryan Singer and star Kevin Spacey tainted its reputation, this neo-noir reigned as the king mind-game film and its final reveal is still one of the best in movie history. After releasing robber Verbal Kint (Spacey) from custody, Customs agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) puts together the shocking truth, that the elaborate tale Verbal told about the crimes that left 27 dead at a destroyed dock was all lies, nonsense he made up based on details in the police precinct office to conceal the fact that he is really criminal mastermind Keyser Söze. The twist threw out everything viewers thought they knew about the film and contributed greatly to the more frequent use of unreliable narrators in Hollywood films and television. The moment Kujan figures everything out is beautifully shot and edited and Palminteri’s performance captures the character’s shock very well. The shot of Söze abandoning the limp he has used as Verbal to walk normally will be burned in viewers’ minds forever.
Se7en (1995)
Another devilish Spacey character gets their way in this bleak David Fincher film. Serial killer John Doe (Spacey), whose terrifying murder spree is stylized as a perverse statement on the seven deadly sins, has promised to escort Detectives David Mills (Brad Pitt) and William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) to the bodies of his unknown final victims. When a delivery van approaches the secluded location Somerset pulls it over, the frightened driver saying that he was paid to deliver a box there. Doe explains to Mills that after their first encounter he began to envy the other man’s normal life, which he unsuccessfully tried to emulate by forcing Mills’ wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), to act out a fantasy version of that life with him, before he grew unsatisfied.
As Somerset opens the box and reacts with revulsion the viewer already knows to expect the worst, even though the film doesn’t actually show the horrific contents. Doe tells Mills that he killed Tracy, cut off her head, and placed it in the box. Refusing to believe, Mills demands Somerset tell him what’s in the box. While the moment he does so has been frequently memed, Pitt’s broken performance ensures that it remains devastatingly impactful to this day, as does Mills’ decision to illegally execute Doe, completing the killer’s twisted vision by making himself into the embodiment of wrath.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Clearly, the 1990s were good years for mind-game movies and the decade finished off strong with the plot twist that defined M. Night Shyamalan’s career. The reveal that Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), the child psychologist who helped Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) deal with his ability to speak to the spirits of dead people, is himself one of those dead spirits stunned audiences and the reason it works so well is that the entire film has been building to it, through virtually every element of its visuals, audio, and character development. Once they learn the truth, viewers will note how it has been hiding in plain sight the entire movie, but unlike the twists in some of Shyamalan’s later, less acclaimed films, it is not just a shock for shock’s sake. The twist recontextualizes Malcolm’s story to be about him accepting his own death and the moment he does so is not just a surprise but a touching, if bittersweet, conclusion, elevated by some of Willis’ best work.
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Throughout the Bourne franchise, there are several moments in which amnesiac former CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) lets his opponents at the agency know just how far ahead of them he really is. The most iconic is the final scene in the second film, The Bourne Supremacy. Bourne calls Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), one of his few allies in the agency, who thanks him for providing evidence against a corrupt agent and gives Bourne crucial information about his mysterious past. Before ending the call, Bourne, in a callback to an earlier moment in the film, tells her “Get some rest Pam. You look tired,” revealing that she is within eyesight of him, meaning that Bourne has managed to return to the United States for the first time in the series despite all the authorities still hunting him. The final shots of the film see Bourne calmly walking New York City streets as distinctive notes of Moby’s “Extreme Ways,” the franchise’s unofficial theme song, blare on the soundtrack. The full context of the scene would not be revealed until the next film, The Bourne Ultimatum, but as is it is still a perfect ending to a great action thriller that also serves as an enticing tease of what is yet to come.
Arrival (2016)
One of the best movies of the last decade, Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction drama Arrival explores time and how it is perceived. The closing moments of the film are an especially beautiful meditation on this theme, delivering several stunning realizations. In the film, Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguist, works with physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) as part of a global effort to communicate with aliens dubbed "heptapods" that have landed on Earth. At the end of the film, after negotiations have broken down, leading to the threat of war between the two species, Louise discovers that she has been studying the heptapod language, which describes time in unique ways, so closely that she has started to perceive time as the heptapods do, experiencing the past, present, and future simultaneously. She is able to use the knowledge she hasn’t actually learned yet to defuse the situation, leading to the heptapods’ peaceful departure from Earth.
As she discovers her abilities, it is revealed that her failed marriage, referenced throughout the film, has not started yet, nor has her daughter, who eventually dies as an adolescent of an incurable disease, been born. In the present, Louise chooses to pursue a relationship with Ian, her future husband. By having her do so because of the happiness she knows she will experience despite also knowing about the pain she will go through, Arrival cements itself as a deeply moving, optimistic statement on love. Villeneuve and editor Joe Walker do an excellent job of keeping the relations between the various times and locations clear and Amy Adams delivers an all-time great performance that perfectly captures the immense wave of conflicting emotions washing over Louise.
Knives Out (2019)
As a self-aware, comedic take on the murder mystery genre, Rian Johnson’s Knives Out is full of wild plot twists and characters putting together elaborate mysteries. The most amusing moment comes during the film’s climax, as renowned private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) explains that the death of wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) was the result of his grandson, Hugh “Ransom” Drysdale’s (Chris Evans) plan, not an accidental poisoning by Harlan’s nurse, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), as previously suspected. Marta takes a call from the hospital where Fran (Edi Patterson), a maid and witness that Ransom tried to kill in order to silence her, is being treated and tells everyone Fran is going to survive.
Believing he has just escaped the one murder charge that might get him a significant prison sentence, Ransom begins bragging, admitting to his crimes, and describing his entitled and prejudiced motives. After he hurls some insults at her, Marta vomits in Ransom’s face. Throughout the film it was established that Marta can’t lie without eventually vomiting and her doing so at this point reveals that Fran is dead, meaning Ransom will be arrested for her murder. It’s a wonderfully ridiculous way for the film to deliver both a dramatic twist and the killer’s comeuppance, and Evans delivers Ransom’s incredulous reaction hilariously. Let's hope we get another shocking scene like this in the follow-up, Glass Onion. A Knives Out Mystery.
The Batman (2022)
In the latest reboot of the Batman film franchise, the Riddler (Paul Dano), also known as Edward Nashton, is on a murderous rampage targeting Gotham City’s wealthy elite. Clues he leaves at his crime scenes lead Batman (Robert Pattinson) to discover a conspiracy controlling the fate of the city, secrets Riddler exposes to the public. And in the film’s most intense moments, it seems like he might be on the verge of revealing the biggest secret there is. After killing mob boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), Nashton comes out of hiding and allows himself to be arrested. While examining his apartment with the Gotham police, Batman becomes afraid that Nashton knows his secret identity as Bruce Wayne.
Among various articles and images on a corkboard in the apartment are a picture of a young Nashton singing in his orphanage’s choir at an event also attended by a young Bruce and his parents and a headline asking who the Batman is. Nashton’s scribbled notes on the papers say “If only I knew then what I know now." Bruce's anxiety increases when Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) tells him that Nashton, incarcerated at Arkham Asylum, has asked to speak to Batman. Nashton begins their conversation by repeatedly mentioning Bruce Wayne, his agonizingly slow, drawn-out manner of speaking further exacerbating Bruce's fears, until, finally, Nashton refers to Bruce as “the one we didn’t get,” revealing that he didn’t actually make the connection. It's a great bait and switch that provides the viewer with a much-needed moment of relief before the tension rockets back up for the movie’s climax.
