From &34;Remember Me&34; to &34;Last Christmas,&34; here are the most cringe plot twists to ever hit the silver screen. Final act flubs! The 16 worst movie plot

From "Remember Me" to "Last Christmas," here are the most cringe plot twists to ever hit the silver screen.

Final act flubs! The 16 worst movie plot twists

From "Remember Me" to "Last Christmas," here are the most cringe plot twists to ever hit the silver screen.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a writer at covering all things pop culture – but TV is her one true love. She currently lives in Los Angeles but grew up in Chicago so please don't make fun of her accent when it slips out.

EW's editorial guidelines

and James Mercadante

on August 29, 2025 7:34 a.m. ET

Emilia Clarke as Katarina 'Kate' Andrich in 'Last Christmas'; Robert Pattinson as Tyler Hawkins in 'Remember Me'; Florence Pugh as Alice Chambers in 'Don't Worry Darling'. Credit:

Universal Pictures; Everett; Merrick Morton/Warner Bros.

Plot twists can be a film's crowning glory or its undoing. Some third acts pull off a *deus ex machina* with a satisfying, didn't-see-coming twist, while others stumble with lackluster, ridiculous, or half-baked turns that barely register as "gotcha moments."

So if you want to avoid any cinematic letdowns, EW has rounded up our picks for the worst movie plot twists. Though none of these films are total duds — albeit many come close — their surprise endings certainly will wreck your movie-watching experience.

(And this should go without saying but: **Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! Spoiler Alert!** We're talking specifics on all these movies and their massive twist endings, so read with caution...)

Don't Worry Darling (2022)

Florence Pugh as Alice Chambers in 'Don't Worry Darling'. Merrick Morton/Warner Bros.

Wait, you're telling us that Victory — the '50s-style, happy-go-lucky paradise where all the women live a life of meaningless luxury while their husbands disappear to mysterious jobs — is *actually* a simulation? That is mindblowing(ly unoriginal)! You'd think it couldn't get any more confusing, but then you learn that Harry Styles' Jack chooses to have an English accent in Victory despite having an American one in the real world. (Because, yeah, that was *totally* in the script before casting the British pop star, right?)

Olivia Wilde's *Don't Worry Darling* slips far below her directorial debut (2019's *Booksmart*), delivering a disjointed tale filled with surface-level feminist ideas, artless twists, and pages ripped from *The Stepford Wives* playbook. Sadly, not even Florence Pugh's powerhouse performance — nor the once-inescapable offscreen drama — could elevate this film beyond a rehash of ideas better explored elsewhere. —*James Mercadante*

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

Colin Farrell as Percival Graves in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.

When Colin Farrell's high-ranking Auror and Director of Magical Security for MACUSA, Percival Graves, is revealed to be evil wizard Grindelwald in disguise at the end of *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*, it should have been one hell of an exciting twist for any *Harry Potter* fan.

But the fact that Grindelwald is played by Johnny Depp in hideous white makeup absolutely ruined not only this twist but this entire franchise. Thankfully, Mads Mikkelsen replaced Depp in the third installment and gave us a considerably better performance. *—Sydney Bucksbaum*

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)

Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie James in 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'. Everett Collection

Like its predecessor, this slasher film has the expected twist of one of Julie James' (Jennifer Love Hewitt) friends revealing himself to be the killer who's been hunting her. But the now-iconic line will forever solidify this movie's reveal as corny: "Will Benson! Get it... ? Ben's son!" Ugh. *—S.B.*

Identity (2003)

John Cusack as Ed Dakota in 'Identity'. Everett Collection

A lot of the worst movie twists can be boiled down to: It was all in their head. And the all-star cast of *Identity* — John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina, Clea DuVall, John C. McGinley, and John Hawkes — can't save this thriller about 10 strangers trapped in a motel trying to figure out who is killing them one-by-one. It's the little boy!

But wait, it's not even happening, because it's all in Cusack's character's head, and one of his many split personalities is killing off the rest. This reveal immediately destroys any stakes (or interest) the audience has developed throughout the film, so why go down this road? *—S.B.*

Last Christmas (2019)

Emilia Clark as Katarina 'Kate' Andrich and Henry Golding as Thomas 'Tom' Webster in 'Last Christmas'. Universal Pictures

*Last Christmas* comes with a massive plot twist that changes the entire movie — and *not* for the better.

Near the end of the Paul Feig film (which is more romantic drama than rom-com, despite what the trailers and posters promised), Kate (Emilia Clarke) realizes her manic pixie dream guy boyfriend Tom (Henry Golding) is...a ghost! And he's not just any ghost: He's the spirit of the organ donor who died last Christmas, giving Kate the heart transplant she needed to stay alive.

Because last Christmas, he gave her his heart. Get it? Ugh. —*S.B.*

Life Itself (2018)

Olivia Wilde as Abigail 'Abby' Lesher, Oscar Isaac as William 'Will' Dempsey, and their dog in 'Life Itself'. Everett Collection

*This Is Us* on steroids is the most accurate way to describe Dan Fogelman's feature film debut. Overly saccharine and soapy to the point of excess, *Life Itself* leans into all the worst parts of tragic romantic dramas and yet still manages to be incredibly underwhelming, despite how the melodramatic narrative is overly stuffed.

But Oscar Isaac's chapter is perhaps the most disappointing, as the many twists reveal his character Will didn't just get left by his pregnant wife Abby (Olivia Wilde). She was struck and killed by a bus right in front of him, leading him to have a mental breakdown and get institutionalized. When his therapist finally reveals this, Will kills himself right in front of her. We get it, narrators can be unreliable! But did we really need so many grotesque and violent deaths to hammer that point home just to make it clear that we don't know who is narrating this story? *—S.B.*

Night Swim (2024)

Wyatt Russell as Ray Waller and Kerry Condon as Eve Waller in 'Night Swim'.

Universal Pictures

Nothing screams camp ridiculousness like a sentient, *Poltergeist*-style swimming pool that controls the diving board, flickers the pool lights, wields water in and out of the house, and drowns its swimmers. But when Bryce McGuire tries to stretch his 2014 short film into a coherent 98-minute feature, the execution belly-flops.

Ex-MLB player Ray (Wyatt Russell) uses the pool to treat his multiple sclerosis, only for the Waller family to be then tormented by demonic encounters because — spoiler alert — the pool is a wishing well that requires a sacrifice in return. From there, the film spirals into a clunky mess, sinking under the weight of its trite nonsense. —*J.M.*

Now You See Me (2013)

Mark Ruffalo as Dylan Rhodes in 'Now You See Me'. Everett Collection

This popcorn flick tries to convince the audience at the very end that Mark Ruffalo's FBI agent hunting the Four Horsemen magicians has actually been working with them the whole time. But wait, that means...did he spend his entire life working to get into the FBI, just for this one case?! That seems excessive. *—S.B.*

The best movie twists of the 2010s

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Orphan (2009)

Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther in 'Orphan'. Everett Collection

Creepy killer children are a huge nope regardless but thankfully *Orphan*'s Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) isn't actually a child; she's a woman in her 30s with a condition that stopped her growth, allowing her to live disguised as a creepy killer child. That's…*something*.

But what's even more disturbing is that she's decided to use her situation to continuously get adopted into families and sleep with all the men — killing the ones who reject her. Not only is that offensive to anyone living with a similar condition like hypopituitarism, but it's also just an extremely weak "twist" ending. No, thank you! *—S.B.*

Perfect Stranger (2007)

Halle Berry as Rowena Price in 'Perfect Stranger'. Everett Collection

If handled right, this twist would have been killer (sorry). Instead, the reveal is that Halle Berry's journalist who has been investigating a murder has been the culprit the whole time. She's just investigating her own crime to find a way to frame Bruce Willis' executive. None of this makes sense for everything we'd learned about Berry's character for the entire movie. And don't even get us started on those useless flashbacks. *—S.B.*

Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)

Detective Pikachu (voice: Ryan Reynolds) in 'Pokémon Detective Pikachu'. Warner Bros. Pictures

The hero turns out to be the villain and the villain turns out to be the hero? Now that's a great twist, so the Mewtwo reveal in the climax of *Pokémon Detective Pikachu* was thrilling. But the next twist just took things way too far: Pikachu was actually the spirit of Tim Goodman's (Justice Smith) father, Harry, the whole time — and Harry was played by none other than Ryan Reynolds.

But after voicing Pikachu for the whole movie, revealing Reynolds in live-action was inadvertently hilarious and didn't make any sense. Was Harry dead this whole time? Was he brought back to life? What does this mean for the sequel that's already in the works if Pikachu can no longer talk? It's just confusing! *—S.B.*

Remember Me (2010)

Robert Pattinson as Tyler Hawkins in 'Remember Me'. Everett Collection

What would have been a mildly entertaining romantic/coming-of-age drama is ruined in the final shot when it's revealed that *Twilight*-era Robert Pattinson's main character was in the Twin Towers on the morning of 9/11. Why did this have to be included? What did it add to the movie? All it accomplished was solidifying this film's legacy as one of the worst twists ever. *—S.B.*

Safe Haven (2013)

Cobie Smulders as Jo in 'Safe Haven'. Everett Collection

*Last Christmas* is hardly the first movie to employ a ghostly twist. This Nicholas Sparks adaptation has a domestic abuse subplot intertwined with the romance which should be more than enough for one movie, but that doesn't stop Sparks from cramming in one last twist to make it all just too much.

The final act in the film reveals that Cobie Smulders' kind neighbor/friend Jo was actually the dead wife of the male lead (Josh Duhamel) the whole time, watching over his new love interest (Julianne Hough) and helping them get together. Sigh. *—S.B.*

Savages (2012)

Blake Lively as Ophelia Sage in 'Savages'.

Francois Duhamel/Universal Pictures/Everett Collection

Another classic terrible trope twist that appears over and over again in movies? It was all a dream! *Savages* leans heavily into this one to laughable extremes, having Blake Lively's Ophelia Sage dream that she and her two boyfriends, Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), die after a cartel hostage exchange goes wrong.

But then she wakes up from her nightmare, the exchange happens again, and nobody dies. It's too perfect of an ending with no stakes after all the drama and action (which we now know was fake) that was previously played out. *—S.B.*

Serenity (2019)

Matthew McConaughey as Baker Dill in 'Serenity'. Everett Collection

Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway turn in over-the-top dramatic performances, so you have to wonder if they were in on the joke. But the third act reveals that not only is Baker Dill (McConaughey) linked telepathically to his son, he's actually not even real — his son Patrick (Rafael Sayegh) created a videogame version of his dead father to try and kill his abusive new stepfather. The fishing videogame turns into a murder thriller until the game finally ends when Patrick picks up a knife to murder his stepfather in real life. Okay! *—S.B.*

The Village (2004)

Bryce Dallas Howard as Ivy Walker in 'The Village'. Everett Collection

Like all other M. Night Shyamalan films, a twist in the third act of *The Village* upends the entire story. But unlike *The Sixth Sense*'s brilliant revelation, this twist negates all the horror and suspense that had been building throughout the whole movie.

Turns out, the creatures hunting anyone who leaves their 19th-century village are members of the community dressed in the most ridiculous costumes, as they attempt to keep everyone else unaware they're in a social experiment and living in the present. At least make the monster costumes scary. What a letdown. *—S.B.*

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