10 Movies With A Final Shot That Changes Everything

There’s nothing like a good, well-executed plot twist in a movie. The best ones manage to completely change how the audience understands the plot, the characters, or numerous other elements within the film. The best movie plot twists not only shock their viewers but also evoke an intense reaction that is bound to keep the film circulating in their minds for long after the credits roll. Unsurprisingly, most great twists occur near the end of the film, when the audience thinks they have the story completely figured out.

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However, every once in a while, the filmmakers take things a step further, waiting until the very last shot of the movie to unveil a massive twist. Just when they think everything has been wrapped up, the film pulls the rug right out from underneath the audience, revealing one final piece of information that changes their entire perception of what they just watched. This is how some movie endings continue to be remembered several years later. From The Shining to Inception, the final shot can be when the magic really happens.

10 The Shining (1980)

A Familiar Face in the Photo

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10/10 15 9.4/10 The Shining R

Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall tells the story of the Torrance family, who move to the isolated Overlook Hotel so that father Jack Torrance can act as its winter caretaker. Stuck at the hotel due to the winter storms, the malevolent supernatural forces inhabiting the building slowly begin to drive Jack insane, causing his wife and psychically gifted son to be caught up in a fight for their lives when Jack is pushed over the edge. 

Director Stanley Kubrick Release Date June 13, 1980 Cast Danny Lloyd , Shelley Duvall , Jack Nicholson , Scatman Crothers Runtime 146 minutes

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Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 feature, The Shining, is one of the most iconic horror movies of all time. Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, The Shining follows Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson), a struggling writer who agrees to take a job as the winter caretaker of the remote Overlook Hotel, taking his wife and young son along with him. The situation soon begins descending into madness, with supernatural occurrences and intense isolation causing Jack to grow increasingly insane, culminating in a violent attack on his family.

As the film ends, the camera zooms in on a photo, revealing that Jack, appearing the same age as he is in the film, was at a party at the hotel back in 1921.

When the maddened Jack finally succumbs to the frigid weather while lost in the hotel’s hedge maze, audiences think they can finally exhale. The final shot, however, suggests that the story is far from over. As the film ends, the camera zooms in on a photo, revealing that Jack, appearing the same age as he is in the film, was at a party at the hotel back in 1921. This chilling image could be interpreted in various ways, including the possibility that Jack’s spirit has been reincarnated, and has been connected to the mysterious hotel forever.

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9 Inception (2010)

Is Cobb Still in a Dream?

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10/10 8.1/10 Inception PG-13

Christopher Nolan’s 2010 Sci-fi action film Inception follows a thief who enters the dreams of others to steal information and, after being caught, is given a chance to clean his slate by performing an untested concept – implanting an idea within another mind. An ensemble cast is brought together by former target Saito, who seeks to implant the idea of destroying his own company into his father’s mind. In a complex labyrinth of dreams and untested theories at the forefront, survival is not guaranteed in this psychological heist where the stakes are high, and nothing is what it seems.

Director Christopher Nolan Release Date July 16, 2010 Writers Christopher Nolan Cast Tom Hardy , Elliot Page , Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Cillian Murphy , Ken Watanabe , Marion Cotillard , Leonardo DiCaprio Runtime 148 minutes

Christopher Nolan is known for making movies meant to bend the mind, but his 2010 film, Inception, might be the most complex of them all. This thrilling science fiction film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb, a special agent who uses advanced technology to enter the multilayered dreams of his targets, slipping into their subconscious to extract valuable information from their minds. Throughout the film, Cobb goes on an action-packed, mind-boggling adventure, diving into various levels of the dream world, making it harder to distinguish what is actually real.

Related Inception Ending Explained – Is Cobb Still Dreaming?

Inception’s ending sees Cobb walking away after pulling out his totem, but whether the top ever stopped spinning may not be as important as it seemed.

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Throughout the film, Cobb uses a special spinning top as his totem, an item used to distinguish if he is in reality or a dream. If the top spins forever, he knows he is still in a dream. The film ends with Cobb returning home and spinning the top once again, before turning away from it and going to play with his children. The final shot shows the top continuing to spin, leaving audiences uncertain whether the protagonist ever really found his way out of the dream, or if he is choosing to stay in it forever.

8 Planet of the Apes (1968)

It Was Earth All Along

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Planet of the Apes (1968) G

George Taylor, an astronaut, finds himself on a strange planet ruled by apes after his spaceship crashes. In this topsy-turvy world, apes are the intelligent rulers while humans are mute and oppressed. Captured and held in captivity, Taylor’s struggle for survival leads him to an alliance with Zira and Cornelius, two chimpanzee scientists who recognize his intelligence. As Taylor uncovers the dark secrets of this civilization, he faces shocking revelations that challenge everything he knows about his own species and their future.

Director Franklin J. Schaffner Release Date April 3, 1968 Cast Charlton Heston , Roddy McDowall , Kim Hunter , Maurice Evans , James Whitmore , James Daly , Linda Harrison , Robert Gunner Runtime 112 Minutes

Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1968 film, Planet of the Apes, is not only one of the most notable science fiction classics of the era as a whole but features one of the most renowned last-second twists in cinema history. The film follows a small group of surviving astronauts from an interstellar mission who crash-land on a strange planet in the distant future. As the title suggests, the planet is dominated by a species of human-like, highly intelligent apes.

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Related All 10 Planet Of The Apes Movie Endings, Ranked Worst To Best

Ranking the Planet of the Apes endings, we dive into each film’s conclusion—from iconic twists to bleak finales—revealing their impact and legacy.

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It is not until the final moments of the film that two of the main characters stumble across the remains of the Statue of Liberty while venturing down the coast. The shocking reveal of the iconic statue indicates that the characters have been on a post-apocalyptic version of Earth the whole time, completely blowing the minds of the characters and the audience alike. This last-second reveal forces audiences to reinterpret everything they have just witnessed and gives them the dark realization that there is no home for the characters to ever return to.

7 It Follows (2014)

Is the Entity Actually Dead?

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7/10 9/10 It Follows R

It Follows is a horror-thriller film released in 2014 and follows a college student named Jay who is terrorized by a specter of a woman that follows her everywhere she goes. When Jay has sex with her new boyfriend, he ties her up and reveals that this mysterious woman will now haunt her until she passes it on to another or is killed by her. Now haunted by a woman that only she and those once afflicted by her can see, Jay will attempt to survive and find away to break the curse.

Director David Robert Mitchell Release Date March 27, 2015 Cast Olivia Luccardi , Jake Weary , Keir Gilchrist , Daniel Zovatto , Maika Monroe , Lili Sepe Runtime 100minutes
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The acclaimed 2014 horror film, It Follows, features a refreshingly unique antagonist. Though it is never given a name, the characters in the film are tormented by a mysterious entity that relentlessly follows its target, taking on various forms, while only moving at a walking pace. Despite the creature only being visible to the person it targets, college student Jay manages to convince her friends to help her kill it once it begins seeking her out. In a climactic scene, they manage to shoot the entity, and it appears to bleed out in a swimming pool.

At this point, the audience is finally given a feeling of safety; that is, until the final two shots of the movie. The film ends with two of the main characters walking down the street in a peaceful neighborhood. However, viewers will notice a mysterious figure lumbering behind them. It is unclear whether this is just a person enjoying a nice walk, or if it is the entity returning for another attempt to kill them. This last-second uncertainty massively unsettles the audience, creating a feeling that is bound to linger with them long after the movie ends.

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6 The Graduate (1967)

Excitement Becomes Uncertainty

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7/10 The Graduate PG

In The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman stars as college student Benjamin Braddock, who becomes involved in an affair with an older woman, Mrs. Robinson, played by Anne Bancroft. The film explores themes of alienation and the generation gap in 1960s America, and features a memorable soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel.

Director Mike Nichols Release Date December 21, 1967 Cast Dustin Hoffman , Katharine Ross , Murray Hamilton , Anne Bancroft , William Daniels Runtime 106 minutes

At its core, the widely acclaimed 1967 film, The Graduate, is all about a young man just trying to figure things out. Having recently finished college, Benjamin (played by Dustin Hoffman) returns to his California home, uncertain about his future. He quickly becomes entangled with the lives of others, specifically Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) and her daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross). Ultimately, though, he casts aside his relationship with Mrs. Robinson, disrupts Elaine’s wedding, and runs off toward a new freedom with Elaine by his side.

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The feeling that Benjamin has finally figured things out proves to be very short-lived, however. In the iconic final shot, the audience sees Benjamin and Elaine’s expressions gradually fade from ecstatic happiness into grim uncertainty as they ponder the new futures they have just paved for themselves. This single shot redefines the movie from the story of a man finally choosing to pursue what he wants, to the story of a reckless individual failing to think before he acts. With a single shot, the filmmakers force the viewers to reconsider what the true lesson of the movie actually is.

5 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Matthew Became a Duplicate

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10/10 Invasion of the Body Snatchers PG

1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers was directed by Philip Kaufman and is an adaptation of the popular 1955 Sci-Fi novel, The Body Snatchers. The Horror and Sci-Fi release features a race of mysterious alien creatures that travel to Earth and begin taking over the bodies of unsuspecting humans.

Director Philip Kaufman Release Date December 22, 1978 Writers W.D. Richter Cast Jeff Goldblum , Donald Sutherland , Art Hindle , Veronica Cartwright , Brooke Adams , Leonard Nimoy Runtime 115 minutes

Through a single, haunting shot, the 1978 sci-fi horror film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, manages to pull off one of the most chilling endings ever put to film. In the film, the world is secretly in the process of being overtaken by an advanced race of aliens capable of perfectly duplicating the humans they conquer. Donald Sutherland plays Matthew Bennell, who appears to triumph near the end of the film by successfully managing to burn down the facility where many of the alien creatures were being grown from pods.

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The audience discovers that Matthew did not survive and that he, too, was overtaken by the aliens.

In a shocking turn of events, the film ultimately ends with Matthew raising his arm and emitting an ear-piercing shriek, the haunting sound only made by the duplicates created by the otherworldly creatures. The audience discovers that Matthew did not survive and that he, too, was overtaken by the aliens. The credits begin to roll as the audience is left wondering whether there is any hope for humankind, or if all the humans on Earth are doomed to be taken over as well.

4 Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

What Did Sam See?

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9/10 8.7/10 Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) R

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman is a dark comedy drama that stars Michael Keaton as washed-up actor Riggan Thomson, who’s famous for playing a bird-themed superhero and who attempts to stage a comeback by directing and starring in a Broadway play. Shot as one single long take and with Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis, and Emma Stone in its cast, the 2014 film won four Oscars, including Best Picture.

Director Alejandro González Iñárritu Release Date October 17, 2014 Cast Andrea Riseborough , Naomi Watts , Emma Stone , Edward Norton , Zach Galifianakis , Michael Keaton , Amy Ryan Runtime 120 Minutes

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Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s 2014 Best Picture winner, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), is a fast-paced comedy-drama about a former superhero actor attempting to show off his true skills by directing and performing in his own Broadway play. Throughout the film, the audience is shown various visuals related to the fictional superhero character formerly played by the protagonist, Michael Keaton’s character, Riggan. Riggan appears to interact with the character and demonstrates various superpowers of his own. The audience is led to assume this all happens inside his head.

The final moment of Birdman forces the audience to question this idea. The ending depicts Riggan appearing to jump out of his hospital window, before his daughter, Sam (played by Emma Stone), rushes in. Sam looks out the open window, then stares up toward the sky and smiles at what she sees. The viewers are left wondering if perhaps Riggan could actually fly (as he appeared to do earlier in the film), or if some other strange phenomena caused Sam to smile. Because of how the shot is filmed, it is impossible to know for sure what happened.

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3 Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

The Villain Gets Exactly What He Wanted

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6/10 16 9/10 Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War is the third Avengers movie in the game-changing Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film is positioned as the beginning of the culmination of everything that has transpired in the franchise to date. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who previously helmed Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War, have assembled the largest ensemble in a superhero film to date. Nearly every living character in the MCU is included as the Avengers join forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy to take down Thanos in a battle that has massive repercussions for the future of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. A sequel, Avengers: Endgame, was released in 2019 and marked the end of the Infinity Saga.

Director Joe Russo , Anthony Russo Release Date April 27, 2018 Writers Stephen McFeely , Christopher Markus Cast Chris Hemsworth , Anthony Mackie , Elizabeth Olsen , Robert Downey Jr. , Scarlett Johansson , Mark Ruffalo , Sebastian Stan , Paul Rudd , Chadwick Boseman , Don Cheadle , Samuel L. Jackson , Josh Brolin , Tom Holland , Evangeline Lilly , Paul Bettany , Chris Evans , Jeremy Renner prequel(s) The Avengers , Avengers: Age of Ultron Expand

The final moment of Avengers: Infinity War is one of the most heavily discussed endings of any superhero movie. The vast majority of the film feels quite similar to the other Avengers movies that came before it; the titular heroes team up and fight in a heroic effort to save the world. In a shocking turn of events, however, the film does not end with a victory for the beloved heroes. The villain, Thanos (played by Josh Brolin), destroys half of all life in the universe and watches the sunrise, just as he had said he would.

The final shot of Avengers: Infinity War appears exactly the way Thanos had described his plan would end much earlier in the movie. The message of this stunning shot is clear; the villain won. With a single shot, Avengers: Infinity War was transformed from a typical superhero team-up movie into something new, exciting, and thoroughly shocking to its audience.

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2 La La Land (2016)

Mia and Sebastian Go Their Separate Ways

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9/10 8.4/10 La La Land PG-13

Written and directed by Damien Chazzelle, the romantic musical La La Land tells the story of Seb Wilder (Ryan Gosling) and Mia Dolan (Emma Stone), a jazz musician and an aspiring actress pursuing their respective dreams in Los Angeles. The pair meet and fall in love, sharing their passions and hopes with one another as they become closer. J.K. Simmons, John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Finn Wittrock appear in supporting roles.

Director Damien Chazelle Release Date December 9, 2016 Writers Damien Chazelle Cast Hemky Madera , meagen fay , J. K. Simmons , Sonoya Mizuno , Rosemarie DeWitt , John Legend , Ryan Gosling , Finn Wittrock , Ashley Caple , Josh Pence , Emma Stone , Jason Fuchs Runtime 128 Minutes

Damien Chazelle dazzled audiences with his acclaimed 2016 musical comedy-drama, La La Land. For much of the film, it feels as though La La Land is going to be a Hollywood love story for the ages. The film follows Mia, an aspiring actress played by Emma Stone, and Sebastian, a struggling jazz pianist played by Ryan Gosling, as they begin an unlikely romance. In a final flash forward to the future, however, it is revealed that the two characters do not end up together, much to the audience’s surprise.

The final shots of La La Land, one of each character, show Mia and Sebastian exchanging a friendly smile before turning and heading their separate ways. Each of them has now achieved their Hollywood dreams but at the cost of their relationship. With a single smile, La La Land is transformed from a musical love story into a complex commentary on the cost of pursuing one’s dreams to the fullest extent.

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1 A Serious Man (2009)

A Drastic Change of Fortune

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10/10 A Serious Man R

A Serious Man is a dark comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in the 1960s, the movie follows Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a Midwestern physics professor facing personal and professional turmoil. As Gopnik’s life unravels, he seeks meaning and answers from his faith and the world around him. The film explores themes of existentialism, morality, and the human condition, and features the Coen brothers’ signature blend of humor and drama.

Director Ethan Coen , Joel Coen Release Date November 6, 2009 Cast Michael Stuhlbarg , Richard Kind , Sari Lennick , Fred Melamed , Aaron Wolff , Jessica McManus , Peter Breitmayer , Bren Braunschweig Runtime 106 Minutes

Larry Gopnik just can’t seem to catch a break. Played by Michael Stuhlbarg, Larry is the protagonist of the 2009 Coen brothers film, A Serious Man. The Best Picture-nominated film follows Larry as he is constantly dealt one awful misfortune after another. Things finally begin to turn around near the end of the film, though, with Larry finally experiencing a few significant moments of great fortune after changing the way he handles both his life and his faith.

The audience may think that Larry is now in the clear, but this quickly proves to not be the case. Just as the film is wrapping up, Larry’s luck takes another dark turn, culminating in a haunting final shot that reveals a violent tornado approaching his son’s school, seeming certain to destroy everything (and everyone) in its path. The idea that Larry could still lose his son even after all the changes he has made forces audiences to completely reevaluate the true message of the film.

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