# Movies that start in the middle or end of the story. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854 "2011-02-27T23:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/41 "2011-02-28T12:50:41Z")
**Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind** goes through Joel and Clementine’s relationship in reverse. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/42 "2011-02-28T13:38:55Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I think a lot of the examples here only appear to be in medias res: a quick short scene that happens at the end of the story, and then the main story begins. Imho, this just pays lip service to the idea rather than actually doing it. True in medias res incorporates the backstory into the main story, usually as lines of dialogue or a flashback. In that case, Millennium Actress, which I mentioned above, does it twice. It starts with the scene of Chiyoko piloting a space ship, which turns out to be a flashback to the middle of her story – and is literally “in medias res”, since it’s about half way between the start and the end of the events shown. Then it moves to the “main story”, which is the interview of Chiyoko by Tachibana, and that main story is a frame for the flashbacks into Chiyoko’s life, starting about 60 years before the interview. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/43 "2011-02-28T13:49:29Z")
**[Betrayal](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085234/)** has its scenes running in reverse chronological order. The first scene is the last scene chronologically, and it goes backwards from there. ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/44 "2011-02-28T14:27:09Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It’s not a movie that starts in the middle of the story, but it is a story that starts in the middle of the movie. What Miller said. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/45 "2011-02-28T14:27:10Z")
Can’t believe nobody’s mentioned _Goodfellas_ yet. The opening scene has Henry transporting the victim in the trunk, until he interrupts as narrator saying something like, “I guess I should explain how we got here.” Then we jump to the beginning of the story and the film proceeds linearly from there. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/46 "2011-02-28T14:51:55Z")
_Forrest Gump_ is immediately what I thought of. _Amadeus_ is another one. ---
**Author:** ![uuaschbaer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@uuaschbaer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uuaschbaer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/47 "2011-02-28T14:58:19Z")
_Whatever happened to Baby Jane_ does that if I remember correctly, and _Dorian Gray_ (2009) too. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/48 "2011-02-28T15:11:58Z")
Just last night I watched **Mildred Pierce**. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/49 "2011-02-28T15:18:03Z")
_ **Casino** _ starts with a car explosion, then goes back to show how the character in the car got there. Similarly, _ **Gandhi** _ begins with Gandhi’s assassination. This _is_ a pretty common device. See also the original _ **Invasion of the Body Snatchers** _. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/50 "2011-02-28T15:45:53Z")
IIRC, the Hudsucker Proxy starts near the end, with Norville on the ledge, and then explains how he got there. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/51 "2011-02-28T18:02:53Z")
[_Vagabond_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagabond_(film)). ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/52 "2011-02-28T18:15:37Z")
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t _Fallen_ start at the end? It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, and I know it opens with Denzel saying something like, “This is the story of the time I almost died,” and I _think_ it’s also the same shot as at the end, with him crawling through the woods at night…I can’t quite remember. And not a movie (though the story and acting could qualify it for one,) but the videogame _Uncharted 2_ starts about halfway through the story. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/53 "2011-02-28T18:34:50Z")
_The Man Who Would Be King_. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/54 "2011-02-28T19:15:03Z")
_A League of Their Own_ starts with Dottie making the trip to Cooperstown and entering the museum grounds. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/55 "2011-02-28T19:36:52Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > IIRC, the Hudsucker Proxy starts near the end, with Norville on the ledge, and then explains how he got there. Ooh, thanks for reminding me! Gene Wilder on a ledge is at the beginning of _The Woman in Red_, and the movie is the story of the events that got him there. Both versions of _Unfaithfully Yours_ also open _in media res_. _Ratatouille_ opens with a scene that requires backtrack to explain it. And I didn’t see _Titanic_, but I understand that it begins with Rose on her deathbed. And speaking of beds, _Edward Scissorhands_ begins with an aged Kim tucking her granddaughter into one. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/56 "2011-02-28T21:04:12Z")
[Little Big Man](http://amazon.imdb.com/title/tt0065988/) starts about 90 years after the beginning of it’s story. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/57 "2011-02-28T21:15:59Z")
_A Soldier’s Story_ starts out with a murder, then an investigation, but the rest of the movie is in flashbacks. _The Curious Case of Benjamin Button_ was all flashbacks too. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/58 "2011-02-28T21:27:51Z")
Saving Private Ryan ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/59 "2011-02-28T21:32:22Z")
If we’re allowed TV shows, \*Seinfeld \*usually started and ended with the star delivering his stand-up routine, and in the middle were the events that inspired the routine. And the entire run of _Lost_, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/60 "2011-03-01T00:47:31Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > If we’re allowed TV shows, \*Seinfeld \*usually started and ended with the star delivering his stand-up routine, and in the middle were the events that inspired the routine. Don’t forget the entire run came full circle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854.md?page=4)