# Works where you guessed the twist/major plot point/whatever before it happened \[SPOILERS\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2011, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023 "2011-10-18T10:29:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/41 "2011-10-18T22:25:41Z")
Usual Suspects- about a minute before it gets laid out for you I said to my friend in the theater “He (Spacey) is Keyser Soze.” ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/42 "2011-10-18T22:47:58Z")
I found the Shutter Island twist to be a half-twist. There are some good clues that the twist was correct, the most damning probably being the deputy’s inability to remove his gun from his holster, however I think you could make a very valid case both that Di Caprio was insane and that it was an insidious plot. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/43 "2011-10-18T23:35:11Z")
When I went to see _I, Robot_, I knew that VIKI was going to be the villain as soon as she appeared on screen. Of course, the producers of that film were obviously System Shock fans, given her design. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/44 "2011-10-18T23:46:53Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I found the Shutter Island twist to be a half-twist. There are some good clues that the twist was correct, the most damning probably being the deputy’s inability to remove his gun from his holster, however I think you could make a very valid case both that Di Caprio was insane and that it was an insidious plot. That’s something I asked about in the threads on this movie but didn’t get any answers. Because of that, I assumed the whole CIA-sponsored experiments story line was just a red herring. Also, after seeing **The Others** , I wondered if Nicole Kidman’s character possibly collaborated with the Nazis occupying the island but maybe it was just me over-thinking the movie. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/45 "2011-10-19T00:09:19Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I had no idea _Sixth Sense_ had a twist when I first saw it but when Bruce Willis’ character was shot in the gut and the screen went black I instantly thought, the guy just died - it’s Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. It didn’t quite work out like the Bierce story but from that moment on I guessed Willis was dead and once the thought was there it became patently obvious that his character wasn’t having any interaction at all with the living other than the kid who sees dead people. When Bruce Willis got shot I said, “Aaaand the kid can see dead people” out loud and ruined the movie for a few people around me. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/46 "2011-10-19T00:47:25Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I only correctly half-guessed the twist for **The Others**. When I read a plot description that mentioned all the window blinds had to be kept closed because the children had a disease that rendered them sensitive to sunlight, I knew the kids were really ghosts. I didn’t expect Nicole Kidman’s character to have been dead all along as well. But the funny thing about that inference is that the children really did have xeroderma pigmentosa when they were alive. The stress of living with it is what pushed the mother over the edge. ETA, in fact, once they accept that they’re ghosts, they’re finally able to have a stroll outside. I’m often taken in by plot twists (maybe because I sometimes see films the opening night without seeing any trailers), but I’m usually all over the “main character investigating crimes is actually the criminal too” twists. They’re usually pretty pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/47 "2011-10-19T02:10:19Z")
one sub-plot in the love boat had a childless married couple talking to a single man. the husband invited the man to arm wrestling and flattened the guy, saying “not bad.” next he asked him “an electric train goes south 60 mph while the wind blows west 30mph. which direction does the smoke go?” answer: there’s no smoke. conclusion: they want the man’s sperm either as a donor or to actually copulate with the wife. before it happens, they discover the wife has been pregnant by the husband for some time now. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/48 "2011-10-19T02:52:17Z")
I remember guessing the twist to **Shutter Island** right away while watching the trailer. An easy one, as mentioned. Near the end of **The Game** , when Michael Douglas was falling off the building I remember thinking _He’s still in the game_. Fun movie. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/49 "2011-10-19T02:57:12Z")
Mine are mostly books, but I did see The Village and The Others, and caught both of those. I didn’t even realize they were supposed to be twists - it was just what the movie was about. Made me a little disgruntled when I realized all the effort I was putting in to figure out the “real twist” was wasted because the obvious bit was the twist. Hmph! Inception isn’t precisely a twist, but I knew by the end of the helicopter scene that he killed his wife with the technique. Most of mine are in books - I read quickly, so I catch a lot of cumulative clues that I think I would miss if I read more slowly. Two I can think of offhand - The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane - I knew from pretty much the beginning how that was all going down. The other was in whatever book in the Mistborn series had the changing inscriptions on the metal - I caught the one-word difference between the first appearance of the inscription and the later one, read the next few paragraphs to assure myself it wasn’t a typo, and then cursed for about a solid minute while I processed what that actually indicated and then moved on. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/50 "2011-10-19T11:37:33Z")
It’s irritating me that I can’t remember the author. I thought for sure it was William Golding but when I Googled him none of the titles looked right. Maybe you all will know what book I’m talking about though… Read this about 1970. The guy goes out to sea and for some reason the boat capsizes. He’s treading water and takes off his boots because they’re too heavy. He goes through all this hard physical stuff while ruminating over his life, working things out emotionally as he struggles to survive. When he’s found, dead, he still has his boots on. And I KNEW he drowned then, as soon as he “took off his boots.” It’s hell getting old. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/51 "2011-10-19T11:38:35Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > When Bruce Willis got shot I said, “Aaaand the kid can see dead people” out loud and ruined the movie for a few people around me. Perfect user name/post combo.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/52 "2011-10-19T14:24:55Z")
Well, I was doing my laundry at the laundromat once, where they had a TV built into the wall to cook the customers’ brains while the customers cooked their laundry. It was tuned to Animal Planet station that day. I came into the middle of a show of the 50 all-time best-known TV animals (which seemed to include real-live animals and cartoon animals). I _instantly_ guessed, correctly as it turned out, who would be #1. Lassie, of course ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/53 "2011-10-19T14:55:38Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > It’s irritating me that I can’t remember the author. I thought for sure it was William Golding but when I Googled him none of the titles looked right. Maybe you all will know what book I’m talking about though… > Read this about 1970. The guy goes out to sea and for some reason the boat capsizes. He’s treading water and takes off his boots because they’re too heavy. He goes through all this hard physical stuff while ruminating over his life, working things out emotionally as he struggles to survive. > When he’s found, dead, he still has his boots on. > And I KNEW he drowned then, as soon as he “took off his boots.” > It’s hell getting old. :smack: Yeah, someone else mentioned Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge which this reminds me of and which I was able to guess. Though I watched it as an adult and after seeing a lot of other TZ eps so all I was doing was looking for the twist. If I’d seen it as a teen, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/54 "2011-10-19T18:03:15Z")
In the movie Real Genius, the genius college students are working on a powerful laser. The villain makes it clear that he hates popcorn. While watching it with friends on the VCR (this was a long time ago) I asked if a laser could pop popcorn. “Because if it can, they could put lots of popcorn in his house!” (They were engineering types. I was an English major.) They gave me a strange look and said, “Yes.” ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/55 "2011-10-22T17:35:04Z")
Not “the” major plot point, but my wife read Laurie King’s first novel about a cop named Kate Martinelli, liked it a lot, and recommended it to me. I start reading about how Kate wakes up in her bed next to someone named Lee. I immediately note the lack of any personal pronouns associated with Lee, and say aloud, “Lee is a woman, right?” “How did you know?” she asks in surprise. Kate’s lesbianism is supposed to be a Big Secret from the reader for the first 100 pages or so. oh well! ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/56 "2011-10-22T18:01:23Z")
My mother usually isn’t very good at guessing twists, but she guessed the end of _The Sixth Sense_ towards the end of the movie. I didn’t, despite having previously read a comment about the film that almost gave it away. Funnily enough, some time before I saw the movie I had for some reason been thinking about how being shot is usually fatal in movies/TV shows, when in real life people often survive being shot. So when the Bruce Willis character seemingly survived the shooting, I thought “Okay, so people in movies do occasionally survive being shot.” Which is true, just not in the case of _The Sixth Sense_! I did guess the twist in _The Usual Suspects_ fairly early on, because I thought the Kevin Spacey character seemed a little _too_ dumb and useless. I won’t give specific examples because they’re all pretty dull, but I sometimes used to annoy friends and relatives by saying what was going to happen next in TV shows. (I’ve since learned to restrain myself.) This predated the TVTropes website, but that’s basically what I was doing – recognizing common tropes and where they usually led. > [@Carmady](#): > > The “least likely suspect” is not always true. There is another Christie book where you could have guessed the narrator did it for the same reason, but it turns out to be a more likely suspect. I’m blanking on the title now, but there’s an Agatha Christie novel where there’s one person who seems like the too-obvious suspect, several other people who might have had reason to want the victim dead, and one person who seems totally harmless with no motive for killing the victim. It turns out this seemingly innocent person is…actually innocent. The real murderer was the “too-obvious” person. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/57 "2011-10-22T18:08:20Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’m blanking on the title now, but there’s an Agatha Christie novel where there’s one person who seems like the too-obvious suspect, several other people who might have had reason to want the victim dead, and one person who seems totally harmless with no motive for killing the victim. It turns out this seemingly innocent person is…actually innocent. The real murderer was the “too-obvious” person. Probably THE HOLLOW, where the wife who’ll inherit everything is found standing over the body of her philandering husband with a gun in her hand. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/58 "2011-10-22T18:55:28Z")
I don’t know about you all, but I saw the ending of _Passion of the Christ_ coming a mile away. In fact, when he first showed up on screen, I nudged my friend and said, “he’s gonna die.” ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/59 "2011-10-22T21:22:35Z")
I said “oh I bet Harrison Ford is a robot” during the title crawl of _Blade Runner_. (I know it’s debatable, but we were watching the edition with the unicorns!) I figured there was no way they were going to have the protagonist be fighting _against_ a slave rebellion without some kind of plot twist. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023/60 "2011-10-22T21:46:45Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > It’s irritating me that I can’t remember the author. I thought for sure it was William Golding but when I Googled him none of the titles looked right. Maybe you all will know what book I’m talking about though… > Read this about 1970. The guy goes out to sea and for some reason the boat capsizes. He’s treading water and takes off his boots because they’re too heavy. He goes through all this hard physical stuff while ruminating over his life, working things out emotionally as he struggles to survive. > When he’s found, dead, he still has his boots on. > And I KNEW he drowned then, as soon as he “took off his boots.” > It’s hell getting old. :smack: I think you were right first time. William Golding’s [Pincher Martin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pincher_Martin) has a plot similar to what you describe. The cover illustration of the edition I saw showed a pair of boots sinking under water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-where-you-guessed-the-twist-major-plot-point-whatever-before-it-happened-spoilers/600023.md?page=4)