A plot twist isn’t as simple as it sounds. The “surprise ending” cannot afford to be a random leap of faith. It has to be a resolution, an earned moment, not necessarily something that is designed only to trick the viewer. Hindsight is its greatest friend. It must change our reading of the film, not the narrative. It should inform the life of the characters before informing the story of this life. Some of the finest Hollywood films over the years have ended with sleight-of-hand slyness: Psycho, The Shawshank Redemption, Saw, The Sixth Sense, Seven, Unbreakable, Memento, The Usual Suspects, The Prestige, Shutter Island, Fight Club, Arrival. The best of them fooled us in broad daylight, not only offering an element of shock but also a sense of closure.
