twist ending
Plot's final shock
A twist ending is a conclusion to a story that upends the audience's assumptions about what they've been watching or reading.
The revelation reframes everything that came before—the narrator was dead, the hero was the villain, the timeline wasn't what it seemed.
A good twist feels surprising yet inevitable in retrospect; a bad one feels like a cheat.
I didn't see that twist ending coming.
- plot deviceStorytelling element advancing action
- surpriseUnexpected event causing astonishment
- revelationSurprising disclosed truth
- shockViolent sudden disturbance
- unexpectedNot anticipated beforehand
spoiler · climax · final act · thriller · suspense · M. Night Shyamalan · gotcha · betrayal · unreliable narrator · hidden identity · gasp · cliffhanger · foreshadowing · misdirection · reveal · jaw-dropping · mind blown · deception
- scenesopening scene, closing scene, final scene, death scene, love scene
- storytellingstorytelling, story, tale, narrative, narrator
- mysteryclue, detective, suspect, clues, sleuth
- mystery fictionwhodunit, whodunnit, sleuth, murder mystery, detective novel
- action filmschase scene, car chase, explosion, stunt, shootout
- cliffhangersseason finale, to be continued, suspense, tension, nail-biter