That damn spinning top doesn't mean squat.
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00:00So, when it comes to movies, a red herring is, of course, a classic narrative device
00:04intended to distract the audience away from a more important truth, and while it can often
00:09end up feeling rather lazy or cheap in the wrong hands, when it works, oh, it really
00:15works.
00:16And that's what we're here to talk about today.
00:17We're talking about the greatest red herring movie endings.
00:20Now, this doesn't change some of the films themselves for being overall bad films, but
00:24these moments, these are chef kiss perfect, my friend.
00:29So let's get stuck in, as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are the 12 Greatest
00:33Red Herring Movie Endings.
00:35Why 12?
00:36Because 10 simply isn't enough sometimes.
00:38Number 12.
00:39Verbal Kint's Story is a Total Lie, The Usual Suspects
00:42In effect, the entirety of Bryan Singer's mystery thriller is one big avalanche of red
00:47herring, centered around the identity of the mysterious crime kingpin known as Kaiser Soze.
00:52The audience is led to believe that Verbal Kint's long-winded, hyper-convoluted testimony
00:56to customs agent Dave will eventually result in Soze being unmasked.
01:01While it technically does, it's not at all in the way that either Dave nor the audience
01:05expects.
01:06The iconic ending reveals that Soze has been sitting in front of Dave the entire time,
01:11with Kint bluffing the story on the fly using elements from the bulletin board in the interrogation
01:15room until his bond is posted.
01:18Some might argue that 97% of the movie being a series of fabrications for both the audience
01:22and the protagonist makes it a bit of a tough movie to re-watch, but it's an undeniably
01:27genius work of misdirection that works brilliantly on so many levels.
01:31Number 11.
01:32The Real Killer Was Right Under Their Noses, Saw
01:35This modern horror classic revolves around two men, Lawrence and Adam, waking up to discover
01:40that they are chained inside a grotty bathroom at the behest of the infamous Jigsaw killer.
01:45Deep into the third act, it's seemingly revealed that Jigsaw is in fact Zep, an orderly
01:49who works at the very same hospital as Lawrence.
01:52It's a pretty deflating and generic villain reveal, honestly, but it's not long before
01:56Zep is beaten to death with a toilet lid by Adam, and it's then revealed that Zep was
02:01in fact just another person in Jigsaw's game.
02:04The real Jigsaw then reveals himself to be the bloody corpse that's been lying in the
02:08middle of the room for the entirety of the game, a cancer patient of Lawrence named John
02:12Kramer who wants to test people's appreciation for life.
02:16It's an especially excellent example of a red herring, because the real solution is
02:20literally laid out in front of the viewer the entire time.
02:2410.
02:25K isn't the Chosen One, Blade Runner 2049
02:28Blade Runner 2049 serves up a fantastic subversion of the rather tired and dull Chosen One trope,
02:35with the first two acts of the movie suggesting that Replicant K is the first ever naturally
02:39born Replicant, as a result of Deckard and Rachel's relationship.
02:43As a result, K is also set up as the potential leader of a Replicant revolution against humans
02:48who wish to oppress them.
02:50This is ingeniously deconstructed in the film's finale, however, where it's flatly revealed
02:54that K is neither the child of Deckard and Rachel, nor is he destined to become a revolutionary.
03:00In the end, we find out that the real Chosen One is Dr. Anna, a minor character briefly
03:04introduced earlier on in the film.
03:06The result is a movie that's considerably more entertaining on a rewatch than a first
03:10viewing, firm in the knowledge that Denis Villeneuve doesn't just spend 163 minutes
03:15recycling one of the most tired blockbuster narratives there is.
03:189.
03:19Norman Bates Is The Real Killer – Psycho
03:22Alfred Hitchcock's unforgettable suspense classic is a film built on red herring after
03:26red herring, each intended to prevent you from figuring out the ultimate truth.
03:31For starters, it at first appears that the movie will be focused on Marion Crane and
03:35her act of theft, but she's promptly killed off at the end of Act One.
03:39At this point, suspicion is thrown onto both Norman Bates' mother and a potential third
03:43party who could have committed the killings.
03:46In the end, though, it's revealed that Bates himself was the killer, having created an
03:50alternate personality in the vein of his dearly departed mother, who he himself murdered.
03:54Psycho's big reveal may be one of the worst-kept secrets in movie history nowadays, but as
03:59an expertly crafted bait-and-switch, it's pretty much perfect.
04:038.
04:04The Aliens Didn't Defeat The Army – The Mist
04:07This adaptation of Stephen King's sci-fi horror novella devotes a lot of its screen
04:12time to convincing the audience that humanity is on its last legs, with a science experiment
04:16gone awry bringing a fleet of terrifying tentacled monsters into our universe.
04:21This pays off in Act Three, as protagonist David, his son, and a few other survivors
04:25drive their car past a gigantic six-legged monster the size of a skyscraper, resigning
04:30them to the fact that there is no way out of this situation.
04:33As such, David and the other adults enter a suicide pact, which culminates in David
04:38shooting everyone else dead, including his young son, before then trying to shoot himself
04:42but running out of bullets.
04:44As he hears the monsters approaching, he runs out into the mist hoping to be set free from
04:48his life, only to be met by a series of US Army tanks rolling through the mist.
04:53Mere moments after David killed his own son and several others, he realizes that they
04:58would have all just survived if he had waited just a few minutes longer, as the US Army
05:02now apparently has effectively conquered the creatures.
05:05This ending scene is, well, comedically miserable, and as a red herring, definitely feels on
05:10the cheaper side of things, but still, you look me in the eye and tell me you saw this
05:14come in, and I'll tell you, no you didn't.
05:167.
05:17Teddy Isn't Crazy – Shutter Island
05:20Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island is a textbook example of a cleverly marketed movie which
05:25lured audiences into a false sense of security before blindsiding them with a killer last
05:30minute reveal.
05:31The trailers for the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring psychological thriller were widely mocked for
05:35appearing to spoil the movie's obvious plot twist – that DiCaprio's US Marshal
05:39Teddy is in fact an asylum patient with his own troubled and violent past.
05:44Though this does in fact turn out to be true – Daniels is actually a man called Andrew,
05:48who murdered his wife for drowning their children – it's not actually the movie's real
05:52twist at all.
05:53The end of the film makes the not-so-subtle implication that Andrew is in fact cured of
05:58his ailment, but feigns another delusional episode in order to be lobotomized, so that
06:03he doesn't have to live with the knowledge of his children's deaths and him murdering
06:06his wife.
06:07It's a great little double twist, especially for those who perhaps started to switch off
06:11their brain once the main twist was revealed – which was ultimately just the prelude
06:15to a far more interesting and emotionally shattering final reveal.
06:206.
06:21Zemo Kills the Super Soldiers – Captain America Civil War
06:25It's explained earlier in Captain America Civil War that HYDRA attempted to create a
06:29team of Winter Soldiers by injecting five extremely skilled operatives with the Super
06:33Soldier Serum, but when they proved to be too volatile for the field, they were put
06:37into cryostasis.
06:38From the moment we hear of these other Super Soldiers, it feels like they're going to
06:42make a reappearance in Act 3 – and they certainly do – but when Cap, Bucky and Iron
06:47Man arrive at the Siberian HYDRA facility to face Helmut Zemo, they find that Zemo has
06:52actually murdered the other Winter Soldiers in their sleep.
06:56Considering how generic and conventional it would have been for Cap, Bucky and Iron
06:59Man to face off against a team of Super Soldiers, it was actually a huge relief to see the Russos
07:03ditch that threat in favour of a far more enthralling two-on-one superhero battle.
07:085.
07:09The Spinning Top Doesn't Actually Matter – Inception
07:12Now this is a really interesting one.
07:14Christopher Nolan's mind-melting sci-fi masterwork concludes with Dom completing his
07:19titular mission and being granted a safe passage home to the US, so that he can once again
07:23take custody of his two young children.
07:26The ambiguous final scene, however, makes it unclear as to whether Cobb is actually
07:30back in reality, or simply living out a dream.
07:33And true to form, Nolan hasn't offered up much of an answer.
07:36But what's telling, though, is Nolan's response when asked about the ending.
07:40He stated numerous times that the reality – or unreality – of Cobb's reunion isn't
07:44actually the important part of the scene, but simply that he has chosen to accept whatever
07:48is presented before him by walking away from the spinning top in the final shot.
07:52Nolan then elaborated.
07:54He said he didn't really care anymore and makes a statement – perhaps all levels of
07:58reality are valid.
08:00While it's unavoidable that fans are going to agonize and deliberate over that final
08:04shot until the end of time, it's actually a red herring of a different kind.
08:084.
08:09The Bad Guy Wins With Minimal Fuss – No Country For Old Men
08:12The Coen Brothers' best picture-winning thriller initially appears to be structured
08:16like a classic western, with audiences likely assuming that the grizzled heroes Moss and
08:21Sheriff Ed-Tom Bell will end up facing off against and defeating the Terminator-like
08:25assassin Anton.
08:27But this being a Coens movie and all, they intentionally say balls to that, with not
08:31one but two big red herrings.
08:34First of all, Moss is killed 25 minutes before the end of the film by a gang, denying the
08:38audience the expected showdown between him and Anton.
08:41The film then quietly concludes with Bell effectively admitting that he's outmatched
08:45by Anton, who escapes with the money, albeit after suffering a broken arm in a car accident.
08:50The ending certainly frustrated many casual viewers by not simply serving up a predictable
08:55finale where either Moss or Bell blows Anton away, but the result is a far more haunting
09:00and memorable conclusion to the story.
09:02Bravo.
09:033.
09:04Luke Does Nothing – Star Wars The Force Awakens
09:07Now, there's pleasantly subverting fans' expectations, and then there's straight
09:11up trolling them, and in the case of Star Wars The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams most certainly
09:15did the latter with a brilliant audacity.
09:18Luke Skywalker was kept almost entirely out of the movie's marketing, with most fans
09:23assuming that this was simply to preserve the surprise of his appearance, probably with
09:26a lightsaber in hand no less.
09:28Well, a surprise fans certainly got, though not quite the one they were probably hoping
09:32for.
09:33Luke only appears in the final minute of the movie and does nothing more than turn around,
09:37lower his hood, and stare intently at Rey.
09:40When Rey encountered Luke, fans surely expected a lengthy chit-chat between the two in the
09:44very least, setting up The Last Jedi, but nope, the movie just ends, forcing audiences
09:50to wait another two years to see or hear Luke do, well, anything.
09:55Fans were justifiably annoyed, but at the same time, it was a pretty genius marketing
09:59move on the part of Disney.
10:002.
10:01Malcolm Was Dead The Entire Time – The Sixth Sense
10:05Everybody knows how The Sixth Sense ends, but if you were lucky enough to see M. Night
10:09Shyamalan's classic horror film before it became a pop culture staple, you'll remember
10:14just how much of a shock the film's final plot twist truly was.
10:17The bulk of the film's focus is on child psychologist Malcolm attempting to help Cole,
10:22a young boy who can see and communicate with the dead.
10:25This is all while assuaging his own guilt over a previous patient that he was unable
10:28to help who eventually killed himself.
10:30It's a restrained, brilliantly acted character study for the standards of the genre, and
10:34while Malcolm and Cole's mission holds true until the very end of the film, the big catch
10:38is that, as it turns out, Malcolm is himself a dead man with unfinished business.
10:44Though the twist has been imitated by literally dozens of major movies over the years, Shyamalan's
10:49expert misdirection makes this a red herring ending that never once feels cheap or unearned.
10:54Rather than invalidating what came before it, the surprise ending only lends further
10:58emotional weight to those earlier sequences, especially Malcolm's shooting, which initially
11:02appears to be non-fatal.
11:031.
11:05It's Not Really a Revenge Story – Memento
11:09Christopher Nolan's mesmerizingly cerebral film is framed as a revenge thriller in which
11:13an amnesiac man, Leonard, attempts to avenge his wife's murder.
11:17Nolan steers the audience in the direction of believing that Teddy is most likely responsible,
11:22though the film's non-linear structure eventually reveals that Leonard's wife survived the
11:25initial attack, and Leonard himself accidentally killed her with an insulin overdose due to
11:30his amnesia.
11:31Moreover, Leonard and Teddy killed the actual attacker much more than a year prior, the
11:36revelation of which prompts Leonard to frame Teddy as the killer in his own mind, giving
11:40himself a new revenge mission to partake in rather than face up to the reality of killing
11:44his own wife.
11:45It's a superb reconfiguration of what the audience is supposed to care about – we
11:50get invested in this revenge story only to learn that it's thoroughly warped, and instead
11:54the true story is built around a man's self-deception in light of a devastating tragedy.
12:00And there we go my friends, those were the 12 greatest Red Herring movie endings, I hope
12:03that you enjoyed that and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comments
12:06section below.
12:07As always I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJay but the O is
12:11a zero, or you can swing by Instagram and follow me there, same handle, RetroJay but
12:15the O is a zero.
12:16It'd be great to see you over there, I'll speak to you soon, bye.