How To Write A Twist Ending - John Gray

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

Writing a twist is easy... Making one work, is a whole other thing.

[@nellosnook4454]

1. Writing a “twist” ending is not the objective. 2. Writing a “twist” ending that SATISFIES the audience is the objective.

[@chasehedges6775]

Truer words

[@nellosnook4454]

@@chasehedges6775 Thank you, Chase! 👍

[@veradragilyova3122]

John Gray is such a humble person, and a brilliant writer! What a pleasure it has been listening to him! Thank you so much!

[@EldhoseJoseph]

Also, I believe, in my humble opinion, twist should also be tailored to the emotion that writer needs the audience to leave with, be it surprise, awe, sad etc. I like the part of leaving hints for twist but obscuring it in a way that after twist happens, audience can't help but agree that they missed that part which makes the twist more acceptable. I think thats more valuable than random twist introduced in the beginning. In any case, twist is an art. Indian film Drishyam is known for its unexpected twist and two sequels have already been so hit that audience is waiting for third one just to see the twist.

[@joshuaknoll925]

The best comment I've heard about twist endings is that they need to be better or more satisfying than the more predictable ending. If you don't manage that, the audience just feels cheated.

[@BartScantlin]

KInda wished you would have followed up more about writing the twist. He said that its usually something thats been in the background the whole time and I think you should have asked him more about how to do that in such a way that it remains subtle but apparent once the twist is revealed. I suppose thats just the magic each writer has to find for themselves though, probably.

[@concernedcitizen7385]

Another great FC interview - Pure gold 🙏🙏🙏

[@julialeite6923]

One very easy twist to implement is to simply have a character either overestimate or underestimate a situation or another character. Changes the character arc.

[@simplyme922]

Have to be careful with twists. Will the audience buy it? The call back is great advice. 👍🏻

[@BionicDance]

*TWIST ENDING:* a Chubby Checker song played over the credits. **runs** 😁

[@sreenijasreenivas9272]

such great and realistic explanation

[@filmcourage]

Glad you found this one Sreenija!

[@tujaun1]

That question about a writer or director that mastered the twist ending..I feel like he never said her name but the person who came to mind was Agatha Christie. As a kid,i remember being so enamored with her book “And Then There Were None” as well as the Detective Poirot mysteries which they are currently adapting into films..I never read Death on the Nile and it’s live-action adaptation may not be anything remarkable,probably loosely based on the book..However the film’s twist was still brilliant imo and taught me a lesson with “whodunnit”films..Establish a convincing alibi for the suspect and tie it into the conflict very early in the plot so the viewer subconsciously disqualifies them for the remainder of the film.

[@Hyplum]

Great interview and informative

[@filmcourage]

Do you like to write twist endings?

[@chasehedges6775]

Yes. But they have to be done well.

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

They give me headaches!

[@wilpuriarts5895]

Like anything it’s good if it’s good. Too often the twist is a letdown. Something unbelievable is revealed to be something mundane. ”Oh there never was any creature, it was just in his head!”

[@chasehedges6775]

@@wilpuriarts5895 Even that twist can be good if it’s executed well but yeah.

[@wilpuriarts5895]

@@chasehedges6775 I think (almost) everything can be made so well it works.

[@chrismahan]

great interview. Love it!

[@simplyme922]

Love a great twist.

[@ccwoodlands1565]

What was it Hitchcock said?…surprise and suspense are what you want in your film.

[@chasehedges6775]

While we’re on the subject of twist endings, i recently watched a movie called The Last Legion(2007) starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley about the fall of Rome that was kind of disguised as a King Arthur story. The twist was that the sword of Julius Caesar was actually Excalibur. That twist was sooo mediocre and came out of nowhere. Other than that, the movie was fine.

[@eldo59]

The Departed elevator scene. Baby Driver character Bats as the leading worry switching to Buddy. Primal Fear Ed Norton's character. High Crimes with Jim Caviezel. Many others.

[@trinelangohr6661]

Best twist I ever saw was in POTC 4. Halfway through, and the movie had no real protagonist. I mean, there's Jack, but he has no emotional investment. He wants to find the Fountain of Youth, big deal, that's just something he would like to have. Where's the character who undergoes serious development, overcomes inner and outer challenges and is emotionally on fire for something? Certainly not that pale Philip guy who wants to bone a mermaid. Then we get the scene where Jack and Barbossa are tied to a couple of trees and drinking rum from Barbossa's peg leg, and Barbossa tells Jack his motivation for getting at Blackbeard, and BAM. The whole movie goes 180 degrees. We've got the guy who has to overcome inner challenges (trauma and disability), and outer challenges (kill Blackbeard, steal his ship), and emotional motivation. Surprise protagonist! He was in the background the whole film series and you never saw this coming. I loved it. The rest of the movie plays out accordingly, as a buddy movie. I guess a lot of people didn't like part 4 because for the first half you have no protagonist, and it's hard to get invested in a film like that. But for me, the "surprise protagonist" twist made it all worthwhile. Well. I'm a writer. Maybe non-writers can't get so enthusiastic about it, but I can...

[@DylansPen]

Saving Private Ryan, it starts zoomed on the elder Ryan's eyes in the cemetery, then to Tom Hanks on the landing craft to fool the audience which it fooled me I thought Hank's character was Ryan, then at the end Capt. Miller dies and your like, "What? He was in the cemetery at the beginning, then you understand he was Ryan at Miller's grave. A small twist in that film I think is Capt. Miller firing his pistol at the Tiger tank and we're watching knowing he's going to die and then 'boom'. "What? What is that?" And then the plane flies over. Upham is as innocent as it gets and then kills the German soldier he helped earlier. The callbacks in the movie are many.

[@FablestoneSeries]

Twists are rarely done well anymore and usually comes off as amatuer. Nothing will ever top The Empire Strikes Back or The Sixth Sense. A twist has to completely blindside you, while also at the same time be believable and satisfying and not break the story. An example of a poorly done twist is Rings Of Power. It was NOT believable, and it was very hastily executed with far too many hints dropped along the way. It helps to play the long game, like George RR Martin did with Hodor.

[@BartScantlin]

I'm so glad I went in cold when watching The Sixth Sense. That twist was awesome and it blew my mind that I actually missed it at the end. Another movie with a pretty darn good twist is Predestination.

[@FablestoneSeries]

@@BartScantlin The Sixth Sense works so well because the clues are ALL visual and unspoken. No unnecessary attention is drawn to any of them. The waiter arrives and slides the check across the table to his wife, ignoring Bruce Willis entirely. It is so inconsequential. Meanwhile in The Village, which was M Night Shyamalan's following movie, very early on in the movie one of the characters tells a story about how someone was assaulted and shot which immediately sets off alarm bells because it feels like a story out of time.

[@spritvio639]

The proper way to write a twist ending is to obviously throw a random curveball at the end of the story that the reader cant predict. Bonus points If you leave hints throughout the story and completely do something else at the end. Nothing says twist like a complete 180 shift.

[@mynameisroman]

since GoT all movies and tv shows kinda "need" to have surprises or twists even if they don't work in the story. not every surprise is a good one. sometimes the way to the end a movie is straight forward and should go as expected. a twist only makes sense if its satisfying for the audience or changes the whole movie in an instant. like in the usual suspects. that was a masterpiece. but Arya killing the night king was bad writing. Jon Snow should have had the honor

[@chasehedges6775]

I’ve never watched GoT but I think Peter Dinklage’s character should have become the king of Westeros.

[@stijnvdv2]

No. I don't like this at all. Like I think what he means are these Art-House movies and sure, they can be great, they can be perfect writing for a story where a screenwriter can pounce himself on the chest, look in the mirror and fall in love with himself over how great of a writer he is. But there is a reason why Art-House movies are a niche market... If I go to a movie, I want escapism, I want entertainment and at the end feel satisfied... the last thing I want is getting out of the theater in desperate need for a pillbox full of prozac asap, mkay? And that's what these Art-House movies mostly are doing. For the same reason I watch barely any vids produced by my country coz they are ALL like that.

[@chidexuchendu9244]

You guys, pls interview Caroline Kepenes, writer of YOUNETFLIX.

[@aartoodeetoo7710]

Twist endings are traps ...you'll be expected to give a surprise twist at the every movie you make...that will be very hard...example ....m.night shayamalan..