Hate or love them, villains have played a great role in the success of film and television. For centuries, villains have been instrumental in pushing themes of morality. As such, these characters fit right into any genre, from action and horror to comedy.
Over the years, American cinema has earned a reputation for exploiting (or over-exploiting) the good-guy/bad-guy trope, making it easy to pick most villains from a mile away. However, audiences are left in awe and shock, not only because of the movie’s plot but also because of the unexpected grand reveal of the villain. Here are 9 top villain reveals in movies.
Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for the movies listed below
Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects (1995)
The Bryan Singer-directed The Usual Suspects (1995) was one of the most intriguing thrillers of the mid-90s. Christopher McQuarrie‘s original screenplay not only had a cult following but also made the name Keyser Söze popular. Throughout the movie’s runtime, Keyser Söze is believed to be a dangerous monster feared by all. Without anyone to identify the character, he became an urban legend. Towards the end of the movie, Roger “Verbal” Kint’s (Kevin Spacey) interrogation led Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) and the audience to believe Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) was Keyser Söze.
However, like the viewers, Kujan soon realizes Verbal has been giving an on-the-spot fabricated story using objects around the office. The big villain reveal was Verbal losing his limp and flexing his disabled hand. Throughout The Usual Suspects’ 106-minute runtime, no one suspected Verbal to be the villain, Keyser Söze. Keyser Söze leaves audiences with one of the slickest quotes in film history, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, and like that…he’s gone.”
Elijah Price in Unbreakable (2000)
For the newer generation of movie audiences, M. Night Shyamalan‘s superhero thriller is proof of Samuel L. Jackson‘s talent. Long before he was portraying Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, Jackson was Elijah Price/Mr. Glass. Born with brittle bone disease, Jackson’s Elijah Price fooled David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and the audience into believing he was a good guy. The villain reveal in Unbreakable was iconic for several reasons. However, a major one has to be that the audience, protagonist, and villain knew at the same time that he was the villain. Elijah Price had spent all of his adult life finding someone who was his opposite. It was in that last scene he truly embraced who he was – the villain.
John Kramer/Jigsaw in Saw (2004)
Director James Wan‘s feature film directorial debut has been regarded as one of the best horror movies in the genre’s history. While its violence and gory scenes were a turn-off for a few audiences, it became the birth of a new type of horror. However, while the Jigsaw killer (the villain) was at the center of the film’s plot, viewers were left speculating and pointing fingers at possible suspects. However, the villain is revealed in the last scene when the supposedly dead John Kramer rises from the bathroom floor as Jigsaw. He played dead, listening and observing as Adam (Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) played his deadly games.
Anna Ivers in The Uninvited (2009)
For much of The Uninvited 87-minute runtime, audiences had thought Rachel Worshinsky (Elizabeth Banks) was the villain. Until the character’s death, supposedly by Alex Ivers (Arielle Kebbel), Rachel was believed to have been an opportunist who took advantage of Anna’s (Emily Browning) mother’s sickness to orchestrate becoming the lady of the house. It was a befitting story, especially as Rachel had an affair with Anna’s father, Steven Ivers (David Strathairn). Unless viewers were already in the know about the villain (from Kim Jee-woon‘s A Tale of Two Sisters), the plot twist that revealed Anna Ivers as the villain was definitely unpredictable.
Amy Dunne in Gone Girl (2014)
From Ben Affleck and Tyler Perry to Rosamund Pike‘s casting, Gone Girl (2014) was truly a masterpiece of psychological thriller. When a wife goes missing with evidence of a murder, all eyes soon turn to the husband as a suspect. Nick Dunne fits the profile of detectives and the film’s audience. Nick and Amy had practically become more of housemates than a married couple. Coupled with his affair with his student, there was no denying he killed his wife to get himself out of the marriage.
However, Nick’s unrelenting denial left viewers confused about who could be responsible for the murder. Having Amy Dunne revealed as her own kidnapper is even less shocking than knowing she’s the true villain. Staged her kidnap and continued manipulating her way to the end of the film to keep Nick in the marriage. Amy Dunne’s villain reveal was one many viewers never saw coming.
The Blind Man in Don’t Breathe (2016)
Don’t Breathe (2016) sees three thieves get more than they bargained for after trying to rob a blind man in his house. Although it was supposed to be an easy robbery, they quickly discover the Blind Man isn’t an average man. While most viewers will agree the thieves got what they bargained for, the plot twist, in the end, reveals why Don’t Breathe is one of the underappreciated horror thrillers of the mid-2010s. Then comes the turkey baster scene that just reveals The Blind Man has been the villain all along. Petty thieves had nothing compared to a kidnapper who hopes to artificially inseminate and impregnate his victim with a turkey baster.
Rose Armitage in Get Out (2017)
Take away the scare and gore; Jordan Peele‘s Get Out (2017) is proof the horror genre has long expanded from those tropes. After its release, Get Out was one of the most talked about horror movies of 2017. The more the movie progressed, the quicker viewers knew Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) needed to heed the instruction of the movie’s title. However, while the Armitage family, workers, and friends were all a spooky lot, nothing prepared viewers for Rose Armitage’s villain reveal. It wasn’t even a moment of choosing family over her boyfriend; this was more like a career path for her, luring unsuspecting black men. Jordan Peele’s villain reveal game is definitely unmatched.
The Caller in The Guilty (2021)
Antoine Fuqua‘s crime thriller The Guilty (2021) starred Jake Gyllenhaal as Joe Baylor, a troubled LAPD officer temporarily demoted to work at the 911 call center. Bored at his desk, Joe takes a 911 call that looks like a kidnapping. Desperate to find the woman and her child, Joe uses all the resources at his disposal. However, at the end of the movie, the true villain is revealed to be the abducted woman. Not only is she a patient at a psychiatric hospital, but she cut open her son’s stomach, believing he has snakes in them. The plot twist and villain reveal left audiences in shock.
Sheriff Eric Newlon in Thanksgiving (2023)
Eli Roth‘s slasher film Thanksgiving was released about two weeks after the 2023 Halloween. A Black Friday sale gone wrong set in motion the events of Thanksgiving. A year after, on the next Black Friday, a John Carver mask-wearing killer begins killing the residents of Plymouth, Massachusetts. However, his focus is on Jessica and her friends, whose actions triggered the stampede that led to the deaths in the previous year’s Black Friday sales day. Most viewers were shocked when the town’s sheriff, Eric Newlon (Patrick Dempsey), was unmasked as the John Carver mask killer. He was one of the most unlikely villain suspect in the movie.
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