r/flicks • u/Serpiego2 • Aug 22 '26

General Discussion When does a movie successfully mislead the audience, and when is it just cheating?

Some movies deliberately make us believe something that isn't true and then reveal that we've been interpreting the story incorrectly.

When it works, it's fantastic. You can rewatch the movie and realize the clues were there all along. The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects, and Primal Fear are very different examples of films that play with what the audience thinks it knows.

But other twists only work because the movie deliberately hides information that logically should have been available to us. At that point, I don't feel fooled by the story — I feel cheated by the screenplay.

For me, the difference is whether a second viewing makes you think “How did I miss that?” rather than “Well, there was no way I could have known that.”

What movies do you think earned their deception, and which ones simply cheated?

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u/SpaceMonkeyGMG Aug 22 '26

Which do you think "The Game" was? I feel like they told you right in the beginning the twist but I still didn't see it coming.

3

u/bubbles_loves_omar Aug 23 '26

The Game is absolutely cheating. It hinges on so many unlikely variables that HAVE to happen.

5

u/Harkonis Aug 23 '26

That is not what is meant by cheating at all.

1

u/ilrosewood Aug 23 '26

Damn it I just lost.