Friday, January 22, 2016

Dead Silence Twist Ending

Screenwriter Leigh Whannell is known to feature twist endings. His Saw, Dead Silence, and Insidious movies employ plot twists to shift resolutions into unique directions. We never suspect Dead Silence will end with a twist.

However, the movie ending reflects back on small scenes to explain this twist ending. If you haven't watched Dead Silence, avoid reading the twist ending spoiler below.


***Dead Silence twist ending spoiler***



Mary Shaw is a ventriloquist accused of killing a small boy. This small boy attempted to embarrass Mary Shaw, revealing her doll wasn't real to the live audience. 

The town took the law into their own hands. They ripped Maria Shaw's tongue out, and then buried her with all of her dolls. 

The curse is that Maria Shaw would rip your tongue out. This story was told to children to scare them. Mary would kill any person who screamed after seeing her, removing their tongues and hollowing out their heads. 

In the twist ending, Jamie approached his wheelchair-bound father. His father slouched over, exposing his hollowed-out back cavity. It is then we learn the truth about Jamie's father. 

Ella Ashen, presumed to be the wife of Jamie's father, is an expert ventriloquist. She carved out the perfect doll of his father, tricking him into believing he was actually alive. 

The twist is revealed through flashbacks in which Jamie remembers Ella next to his father's side. We can see Ella guiding his voice and body movement.  

In this twist ending,  a possessed Ella turns into Mary Shaw and kills Jamie. Ella tells Jamie who is the dummy now? She kills him. The trickery is the spirit of Maria Shaw murdering Jamie's wife to draw him close to his father and the town. As a result of this, Jamie is the last living descendant of families connected to those who were responsible for Mary Shaw's death.  

Cool twist ending. Leigh Whannell uses plot twists in all of his movies. Watch his Saw and Insidious movies for these clever twist endings. Insidious features a similar ending to Dead Silence. Lastly, watch the original Saw movie to witness possibly his best twist ending. 





Thursday, January 14, 2016

The Loft twist ending

The Loft, a movie about five married men who share a luxury loft, featured a twist ending. We never expected this twist, but it is obvious the writer went the extra mile to conceal this twist until the truth exposed an unsuspecting character.

Back in 2011, I could have watched a free screening of The Loft in Los Angeles. I didn't R.S.V.P. in time, so the screening spots filled up and I missed watching this thriller movie. However, those in attendance at this free screening may have contributed excellent feedback to stall the release of The Loft. The movie didn't reach the box office until last year, which turned out as a box office failure.

We will discuss the twist ending below to shed light on the writer's intentions.



***Spoiler Alert***


In The Loft, Luke Seacord (Wentworth Miller) loved Sarah Deakins (Isabel Lucas) beyond words. He was jealous that Vincent Stevens (Karl Urban) had an affair with Sarah. Out of love, Luke drugged Sarah, and then injected a fatal dose of insulin in her arm. 

Why did Luke do this? If Luke couldn't have Sarah, nobody could be with her. He orchestrated a fake suicide to make Vincent pay for always taking advantage of everyone. 

What Chris Vanowen (James Marsden) discovered is that Sarah didn't die from an overdose. She was in fact alive after presumably taking the pills. Luke is shocked to learn this. Philip (Mathias Schoenaerts) mutilated Sarah's arm to make it appear she committed suicide.  

Chris coerced the truth out of Luke, telling him Vincent will go on trial for her murder. The real twist ending jolts the previous plan to teach Vincent a lesson for his transgressions. Luke wrote the fake suicide note that read, "See you in the next life." 

Luke gains the trust of his friends by sharing secret tapings of Vincent sleeping with women who are important to them. To keep the focus off of him, he reiterates that Vincent uses everyone and deserves his fate. Vincent tries to explain his case, but Luke leaves out the suicide letter. 

The female detective shares that Vincent's prints are on the knife, no suicide note and the pills didn't kill her. This revelation precedes the final twist. 

The main twist ending is that Luke setup this fake suicide out of love for Sarah. He didn't know that she was alive before Philip slit her wrist, so this revelation is a shock. Sarah admitted to Luke she felt nothing for him, and maybe they could be together in the next lifetime. 

Luke wanted Vincent to pay for being with Sarah. His grand plan gets exposed because Chris pieces together the facts. He finds the fake suicide note in the trash. In most good twists, flashbacks are used to reveal all major points. We watch these flashbacks to tie up all loose ends. 

Nevertheless, Vincent getting charged for murder twisted the plot further. After learning of this, Luke indicates that his brother Philip killed Sarah. Chris interrogates Vincent to give up, it is over. 

The Loft twist ending is executed quite well to trick viewers. Ultimately, the irony is that Luke actually commits suicide himself after he faked the suicide of Sarah to repay Vincent. In the end, Luke ends his life to avoid embarrassment. His final words to Chris: tell his wife and his kid he loves them.   

What did you think of The Loft twist ending?