Some of the best science fiction films of all time feature mind-blowing plot twists, from Planet of the Apes (1968) to The Empire Strikes Back (1980). The feeling of watching a twist unfold for the very first time can never be recaptured, but once you’ve seen all the famous blockbusters, there are plenty of lesser-known sci-fi movies out there waiting to shock and surprise. Below are five films that do just that (and which definitely deserve more attention). And of course, so as not to ruin the reveal of the twists, I’ve done my best to keep this list entirely spoiler-free.
Pandorum (2009)
Event Horizon (1997), directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, had a tough time at the box office when it was first released, but is undeniably a cult favorite now. If you’ve already seen Event Horizon and you’re looking for a movie with a similar feel, then I present to you Pandorum (2009), which Anderson actually co-produced. Directed by Christian Alvart, Pandorum is set on a huge ark spaceship called the Elysium, which is on its way to a distant Earth-like planet. Two members of the flight crew wake up from hypersleep to find that all is not well aboard the ship. While trying to figure out what went wrong, the duo also need to be wary of a deep space-induced mental illness called “pandorum,” which causes paranoia, hallucinations, and violent behavior.
Pandorum was a box office flop when it was released and seems to have been largely forgotten since then, but it deserves to be rediscovered by fans of sci-fi horror movies. If an action-packed space adventure with horror elements and a few surprising twists sounds at all intriguing to you, then ignore the low Rotten Tomatoes score and give this one a chance!
Coherence (2013)
It’s best to go into Coherence with as little information as possible; all that really needs to be known is that a group of friends get together for a dinner party and then very strange sci-fi things start happening. Instead of talking about the plot and risking spoilers, I’ll sell this movie based on how it was made.
In a 2013 interview, director James Ward Byrkit explained that the movie started out as “a test to see if I could shoot something without a crew and without a script.” The film was shot in Byrkit’s living room and the actors improvised their lines so that the dialogue would sound natural. Actress Emily Baldoni said that the cast were merely given “a short character description” and “some notes on what to talk about,” while Byrkit and co-writer Alex Manugian “had all these secret storyboards around that we were not allowed to look at.” This means that twists in the story were often just as much a shock to the cast as they are to the audience. Even though Coherence is fuelled by a sci-fi concept, it manages to feel relatively grounded and realistic because of these genuine reactions.
Oxygen (2021)
Alexandre Aja is best-known for his horror movies, such as the 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes and Piranha 3D (2010), and while his French-language film Oxygen isn’t a horror film, it certainly begins with a nightmare scenario. Mélanie Laurent plays a woman who wakes up in a futuristic medical pod that she’s unable to open. She has no memory of why she’s in the pod or even who she is, and the inbuilt AI isn’t being particularly helpful. Being trapped in a confined space with memory loss is bad enough, but the pod is also running out of oxygen, so she desperately needs to figure out how to escape.
Oxygen proves that Aja is just as capable of offering slick sci-fi thrills as he is gory horror frights. While the claustrophobic plot sounds (and is!) gripping, it could easily have fallen apart due to miscasting, given the film’s focus on its trapped character. Thankfully, Laurent delivers a powerhouse performance, mastering the emotional demands of every twist and turn in this incredibly tense film.
Moon (2009)
Just as Mélanie Laurent’s performance is essential to the success of Oxygen, Duncan Jones’s Moon (2009) rests squarely on the shoulders of Sam Rockwell. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, who is working alone at Sarang Station on the far side of the Moon, mining a fuel alternative to oil that has been found in lunar soil. “Sarang” means “love” in Korean, but human connection is exactly what Sam is lacking. Much of the work at the station is automated, and with only an AI robot called GERTY as a companion, he’s desperate for his monotonous three-year contract to wrap up so that he can head home to his wife and daughter.
Sam has been experiencing some (presumably) loneliness-induced hallucinations, and one such phantom causes him to crash his lunar rover, after which he loses consciousness. What happens next belongs firmly in the realm of spoilers. Just know that this film—probably the best-known entry in this list—falls more on the side of being psychologically contemplative, rather than an action-fueled lunar adventure story.
The Call (2020)
Not to be confused with the American horror movie of the same name also released in 2020, Lee Chung-hyun’s The Call is a South Korean psychological thriller with an intriguing sci-fi concept at its heart. In 2019, Kim Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) is visiting her mother in her childhood home and finds an old phone that can make calls 20 years into the past. On the other end of the line is Oh Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo), who lives in the same house but in 1999. Both women are dealing with family issues: Seo-yeon blames her mother for the death of her father, while Young-sook is being abused by her mother.
Although basically every movie about time travel has shown that messing with the timeline can be a risky business, Seo-yeon and Young-sook decide to use their connection to change their realities—hopefully for the better. But what follows is a briskly paced and highly twisty storyline that isn’t afraid to descend into darkness.
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There are, of course, many more twisty sci-fi films out there waiting to be discovered, but the less-famous examples aren’t always easy to find, so please leave your spoiler-free recommendations in the comments below!
Lorna Wallace has a PhD in English Literature and is a lover of all things science fiction and horror. She lives in Scotland with her rescue greyhound, Misty.
Chris Marker’s La Jetée is the gold standard where time travel is concerned and was remade by Terry Gilliam (with some extra original twists) as 12 Monkeys.
I want to name Primer: it’s relatively well known for an indie movie, but it’s still a very low budget one, so deserves to be named. And the amount of twists is sufficient to cause serious headaches in the most attentive viewer.
Another one I quite liked is Europa Report. Better than many higher-budgeted movies and quite hard-sf.
The Quiet Earth. I will say no more, but if you’ve seen it, you know.
Capricorn One, made by Peter Hyams, fit in perfectly with the 70s vein of paranoid sci-fi. It’s pretty obscure, and had a great twist. Hyams had a bit of a mixed career — he later went on to make Sean Connery’s Outland, the 2001 sequel 2010, and JCVD’s Timecop.
I’ll second the recommendation for The Quiet Earth.
It Came from Outer Space initially seems like a run-of-the-mill 50s creature flick, but with a great twist proves to be much smarter than its fellow travelers… But given that it was written by one of the masters, Ray Bradbury, that shouldn’t be a surprise.
Coma was one of Michael Crichton’s earlier Hollywood efforts. He both wrote and directed it. But it’s rather obscure these days. A good plot twist, and worth the watch.
The Long Walk is the third film by Mattie Do, the first woman director in Laos and the first person to direct horror films in that country. It’s got some very good twists. It reminded me a lot of a specific American sci-fi film, but to say which one would give some of the twists away.
When the Wind Blows is an animated film, but it’s made for adults and it’s smart as hell. I won’t spoil a thing about this one except to say you should watch it.
I’m always telling people they should watch Coherence. Of course, whenever I follow up with them weeks, or months, or years later, I ask: “Did you ever watch Coherence?” The answer is always “No” and then I’m disappointed.
@4–When the Wind Blows is not an animated film for children, let’s be clear. Unless you want to traumatize those children and have them wake up sobbing several nights in a row. My parents will testify to this.
When The Wind Blows will traumatize anyone of any age.
Not a film, but quite the twist …
The original twist?
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I wouldn’t call “Capricorn One” obscure as much as “forgotten”. It was pretty well known for a few (very few) years after it was released. I remember it being on TV back in the late 70’s/early 80’s, but then it just dropped out of the conversation. Since it was basically a take on the whole “the Moon landing was faaake!” no one really watched it. I don’t recall ever seeing it on VHS, never mind DVD, even after OJ was back in the news.
While Coherence may be a good film, I will never be able to get through it. Besides being filmed with excessive “shaky cam” the color is horribly saturated. I spend all my time wishing the director had invested in a tripod and learned how to white balance a camera. Clearly the filmmakers know how to do these things, they chose not to in order to create an atmosphere. Still, it bothers me so much there is no way for me to enjoy or even watch the film.
For my money, The Mist has the most shocking twist of all time.
Pretty loose use of the term “sci-fi” here.
Coherence was the best low-budget sci-fi movie since Primer. Loved that ending. And nice to see Nicholas Brendon, too.
Is Soylent Green too well known to count? Great early 70s movie with great twist.
Not sci-fi but when I think of twists my mind runs to the early 1990s movie The Crying Game – which did a whole marketing campaign on the concept of please don’t reveal the twist after seeing the movie.
Moon is a terrific movie but to get the full extent of the plot twist you have to have seen Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”. It’s also interesting to know that moon’s multi million dollar production budget was privately funded by Sting, and the special effects are superb … they were done at Pinewood Studios near London, as were the special effects of 2001.
@systemBuilder
The actual shooting budget was almost entirely covered by a distribution deal with Sony. The special effects were all that needed extra funding, and it didn’t come from Sting – it came via his wife, an extremely successful film producer. Sting was potentially involved, being longtime friends with the director’s father (David Bowie), but his wife has a long history of being a major part of funding many young British directors.
A Facebook friend introduced me to The Long Walk.
It is a twisty ambitious and thoughtful mashup of horror and sci-fi. I don’t normally watch horror, but this one is highly recommended.
From 1984, “Iceman.”
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0087452/
“ARQ” had some nifty twists.
I’ve seen all of these except Moon and Oxygen. Well, I only made it about halfway through The Call before deciding I just didn’t like it enough to continue. I really enjoyed Coherence and now that I know how it was made, I’m tempted to watch it again. I didn’t think anyone else had ever seen Pandorum. I seem to really enjoy lesser-known movies that others despise.
How about A Boy and His Dog – based on the classic Harlan Ellison work? Drops a big surprise at the end. Really fun movie with a youthful Don Johnson as the star.