6. The Others (2001)
A truly underrated horror movie, The Others has largely been forgotten. Starring Nicole Kidman, the gothic 2001 thriller follows Grace Stewart (Kidman), her children, and their household staff as Grace becomes increasingly convinced that her house is haunted. Add in the fact that both of Grace’s children have an unspecified condition which makes them incredibly photosensitive, and The Others tells a suspenseful and mysterious story that is deeply unsettling from the off.
The film’s final act reveals that Grace’s house is in fact haunted after all. The twist is that Grace herself is the ghost, and she smothered her children to death before committing suicide. The Others‘ big twist is that its protagonists were in fact the titular Others, and that the beings Grace believed to be ghosts were actually the new inhabitants of her home.
The Others‘ twist may have been somewhat predictable by certain measures, but the way in which it’s carried off is what makes it great. The darkness and the suspense of the film build to an excellent crescendo as all of the various mysteries are suddenly revealed to Grace, with the heroine being forced to confront her own traumatic death and the horrific act she committed. It’s a haunting twist (pardon the pun), and it’s one that allows The Others to end on one of the most chilling notes imaginable.