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'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004) -

In the first scene, Joel (Jim Carrey) seems to make a spontaneous decision to hop on a train to Montauk, where he meets a friendly stranger named Clementine (Kate Winslet).

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'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004) -

As it turns out, Joel and Clementine aren't strangers. They've actually dated, but each had a special treatment to erase the memories of their relationship. However, one little piece of memory remains, Joel and Clementine's promise to meet each other in Montauk.

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'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008) -

'Slumdog Millionaire' begins showing a tittle card asking, "Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. How did he do it? A: He cheated. B: He's lucky. C: He's a genius." Audiences are then shown that Jamal (Dev Patel) is in the hot seat of a game show, ready to win big.

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'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008) -

The rest of the film shows how Jamal was able to use knowledge from his life experiences to help him answer the questions correctly, and win the grand prize.

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'Fight Club' (1999) -

The movie opens with Edward Norton's unnamed Narrator seated with a mysterious person holding a gun in his mouth.

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'Fight Club' (1999) -

The shocker comes when the end of the movie reveals that it's the Narrator holding the gun on himself.

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'Pulp Fiction' (1994) -

While 'Pulp Fiction' is famously told out of order, its first scene shows a couple of robbers planning a heist at a diner before jumping into action.

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'Pulp Fiction' (1994) -

And the very same diner robbery from the first scene ends up being the final scene of the movie.

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'The Sixth Sense' (1999) -

The movie opens with therapist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) getting shot by a former patient who broke into his home. Malcolm appears to survive the situation, though shaken, and the movie continues on.

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'The Sixth Sense' (1999) -

One of the biggest twists in cinema history, the ending shows us that Malcolm has been dead all along.

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'Sunset Boulevard' (1950) -

At the very beginning of this cinema classic, a body floats in a swimming pool while police officers and reporters investigate the situation.

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'Sunset Boulevard' (1950) -

By the end, the audience knows that the body is Joe Gillis (William Holden), who narrated his own death at the hands of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson).

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'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994) -

When Andy (Tim Robbins) and Red (Morgan Freeman) are fantasizing about escaping from prison, Red tells Andy not to waste his time with "sh*tty pipe dreams."

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'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994) -

In the thrilling finale, Andy does manage to escape the prison through the literal sewage pipe. The fact that Andy is told not to get his hopes up about escaping makes it all the more satisfying!

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'Shutter Island' (2010) -

When Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) go to investigate a mental health asylum, Chuck fumbles a bit with his guns. This fumble turn out to be a major hint.

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'Shutter Island' (2010) -

By the end, it's revealed that Teddy is a patient at the institution and Chuck is his doctor. The entire investigation was actually an elaborate treatment plan.

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'Citizen Kane' (1941) -

The film opens with the titular main character's last word as he dies, "Rosebud," which becomes the mystery of the film. As he takes his last breath, he drops a snow globe with a snowy cabin inside.

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'Citizen Kane' (1941) -

At the end of the movie, the audience learns that "Rosebud" was the name of his childhood sled, the only thing that brought him true happiness and comfort.

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'The Prestige' (2006) -

'The Prestige' stars Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as rival magicians who try to pull off the fabled "Transported Man" illusion. In the beginning, Bale's character explains how he did a similar trick with two identical birds.

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'The Prestige' (2006) -

The twist at the ending reveals that Bale’s character is conjured up by two identical twin brothers, with both of them switching roles to get to be in the spotlight.

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'The Irishman' (2019) -

'The Irishman' chronicles the life of mob hitman Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) and his alleged killing of his close friend Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

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'The Irishman' (2019) -

In Sheeran’s opening monologue, he explains the criminal underworld’s definition of "painting houses," which refers to killing someone. The camera then cuts to a close-up version of Hoffa’s murder from later in the movie.

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'Love Story' (1970) -

'Love Story' opens with the tragic question, "What can you say about a 25-year-old girl who died?"

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'Love Story' (1970) -

True to the film's opening line, 25-year-old Jenny (Ali MacGraw) dies at the end, leaving her husband Oliver (Ryan O'Neal) in grief.

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'Gran Torino' (2008) -

In an early scene, grumpy Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) jokingly reads his horoscope to his dog: "Your birthday today... this year, you have to make a choice between two life paths. Second chances come your way. Extraordinary events culminate in what might seem to be an anti-climax."

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'Gran Torino' (2008) -

His horoscope perfectly describes the events that follow, as Walt leaves his racist attitude behind and saves his neighbor from his cousin’s gang. Walt allows himself to be killed so that the bad guys will be arrested for his murder, which is the definition of "what might seem to be an anti-climax."

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'Shaun of the Dead' (2004) -

As Ed (Nick Frost) outlines a plan for him and Shaun (Simon Pegg) to spend the following day drinking, he unwittingly outlines how they’ll survive the zombie apocalypse.

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'Shaun of the Dead' (2004) -

The remarkable thing is that Ed is actually spelling out the whole plot. And the audience has no idea, until they watch the movie again.

Sources: (Screen Rant) (BuzzFeed) 

See also: The most satisfying movie endings of all time

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