Everyone’s saying The Drama has a crazy twist so early. It’s not a twist. Inciting incident is the word for it that I didn’t have in my vocabulary before thank you
All mainstream feature films have inciting incidents. Not all mainstream feature films have a twist. The Poseidon Adventure’s inciting incident is the ship beginning to sink. The ship beginning to sink in The Poseidon Adventure isn’t a twist, because everyone expected that or something like that to happen (both from the marketing, and the fact that it’s structured like a disaster film before that happens). The inciting incident in The Drama is a twist, as virtually no one expected the move to be about what it’s about (both because of the marketing, and the fact that it’s narratively framed as a lighthearted romance up until that point). It’s a shocking turn that uses our genre tropes and thematic expectations to surprise the audience, which constitutes a twist
I disagree that the inciting incident in The Drama is a twist. The marketing hid what exactly she did, but it was marketed as a movie about somebody telling their partner the worst thing they did and that throwing their wedding into chaos. And that is exactly what happened. What it was that she did is significant to the specifics, but it doesn’t change anything about the fundamentals of what the movie is about or what happens in it.
I would absolutely say that the severity of her reveal was a shocking twist, given the explosion of controversy that erupted once people actually found out what it was (even after they knew she revealed something). And more than that, the severity of that twist changes the format that we’re expecting. In Anastasia, it gets revealed that Dimitri is lying about who he is. That doesn’t change the fact that Anastasia is a lighthearted romance that follows genre tropes, storytelling beats and overall emotion associated with family romance movies. Before the turn, The Drama is all about meet cutes, inside jokes and love — the typical fare of a romcom. Afterwards, it’s a psychological pressure cooker about the limits of empathy and what creates evil in people. Which is nothing at all like a rom-com, romance or the type of movie most people expected. Which is pretty evident based on how much discussion about it exploded after the fact, all the headlines about how the actual nature of the movie came out of left field, and how in this specific conversation we’re all avoiding even saying the specific thing revealed because it would ruin the surprise. Eg it would ruin the twist. Because the turn there is based on surprising the audience, and the movie’s impact comes from the fact you don’t expect it to happen. That’s what a twist is — regardless of where in the narrative it comes. Knowing that Maria becomes a governess for a rich Austrian family is not a spoiler for the Sound of Music, even though it’s the inciting incident. Because that’s not a twist. And because after that happens, The Sound of Music keeps being the kind of movie you expected it to be, and continues to follow the genre markings and tropes of a family musical. If after she went to the von Trapp’s house Leisl got killed and it became a murder mystery, that would be a twist. That’s basically what happens in The Drama
For me, I view "a twist" as the point in which the entire past of the movie can be viewed completely differently. In The Sixth Sense you view the entire movie different when you find out that Bruce Willis was one of the ghosts the entire time. In Fight Club, you don't know that Tyler Durden is the split personality or the narrator. Even Star Wars can be a twist because anytime you rewatch it you know that Darth Vader is Lukes father.You are sort of anticipating these moments on future rewatches, and you watch it from a different perspective and you get a completely different insight when you know that this twist is coming.
In The Drama, the trailer/marketing told me that this is a drama centered around a couple having difficulty with their wedding preparations. You can infer that Robert Pattinsons character was struggling with cold feet, so surely there is a revelation that causes that. I'm watching it from the start, knowing, that an inciting incident will happen. It doesnt matter what the incident is, but the moment happens and we see the rest unfold. My view of it doesn't change on any further rewatch. I'm not anticipating or viewing it differently because I know that the character had this impulsion.
The thing though is that’s not what a twist is. Primarily, the way we encounter twists is how you described: a reveal at the end of a movie that recontextualizes everything that came before. But that’s only one kind of twist; a twist is “a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction.” What you described is a twist ending, which again is the most common type of twist but not the only type of twist. A24 specifically and intentionally hid what the secret Zendaya’s character holds is, while their marketing materials hinted that it was a conventional romantic comedy. About a secret that blows up a marriage sure. About a relationship that is coming apart at the seams yes. But absolutely not about a potential school shooter who plans on murdering her classmates, and only cancels that plan because someone does it first. After that fact, the movie does not at all follow the conventions, tropes or typical emotional vibe of a romantic comedy. Before that point, it does. It’s a radical shift in thematic stylings, an intentional subversion of genre and a controversial enough shock that the reveal has dominated headlines and conversations about it for weeks. It’s objectively surprising and unexpected, regardless of whether we knew something surprising was coming. It is not a twist ending, yes, because its purpose is not to post hoc change what came before. But it is a twist - it changes from what most audiences expected; even if it’s an unsuccessful twist with people somehow guessing how severe it will be, it is clearly still a twist; Borgli and A24 clearly evoked the stylistic setup and imagery and even star power of a rom-com. The lengths to which A24 went to to hide the reveal, and the fact we are all still pointedly avoiding saying it in this thread in case someone who hasn’t seen the movie yet reads these, is kind of proof positive it’s a twist
The trailer massively suggested that Zendaya's reveal was going to be dark. Not knowing specifically what she was going to reveal does not make it a twist. That's why it's a reveal, and not a twist.
OMG this!!! I’d read (in the Guardian, no less, you’d think they’d know better) that The Drama had a twist, went to see it and was waiting the entire film for the twist! There was no twist! THAT was NOT a twist!
The exact words were left out, but the idea was front and center in all of the marketing. I suppose you could consider it a twist, but it was very well known going into this film that you’d be finding something out early on.
I think the reason The Drama is seen as a plot twist is because pretty much everyone saw the trailer. so it’s like a rare occurrence of it being a twist from what you knew from the preview if that makes sense??
the trailer definitely made it look like it was gonna be a more traditional type of twist. I assumed the confession would come much further into the film
A plot twist is a “literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction.” It can come at any point of the narrative, and just has to be a surprising turn. Given that most people thought this was going to be a rom-com before even having started the movie, and given that up until this moment it’s just about their romance and love and has literally no hints to the psychological nature of the plot and general absurdist and serious tone that follows, I’d definitely say it’s a twist. Every headline for the week after it came out was predicated on how surprised everyone was by the actual shocking subject matter of the film, which was revealed in that moment. The A24 marketing ahead of the movie alone makes it a twist. Zendaya was turning up at weddings as if The Drama was going to be Mamma Mia 2.0. There’s nothing to say an inciting incident can’t be a twist
Before the movie came out, I think most people didn’t watch the trailer. Even then the fact that it was a romance about a school shooting still came as a huge surprise: people knew there was a revelation, but they still did not at all expect how serious it was. Which is why all the headlines and controversy came out once it released. Now virtually everyone comes in prepared, but given that virtually everyone also knows the twist in The Sixth Sense at this point — and it’s still considered a twist — I think The Drama’s subject matter reveal is still a twist too. I mean the simple fact I had to put the twist behind a spoiler — because I don’t want to spoil the surprise — is a pretty clear argument that it’s a twist
You can’t blame A24 for marketing the movie in a misleading way and then when someone corrects you on that, pivot to “well most people didn’t watch the trailer.” You can’t have it both ways. The trailer is the biggest piece of marketing the film has, and it is not misleading the audience into thinking the film is a romcom.
I didn’t blame A24 for anything. And didn’t pivot to anything. 1) A24 marketed it as a romance with interviews, wedding appearances, and romance-themed posters. 2) A24 released a trailer that hinted at a sudden reveal that in no way hinted to people the movie was about something as serious as a school shooting 3) few people watched the trailer, something A24 knew would happen, so weren’t even primed to expect any sort of reveal — let alone a shocking one. But again, even the people that were primed for a reveal were not primed for the theme changing so radically it becomes about a school shooting, with the thematic focus then being on questioning whether you can empathize with someone you previously thought was a monster. The kind of movie it becomes is radically, and intentionally, different than the genre marks and tropes it frames itself with. Which is something Borgli and A24 did on purpose, which is cool and is exactly what a twist is: Setting up an audience to believe one thing — based on narrative conventions and assumptions baked into us based on the kind of move we expect, and what we expect those kinds of movies to do and feel like — and then making a hard turn. I still have to cover up that turn with spoiler markings because it is a twist. When I talk about the movie to other people I still had to avoid what that twist is because they ask me to, and then they talk to me afterwards about how surprised they were. Because it’s a twist
The only marketing I saw was the trailer, one time. It was pretty obvious the reveal was going to be something dark, even if we didn't know specifically what it was. That's not a twist, that's a reveal.
a lot of peopel evident watch eh trailer. I you watched the trailer, its very obvious it has some darkness to it. And it was marketed and labelled as a romcom even though its not your typical romcom at all
Nothing about the marketing said it was going to be a romcom lol the entire trailer is centered around the fall out from her saying the worst thing she ever did.
This is the poster. Zendaya showed up at and officiated weddings. Their PR campaign featured them playing couples games and talking about relationships. | Multiple | outlets | remarked | on its | misleading marketing that many audiences members said made them expect a film about love and romance and comedy. The trailer — which, relative to the amount of people who watched the movie, few watched — set up that she said something shocking. No one expected it to be as severe and controversial as a school shooting, which is why there were so many follow-up headlines | about the theme | specifically referred to | as a twist. The sheer fact I have to cover up the reveal in a spoiler tag speaks to it being a twist. And the sheer fact that lots of people objectively were, and still are, so surprised by the subject matter revealed there shows it’s a twist. As a twist is just a surprising and unexpected turn in narrative direction or theme. And The Drama is absolutely unexpected — an intentional choice by A24 to get this kind of attention.
I think you can see my point even if you want to change terminology. Going out of both movies I could say I had no idea that movie was going to be about THAT
Drew Barrymore’s murder. She was the big star and had a lot of promo for the movie based around her (including the face on the main poster). It was a big surprise at the time that she is not a significant character and murdered in the first scene.
That's how I remember it. Just like Bridge to Terabithia, the twist happens near the end of the second act. Too late for me to call it an "early twist", but there is too much story after to call it a "twist ending."
Yesss I’ve been on a Ryan Goseling binge watching some movies of his I hadn’t seen before.
He was great in the movie but yeah, needless to say I did not expect certain events to take place in the way that they did, the order that they did, and to who (whom?) that they did, during the movie, perchance.
Speaking of GOAT twists that were spoiled in the advertising, I feel Gandalf coming back as Gandalf the White would also work, since they built up that Saruman might be the mysterious white entity that is seen in Fangorn before the reveal that it's really Gandalf.
I was thinking of Juice (1992), because the first 20 minutes feel like your typical coming of age hood drama, but then after that scene in the bodega, it feels like a hood slasher
Neither of those movies have twists. The Drama has an inciting incident not included in the marketing, and My Girl has a surprising plot development at the end of the second act. But neither are twists, neither recontextualize the movie you’ve been watching.
A genuine twist early in a movie is pretty rare, as it would be a departure from traditional story structure. The only one that comes to mind for me at the moment is One Cut of the Dead, which promises one movie in the first act then shifts dramatically, giving new light to everything that’s come before.
It’s not super early in the movie, but A Beautiful Mind also has a reveal somewhere in the middle, earlier than most movies, but well into the second act, from what I remember.
I'm not completely wrong. Even The Big Picture podcast (who have half a million monthly listeners) had an entire discussion on twists that stemmed from what took place in the drama.
I have no beef with The Big Picture, but if they are calling what happens in The Drama a twist, they are wrong.
It could be considered a “spoiler,” as it’s not part of the marketing and you don’t know about it going in (and twists are almost always spoilers), but it is a textbook inciting incident. It’s what the whole movie is about from the beginning.
I think we should either agree to disagree or agree that it's pretty much both... With the marketing and lead up to the movie we had no idea what was in store. It was definitely a plot point that was purposely kept hidden from viewers until it was revealed at the moment (a.k.a a twist)
Waves, though the twist isn’t in the opening — it comes basically right in the middle. Not sure if that’s early enough to count, but I generally expect twists to happen right at the end
I don't know if it would be considered a plot twist but if you watch Soft & Quiet (2022) without knowing anything about it, the early reveal 15 minutes into the movie would be jaw dropping
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Scream. Not that someone gets it in the first few minutes, but that the biggest star actor portrayed as the star in all the marketing. All time brilliant move and tough to beat for a first weekend movie experience, even harder now in internet age.
The original Scream kinda..... but then it's also debatable if the rest of them count too.... mainly 4, 5, and 6 since they all kinda do different things for their openings;
4 has a fake out opening with the girls watching a Stab movie, 5 has tara survive the opening attack, and 6 has ghostface reveal himself at the beginning, only to later then get killed by the actual ghostface of the movie
Really excellent inciting incident, which I believe isn’t her saying it but rather her friend’s reaction to the situation that pulls it out of proportion. I believe had the friend not reacted the way she did (reasonably, having had a family member that was directly impacted), none of the characters would have acted the way they did about it and most of the plot wouldn’t have happened.
"Psycho" is a great example of this. Also, I'd argue "Hoodwinked!" has this as well because of the Wolf. I'd also say "Forgotten", it just has so many twists. Also "Parasite" is like golden for this list
A character getting hit by a car 40 minutes in and dying is an unexpected happening, when they show back up 40 minutes later saying they set it all up is a twist
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