When you think about some of the greatest movies of all time, very often it all comes down to a perfectly executed plot twist.
Whether it’s classics like Planet of the Apes, Psycho, The Empire Strikes Back, or Chinatown, or something more modern like Get Out or Parasite – a great plot twist can have viewers talking about a movie for years to come.
However, unlike the movies mentioned above, this 2007 horror flick isn’t always mentioned when it comes to being one of “the greatest movies of all time”. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t got one of the greatest plot twists in movie history.
Now, Stephen King adaptations are very often hit and miss – but nothing will quite prepare you for the emotional punch of The Mist.
For those who haven’t experienced the emotional rollercoaster that is The Mist, let me set the scene.
Directed by Frank Darabont (the same guy behind The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile), The Mist takes place in a small town suddenly covered by — you guessed it — a mysterious mist. But this isn’t just any fog rolling in; it’s hiding some truly terrifying creatures that start picking off the townspeople one by one.
Our main guy, David Drayton (played by Thomas Jane), along with his young son and a group of other survivors, holes up in a local supermarket as they try to figure out what’s happening and how to stay alive. So far, it’s a pretty standard survival horror flick.
But then comes that ending—a twist so devastating, it’s been burned into the minds of horror fans ever since.
Spoiler Alert: The Most Depressing Twist Ever
So here’s the twist: After days of being terrorized by the monsters in the mist, David and the remaining survivors — his son included — decide they can’t go on. With supplies running low and the monsters closing in, David makes the unthinkable decision to take matters into his own hands. He uses the last of his bullets to shoot his own son and the other survivors in the car, sparing them from what he believes is an inevitable, gruesome death at the hands of the creatures.
And just when you think it couldn’t get any worse… it does.
Mere seconds after David kills his son, the mist begins to clear, and the military rolls in, wiping out the monsters. Yup, the cavalry was right around the corner the whole time. If David had waited just a few minutes longer, everyone would have survived.
But instead, he’s left screaming in agony, realizing he made the ultimate sacrifice for nothing.
Why It’s So Shocking
What makes this twist hit so hard is that it flips the typical horror movie ending on its head.
We’re so used to seeing characters barely scrape by, surviving against all odds—but not here. The Mist doesn’t give us that feel-good relief. It’s actually a happy ending for everybody you see at the end of the movie… except David.