Written by:Eric Roth (Script Consultant), Jack Fincher (Writer)
Script Synopsis:1930s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane.
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Nothing like a sudden turn of the wheel that leaves the audience in disbelief. But what happens when the audience actually disbelieves? Screenwriters are aware of the double edged sword quality of plot twists: they can make a story successful almost by themselves, but can also turn against it if they come off as predictable or implausible.
In some genres (horror, thriller) they have become an expected, almost mandatory device. Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) set the foundations for the use of narrative unreliability in films. And it’s already a great example of a twist that didn’t only aim for shock- it also tried to provide a solid justification for the visual and narrative styles of the film.
Night Shyamalan’s irregular career illustrates both the rewards and the risks of subjecting the story to a plot twist. The recent success of Split may have brought him to a second youth, but for many years, the ‘Shyamalan twists” served more as a burden than a perk, becoming the smoking gun that proves and defines the film’s failure.
So what makes a good plot twist? If Aristotle stated that good art should be both unexpected and inevitable, contemporary screenwriters like William Goldman have pinpointed a reality that Hollywood has exploited well: that a controversial ending may still work effectively if it’s at least satisfying.
Some examples of films with memorable plot twists are:
Written by:Gillian Flynn (Novel), Gillian Flynn (Screenplay)
Script Synopsis:With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
Gone Girl Script PDF - [Final Shooting][9/27/2013] at Script Fly ($)
Gone Girl Script PDF - [Undated 1st draft] at Script Fly ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Script Synopsis:Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Sommerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.
Se7en Script PDF - (EARLY) 2/9/95 REVISED SHOOTING at Script City ($)
Se7en Script PDF - 2/9/95 REVISED SHOOTING at Script City ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:Steven Zaillian (Writer), Stieg Larsson (Writer)
Script Synopsis:This English-language adaptation of the Swedish novel by Stieg Larsson follows a disgraced journalist, Mikael Blomkvist, as he investigates the disappearance of a weary patriarch's niece from 40 years ago. He is aided by the pierced, tattooed, punk computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander. As they work together in the investigation, Blomkvist and Salander uncover immense corruption beyond anything they have ever imagined.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Script Resources:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Script PDF at Script Slug
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Script PDF at Script Fly ($)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Script PDF - NO DRAFT DATE. REVISED DRAFT. (XL). at Script City ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Other Links:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ( tt1568346 ) at IMDb
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ( 65754 ) at TheMovieDB.org
Written by:James Vanderbilt (Screenplay), Robert Graysmith (Novel)
Script Synopsis:The true story of the investigation of the "Zodiac Killer", a serial killer who terrified the San Francisco Bay Area, taunting police with his ciphers and letters. The case becomes an obsession for three men as their lives and careers are built and destroyed by the endless trail of clues.
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:Aaron Sorkin (Screenplay), Ben Mezrich (Novel)
Script Synopsis:On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room as a small site among friends soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.
The Social Network Script PDF - REVISED DRAFT. 5/28/2009. (XL) at Script City ($)
The Social Network Script PDF - [2009-05-28] at Script Fly ($)
The Social Network Script PDF - [Undated] at Script Fly ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:John D. Brancato (Writer), Michael Ferris (Writer)
Script Synopsis:In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nearly a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:F. Scott Fitzgerald (Novel), Eric Roth (Screenplay)
Script Synopsis:Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Script Resources:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Script PDF at Script Slug
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Script - 2007-10 Draft at IMSDb
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Script PDF - FIRST DRAFT. 11/22/2002. (XL) at Script City ($)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Script PDF - [Undated] at Script Fly ($)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Script PDF - Shooting-10/30/07 at Script Fly ($)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Script PDF - 1st 11/22/02 at Script Fly ($)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Script PDF - 8/22/04 at Script Fly ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Other Links:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ( tt0421715 ) at IMDb
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ( 4922 ) at TheMovieDB.org
Script Synopsis:Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman and her young daughter Sarah play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham, Raoul and Junior - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.
Panic Room Script Resources:
Panic Room Script PDF - february 23, 2000 spec script at The Daily Script
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
You must be logged in to post a comment.