How to Build a Meaningful Plot Twist

I see a lot of videos on youtube that talk about how to craft a plot twist. They talk about how a good plot twist needs to “be believable within the logic established” or how you need to “give the audience all the pieces of the puzzle so they would be able to figure out the answer on their own". Even though these are all valid characteristics of a good plot twist, none of them get to the core of what makes a truly meaningful twist. Or, more importantly, why a writer should even consider having a plot twist in their story.

Today I want to talk about how to build not only an interesting plot twist, but a meaningful one. And how you can integrate meaningful plot twists into your screenplay.

Video written by Alberto Halfeld

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#Screenwriting #PlotTwist

[eliyawaters]

Plot twists change the way we interpret things. The plot twist in Brave: "Merida's mother turns into a bear" gives us the ability to even ask the question: Could this other bear actually be a person too?

[Nikko]

The basement twist in ATTACK ON TITAN is for me the single greatest twist of this decade in any tv show or movie. But that's just my opinion.

[Wonton-the-Sea-Snail]

i feel that the plot twist of Meredith's mother turning into a bear isnt the main plot twist, its simply the starting plot of the main story: how do i turn mom back into a bear? i feel that the TRUE plot twist of the story was that Mordhue, the scarred bear that played as the final antagonist was actually the fourth brother in the legends that nearly destroyed the country for power.

not that it mattered because point still the same: shock factor with little to no impact on the plot, purely external shift

[abhishekab]

i think the usual suspects nailed it in the plot twist area. the ending reveal was absolute cinegasm

[TheSwordfish]

In my opinion, Mr. Robot provided the greatest plot twist in all of television by revealing the truth behind Eliot's father in the final season.

It's a tear jerker....

[reallics]

The philosophical twist of Oldboy is what really stuck with me. Great vid Tyler.

[Wonton-the-Sea-Snail]

when i first saw big hero 6 i was thinking, "ok, theres no way the kabuki mask antagonist is the CEO, because his nose is too big to fit the mask. so this is gonna be a twist villain that either the teacher or the brother faking his death" and BOI did i hope the twist villain was the brother because that would have been a DOOZY

[Meethu]

The greatest twist in the fiction medium must be the reason why Grisha killed the Reiss family . Even the basement reveal in AOT changes the perception of whatever we thought of the world. The biggest twist in AOT is knowing Ymir fritz backstory and the actual orgin of Titans( read hallucigenia)

[papayasandpeas]

Hey Tyler! I know this is off topic, but I was wondering if you were ever going to bring back the segment where you read short scripts and give feedback live. I was just curious cause I found those streams to be very helpful with my writing.

[peaceandloveusa]

You know, technically speaking, plot twists exist off screen in any good "ghost" that haunts a character. Take, for example, Bruce Wayne's parents being killed. His living arrangements changed (external), his mental state goes from happiness to torment (internal), and his belief in the world being a good place changes (philosophical). And his ghost has remained a powerful and memorable backstory for the Batman ever since. Had the story been about his childhood, this moment would have been an example of a perfect plot twist.

[isaackandappassery]

Feel like this is greatly underrated. I'd always known (from studying stories that i liked) that there was always a question or a philosophical idea running through the story. Attack on Titan was about freedom and sacrifices, jujutsu kaisen is "what is a good death", death note was about justice, etc etc, but I had never really taken it as more than that. I had a sort of intuitive grasp of what a good plot was, and how to write stories, but since I was never able to describe it in words, I always struggled with plots. This has been the first video out of many to actually help me on my writing journey, and i am very grateful to you for that

[qiparoonie]

Wow this was definitely one of your best videos I’ve watched. So many plot twist fall short by failing the philosophical shift I just never had the words for it until now.

[rthur.]

Does GET OUT count, I mean that final scene was brilliant -

*Caution Spoilers*

Chris is chocking Rose, just when you think he is going to make it out. Police siren lights flash out on his face!

External Shift - Chris is going to get arrested > Chris is getting rescued

It turns out its Rod, Chris's friend.


Internal Shift - Audience has Fear and worry for Chris > Feeling glad and leaving with hope

Jordan had trained the audience earlier in the movie to fear the police due to the way they treat black people. So having the car show up at the end meant harm than good


Philosophical Shift - Injustice prevails > Hope prevails

Despite not being able to save Georgina, Walter and Andre. Seeing Chris driving away to safety is a small step that symbolizes hope in the future.

[Joker-syxr]

This is such a great video. My favourite twists of all time are Snape’s memories in HP7pt2, the snap in Infinity war(if that counts), the Darth Vader twist, the bunker twist in Parasite, and the Amy twist in Gone Girl

[mariana-niwl]

Mr. robot’s plot twists are my favorites. They don’t feel cheap and when you look back you can see all the hints you didn’t saw before and it changes how you see the story. And more on this days, where if someone guesses the twist the writers change everything for shock value

[kewlozer]

Always excited when Tyler posts a new video!

[benjaminread]

Great video. Seems everything boils back down to the philosophical conflict 😂. I am actually considering using a plot twist in ky current story, so good timing. Keep uo the good work!

[ilariawarren]

I disagree with his point on Merida's lack of an internal/philosophical shift. When Merida's mum turns into a bear, she has to give up on her manners (eg. she can't use knife and fork), and re-train herself to survive in a way that's new to her. That way, she realises that tradition isn't necessarily always the right way. Also, as a bear she gets in touch with her motherly instinct and uses all her strength to protect her daughter from Mordhue towards the end of the film. Which she would never have done as a queen, too busy thinking about good manners etc. My only issue with this film is that yes, the bear thing is confusing, and it's not clear what the message is at the end. I had to watch it several times before I 'got it'.

[mailanmanu]

This was the best explanation of Twists I have come across so far, thank you very much. I am a beginning novelist and this helped a lot.

[arcticwolf]

I still love the plot twists in the saw movies, especially the final chapter, where the original victim is shown to become the one that helped with so many traps throughout the franchise. I did not see that coming, that was great.