A well-written movie is always a hit with audiences, especially if it has certain plot twists that leave them mesmerized. From horror to thrillers, it’s become a tradition for movie directors to enjoy dropping subtle hints between the scenes that foreshadow later events. Every little detail in the frame can convey an important message to the audience.
One of the finest examples would be from the Marvel TV series: Loki. The show begins with the final moments of The Avengers (2012) when Hulk accidentally bumps into Iron Man, who has the Tesseract. Loki takes this opportunity to escape to another world. This foreshadowed Loki’s upcoming series. Likewise, here are some of the shocking pros used to reference the ending.
10 The Doctor’s Shirt – Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Back to the Future Part II is about Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Emmett “Doc” Brown (Christopher Lloyd) time travel using the DeLorean, a time machine. In one of the scenes, Doc wears a blue and yellow shirt with a train motif, being chased by two horses. In Back to the Future III, Marty and Doc travel to the year 1885, in which the train plays a major role. That’s why his shirt in the second movie hints at the theme in the next one. In the third film, Doc also wears the same shirt design in the form of a bandana.
9 The Orange Balloon – Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino, Reservoir dogs is about six diamond thieves hired by a crime boss to rob a jewelry store. When things go wrong and the police arrive, a shootout kills two of the robbers. The rest of the thieves grow suspicious of each other, assuming one of them is an undercover cop. The crime boss assigns each robber a color name to maintain anonymity. In one scene, an orange balloon appears behind Nice Guy Eddie’s (Sean Penn) car, it is only later revealed that Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) was the undercover cop.
8 Malcolm’s Shirt and the Wedding Ring – The Sixth Sense (1999)
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense is about a child, Cole Sear (played by Haley Joel Osment), who is extremely troubled by his ability to see ghosts. A child psychologist, Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), has a troubled marriage with his wife Anna (Olivia Wilde). Although Anna is distant in their relationship, she never takes off her wedding ring. Malcolm is not wearing his except in the first scene where he is shot. He is a ghost and Anna wears the ring to honor his death. Malcolm is always seen in the same blue shirt he wore in the first scene.
7 The Buckles – Jurassic Park (1993)
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Directed by Steven Spielberg, Jurassic Park is about scientists discovering that they can clone dinosaur DNA to mimic the giant beasts. Dr. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) creates a theme park where dinosaurs are the main attraction. Great chaos ensues later. At the beginning, the impending disaster is hinted at when Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) has two female ends and is unable to fasten them, tying both ends before the flight departs.
We later learn that the gender of the dinosaurs was manipulated by their DNA so that they were all female and breeding was impossible even if they escaped. Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), said, “Life finds a way,” and that’s what happens. Because the dinosaurs’ DNA was unstable, some of the dinosaurs eventually switched sexes and became males, as did tying seatbelts when the buckles didn’t work.
6 The Stuffed Birds – Psycho (1960)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho is about a secretary, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) who steals $40,000 from clients of her employers and heads west to start a new life. Tired from the ride, she stops at the Bates Motel for a break night where she meets Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) who lives with his difficult mother.
Bates’ hobby is taxidermy, and stuffed birds can be seen decorating the motel. Whenever he mentions his mother, Norma, the camera pans to a stuffed owl in a corner of the room. When Crane suggests that Norman’s mother might be a threat, he tells her, “She’s harmless as one of those stuffed birds.” This dialogue alludes to Norman’s perception of women and the impending doom that is about to befall Crane.
5 The Burnt Locker – The Breakfast Club (1985)
Directed by John Hughes, The breakfast club is about five teenagers who differ from each other, who attended detention at their high school on Saturday, only to realize how much more they have in common than they initially felt. In the first scene, the camera shows a row of lockers, one of which has been burned. It is later revealed that Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall) went to jail for lugging a flare gun around the school grounds. The gun was for suicide after getting an F in a course.
4 The Dagger Beside Harlan – Knives Out (2019)
Directed by Rian Johnson, Knives out is about an 85-year-old crime writer, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) found murdered in his own home. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a detective, questions the novelist’s family and domestic servants to unravel the mystery behind the murder. In the opening scene, a knife is in front of Thrombey as he talks to his nurse, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas). Before committing suicide, he mentions his grandson, Ransom (Chris Evans), who says he can’t tell the difference between a prop and a real knife. After this dialogue, in a later scene, Ransom grabs a knife to stab Marta, discovering it is a prop to his own terror.
3 Strange Doll in the Hallway – The Shining (1980)
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Directed by Stanley Kubrick, The shining is about Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), who suffers from writer’s block, who takes his family on vacation to a remote hotel in Colorado. After being given a tour of the compound, he maintains the grounds of the eerie building, until he begins to lose his mind. In the beginning, Torrance is playing with a tennis ball in one of the hotel corridors. At the spot where we see the body of Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) later in the film, a doll lies on the floor.
2 Bullets seen in The Chandelier – Clue (1985)
Directed by Johnathan Lynn, Clue is based on the board game of the same name. It is the story of six people who are invited to a mysterious mansion for dining in, where the host is killed. The guests use their investigative skills to decipher who is behind the crime. The film offers several conclusions. According to the first ending, the butler, Wadsworth (Tim Curry), says there are two bullet holes in a chandelier in the mansion. Only one is visible, until Wadsworth accidentally fires a gun that ricochetes into the chandelier, making the second hole.
1 The Texts – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Also directed by Rian Johnson, Glass onion is a mystery film, in which Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) goes to Greece where a murder mystery themed party is being held with a real killer. At the beginning of the film, Duke talks to Cody (Dave Bautista) about the texts he receives about the news he is interested in. Later, a warning informs him first of Andi Brand’s (Janelle Monáe) death. This leads to the revelation that Helen Brand (Janelle Monáe) replaced her deceased sister, disguised as the dead twin brother.