- 7 hours ago
You were rooting for the wrong person.
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00:00There are plenty of films that follow the action of the villain, such as American Psycho, Joker and Scarface.
00:07However, some stories pull a fast one, tricking the audience into believing such characters are the good guys.
00:12And only when the curtain is drawn does it become clear the heroes have conned us all.
00:17Sometimes viewers amongst us will wonder how they didn't see the truth sooner.
00:21Maybe the main character didn't realise they were wicked, or maybe the villain was a really, really good liar.
00:27So with that being said, I'm Jem from WhatCulture.com and here are 10 more movies you did not realise you were following the villain.
00:35Number 10. The Iron Giant
00:37After overactive child Hogarth sees a strange light in the forest, he ventures out to explore the woods and discovers a metal-eating robot who fell from the stars.
00:46Despite his intimidating appearance, Hogarth quickly develops a deep bond with the giant and also becomes incredibly protective of his new friend,
00:54knowing government officials will mistake the giant as a destructive weapon.
00:58That's why it's crushing to learn that giant is a destructive weapon.
01:03When the towering automaton sees Hogarth using a toy gun, a self-defence program causes him to instinctively attack the boy.
01:10In that moment, it becomes as clear as day the giant was initially designed to destroy.
01:15After Hogarth seemingly dies, the giant's initial programming activates, causing him to blast everyone and everything in sight.
01:23Even though Hogarth convinces the giant to abandon his destructive crusade, it's terrifying to think of what could have happened if he didn't.
01:31Also, a deleted scene shows how the giant's race has laid waste to numerous worlds, causing them to implode.
01:38Although he ultimately chose peace, it is possible the giant has taken countless lives in the past.
01:44Number 9. Samaritan
01:46Julius Avery's superhero flick centres around the super-powered Samaritan and his villainous twin, Nemesis.
01:52The story takes place 25 years after the siblings fought one another, leading to Nemesis' death.
01:58Hungry for power, gang leader Cyrus proclaims himself as the new Nemesis and begins inciting chaos throughout the city.
02:05Though Samaritan has tried to live as a civilian for decades as Joe Smith, he's forced to come out of retirement to stop Cyrus.
02:12When Cyrus taunts Joe for playing the hero, Joe informs him that he is the bad guy.
02:18In a flashback, it's revealed how Samaritan defeated Nemesis but refused to kill him.
02:22When the ground gave way, Nemesis watched Samaritan plummet to his demise, despite his best efforts to save him.
02:29After Samaritan spared his life, Nemesis swore to dedicate his life to peace to commemorate his fallen brother.
02:35Interestingly, Nemesis never lies about his identity at any point in the story.
02:39When he repeatedly denies he's Samaritan, it looks like he's protecting his secret identity.
02:44And when he tells others that Nemesis died that night, he is, in the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, telling the truth from a certain point of view.
02:53Number 8. The Others
02:54The Others follows Grace Stewart, played by Nicole Kidman, a mother of two who lives in an isolated country house.
03:01Grace keeps her home in perpetual darkness to accommodate her children, Anna and Nicholas, who suffer from severe photosensitivity.
03:08When she notices the curtains around her home have been removed, Grace believes someone's trying to harm her children.
03:15After several supernatural incidents occur, Grace is convinced her house is haunted.
03:20Though Grace's concerns are proven correct, it's not in the way she presumes.
03:25In the third act, Grace discovers she and her children are The Others, and have been unintentionally haunting the real residents of the house.
03:33Grace remembers how she lost her mind when her husband died in the war, compelling her to smother her children before taking her own life.
03:41When Grace returned as a ghost, she convinced herself the murder-suicide she performed was nothing more than a bad dream.
03:48Upon learning this, the children are relieved to see they are no longer vulnerable to light.
03:52Nevertheless, it is horrifying how they have been reborn as wandering spirits that are unable to move on because of their mother's horrific actions.
04:01Number 7. Unbreakable
04:02In Unbreakable, David Dunn, played by Bruce Willis, is involved in a horrific train accident that results in the death of everyone on board, except for him.
04:11Soon after, he encounters comic book collector Elijah Price, played by Samuel L. Jackson.
04:17Since Price was born with brittle bones, he always believed there was someone on the other side of the spectrum who was immune to injury,
04:24and tells David he was given this power to help those in need.
04:28Dismissing Elijah's claims at first, David later embraces his destiny, becoming a street vigilante who protects the innocent and punishes the wicked.
04:35In the closing moments, it's revealed that Elijah was so obsessed with finding an indestructible saviour,
04:42he orchestrated several tragedies, including the train crash that befell David.
04:47Elijah shows absolutely zero remorse for his actions, believing the people he had murdered were a necessary sacrifice to find his hero.
04:55Not only is this a shocking revelation, it feels like a genuine betrayal to the audience.
05:00All this time, viewers thought Elijah Price was some sort of superhero mentor like Professor X, unaware that he was actually pretty much the opposite.
05:09Number 6. Red Notice
05:10Red Notice opens with FBI profiler John Hartley, Dwayne Johnson, arresting master thief Nolan Booth, Ryan Reynolds, after he tries to steal a bejeweled egg.
05:21Unfortunately, the artifact is swiped immediately after by another thief, Sarah Black, played by Gal Gadot,
05:27before John has a chance to track her down. Interpol arrests him after he's implicated in the theft.
05:33Out of desperation, John is forced to work alongside Nolan to track down Sarah, retrieve the egg and clear his name.
05:39Now, there are countless films like The Fugitive or Minority Report that follow this formula.
05:45As such, there's little reason to believe that the authorities' wild claims about our hero are actually valid at all.
05:51But after John locates Sarah during the climax, he reveals they were in on it from the beginning, proving that the authorities' suspicions were actually spot on.
06:00Upon revisiting Red Notice, there are stacks of hints that John is not who he says he is.
06:04In fact, he flat out says, I'm the bad guy, the first time he meets Nolan.
06:09Since he throws this line away, first-time viewers assume he's being sarcastic.
06:13But in reality, John gives away the twist in the opening five minutes.
06:18Number 5. The Founder
06:19The Founder starts off as a typical underdog story, with struggling salesman Ray Kroc selling milkshake machines when he stumbles upon a drive-in restaurant called McDonald's.
06:30After speaking to the sibling owners, Maurice and Dick, the three agree to expand the business together.
06:36And following many trials and tribulations, Kroc turns McDonald's into a global fast food chain, making him billions.
06:44On paper, the Founder sounds like an uplifting story, if not for one issue.
06:48Ray Kroc is a tyrant. He worked extremely hard, we'll give him that, but he stepped on everyone to accomplish his goals.
06:55At first, Kroc's behaviour seemed somewhat justified.
06:59After all, business men and women have to be ruthless to make it to the top, right?
07:04However, it becomes impossible to defend Kroc when he goes against his partner's wishes, sabotages the original restaurant, and abruptly leaves his wife, too.
07:12The stress of it all is too much for Maurice, causing him to go into a diabetic shop.
07:17But rather than recognising that his erratic behaviour almost killed him, Kroc pushes the McDonald's brother to sell him the business while he's vulnerable.
07:26Despite getting what he wanted, Kroc did not stop there.
07:29He never gave the McDonald's brothers the royalties he promised, which were worth $100 million annually.
07:35To spite them further, Kroc set up a McDonald's across the street from the original restaurant, putting the brothers out of business.
07:42Although Kroc often comes across as a jerk, it's only in the third act when viewers really realise what an absolute monster he is.
07:49Number 4. Nightmare Alley
07:51From the get-go, it's apparent that Nightmare Alley's protagonist, Stan Carlyle, is a big manipulator.
07:56Carlyle pretends to be psychic to worm his way into people's hearts and wallets, although he doesn't come across as a typical bad guy, since he starts off as a down-on-his-luck bumpkin who's just trying to make ends meet.
08:08When he rebrands himself into a suave psychic for aristocrats, it's hard not to be impressed by his transformation, but he goes a bit too far.
08:16A powerful industrialist named Grindle asks Stan to speak to a dead woman, Dory.
08:21Since Grindle blames himself for her death, Stan realise he can milk this deal.
08:25So instead of giving Grindle a straightforward cold reading, Carlyle offers multiple spirit sessions, bleeding his client dry.
08:33And rather than leaving it there, Stan convinces his partner to meet Grindle while impersonating Dory's spirit.
08:39By making this decision, Stan is no longer just telling his customers what they want to hear, but giving them false hope.
08:45And when Ezra sees through the ruse, Stan murders him and his bodyguard.
08:50Somehow, it actually does get worse, as a flashback reveals Carlyle lived with his bedridden father before pursuing his deceptive lifestyle.
08:58Tired of caring for his old man, Stan killed him so he could start his life anew.
09:03So not only is Stan Carlyle now a cold-blooded killer, he always has been.
09:083. Saltburn
09:09In Saltburn, loner Oliver falls in love with a handsome jock called Felix Catton, played by Jacob Elordi, shortly after starting at Oxford University.
09:19After the two hit it off, Felix invites Oliver to his luscious family estate to Saltburn.
09:25Though Oliver tries to enjoy him, Felix's family routinely makes jabs at him, causing a lot of friction in the house.
09:32Now, it is obvious early on that Oliver is deeply disturbed, especially after watching that scene.
09:39But viewers should still be rooting for Oliver, considering his horrific upbringing.
09:43So when Felix learns Oliver lied about his tragic life for attention, it is evident that he's far more two-faced than the Catton family could have imagined.
09:52However, the extent of Oliver's deception is only truly comprehended near the end.
09:57Oliver manages to kill, or permanently remove, every single Catton from the Saltburn estate, allowing him to become the solitary owner.
10:05In the last few minutes, a flashback reveals how Oliver manipulated his boyfriend and his family since day one.
10:12At first, Oliver came across as a pretty weird dude, but after watching the final scene, there is no question that Oliver is a complete psychopath.
10:21Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below, and while you're there, drop us a like, share and subscribe too.
10:27Number 2. A Perfect Getaway
10:29In a perfect getaway, newlyweds Cliff and Sydney are on their honeymoon in Hawaii when they meet another couple, Nick and Gina.
10:36After hearing reports of a man and woman committing murders in the area, tension between the four is sky high.
10:42However, when Gina checks out Cliff and Sydney's so-called wedding photos, she's horrified to see that they are of a different bride and groom, meaning the newlyweds are the reported serial killers.
10:53What makes this twist effective is how the film spells it out in almost every single scene.
10:59For instance, one of the first things Sydney says to her partner is,
11:02Are you insane?
11:03Later, when Cliff pulls out a wad of cash, he seemingly jokes that he robbed a bank.
11:08Elsewhere, Nick says he recognises Cliff's face, implying he's seen him on the news,
11:13and although the film opens with footage of Cliff and Sydney's supposed wedding, they themselves are never actually seen at that wedding.
11:19And number 1. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
11:22In the movie, Jean Brodie, played by Maggie Smith, teaches at a strict all-girls school that's overseen by Miss McKay.
11:29Unlike the other tutors, Jean is a passionate free spirit who refuses to abide by the rules.
11:34Rather than just focusing on the curriculum, Jean pushes her doting pupils to break down barriers, explore their passions, and forge their own paths.
11:43When McKay tries to fire her, it's not hard to cheer when Jean pulls the stuffy-head mistress in her place.
11:49When it turns out that Jean admires some questionable figures, such feelings appear to stem from naivety rather than malice.
11:56On the surface, our whimsical protagonist seems like the mentor every student dreams of having.
12:02But over time, it's unmistakable that Jean's demeanour is a calculated performance.
12:07Slowly but surely, the charismatic teacher is proven to be a delusional, hypocritical, and deceitful bully.
12:14She doesn't just manipulate her students, but grooms them, using her dogmatic views to encourage one student to venture into the war, which leads to her death.
12:22What's worse is Jean shows zero regret or shame no matter how often her influence wrecks the lives around her.
12:30She often plays the victim, almost like she's oblivious to how destructive her actions are.
12:34Unlike the other entries on this list, there isn't a specific moment when the penny drops.
12:39Due to the subtlety of Jean, different people pick up on her true character at different times,
12:45but once viewers recognise how staggeringly manipulative she is, they'll find it hard to believe they ever sided with her in the first place.
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