Twists in the tale...

I love a movie with a twist. Absolutely love it. That bit when you realise Teddy is a patient in Shutter Island... That bit when you realise Grace's family are the ones doing the haunting as opposed to being haunted in The Others... That bit when you realise Malcom is actually dead in The Sixth Sense...

Subverting expectations...

I love the subverting of expectations, the "oh, why didn't I realise that!" moment and then the time spent after the film dissecting what you've seen and piecing all the evidence together. It's clever.

Trying too hard...

The problem writers have (and I am also guilty of this) is trying too hard to create that effect in a screenplay when, in reality, the screenplay doesn't necessarily call for it. You crave that twist factor and can then get really caught up in that twist and forget what the screenplay was about in the first place. I've had to ask myself in the past: "Is the twist integral to the story I am trying to tell?"


Out of the blue...

What I find as a reader is that twists often don't have the intended effect. Either you already suspect said twist because the cover-up isn't very successful/the lead up isn't subtle, or the twist occurs completely out of the blue with no set-up and no clues. How can the audience appreciate the twist if there's no logic to it? In The Sixth Sense, we believe that Malcom is alive because the way his character is followed and portrayed leads the audience to believe no different. It is only after the twist that you start to think about Malcom's behaviours and his interaction with the world around him and begin to realise that things weren't quite so straight forward after all.

Withholding information...

Sometimes twists are used to reveal previously withheld information about a character in order to subvert your perception of the character. So, you may want the audience to hate a character and then realise that they were the good guy after all. Whilst there is no reason why this cannot work, you have to ask yourself whether this does your character any favours, especially if you paint them in a really bad light throughout the screenplay. If the audience doesn't empathise with the character at all, how can they then change their opinion after the twist? They may end up feeling cheated. It's important to think about the different layers of characters and make sure to offer up information from which the audience can make their own decisions. Often the most clever twists are set up in a way that is open to interpretation; the challenge is then to lure the audience into a perceived sense of logic. Easier said than done.

Using flashbacks...

Sometimes information is withheld from an audience only to be introduced later on via flashbacks. This can work if the flashbacks are properly structured to gradually reveal information, but more often than not a whole new side of the story is revealed in one go and out of the blue. This can backfire on a writer as the audience can feel cheated. Sometimes, the witholding of information does the story no favours. Consider whether the information you are holding back is purely for a shock factor/twist later on in the screenplay. How much richer would a character or plot be if the information is revealed right from the beginning? How does the witholding of information versus giving the information right from the beginning affect the plot development?
 
Questions to ask yourself when considering a twist in your screenplay:

• Is a twist essential to the plot?
• Have I considered the set-up and the plot development in relation to the twist?
• Does my twist happen out of the blue?
• Have I built up to the twist/made the twist believable?
• Does my twist occur as a flashback? Is it essential that it occurs through flashback?
• Have flashbacks been structured in a way that gradually builds up to the revelation?
• Does the twist have the desired effect or does it leave the reader/audience feeling cheated?

It's tough bringing a twist to the tale... But well worth it if it's done well!

Are you working on a screenplay with a twist in the tale? What challenges have you faced in the writing of such a screenplay and what steps did you take to overcome them?