34 Movie Scenes That Were So Shocking, People Actually Gasped In The Theater
We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which movie scenes were so shocking, they actually gasped while watching them. Here are the best results.
🚨 Spoilers ahead, people! 🚨
1.In Spider-Man: No Way Home, when MJ started to fall to her death — exactly how Gwen Stacy died — but this time, Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker was able to save her at the last second.
"This movie felt like such a boiling point in the Marvel Universe that I really couldn’t anticipate who would come out alive at the end. Once MJ fell off the scaffolding, I held my breath and hoped that we wouldn’t lose her, and then when Andrew’s Peter dove to save her I actually shed a tear. It was the perfect parallel between the movies, and I’m just so happy Peter got to save her."
Here's the full scene:
2.In Parasite, when Moon-Gwang unlocked the hidden door to the basement, unveiling that her husband had been secretly living there.
"This is also when we realize that the 'ghost' who Da-song saw earlier in the movie was really just Geun-sae, who had escaped the basement at night to retrieve food from the fridge."
Here's the full scene:
3.In Frozen, when Hans turned out to be the villain and revealed that he was just using Anna.
The gasp and shock when Hans didn't kiss her...never in a million freaking years did I expect him to be evil. They disguised it so well!"
Here's the full scene:
4.In The Prestige, when it was revealed that Chistian Bale's character was able to perform the magic tricks because he was an identical twin.
"I gaped at the TV for a full five minutes and had to rewatch the movie to catch all of the foreshadowing."
Here's the full scene:
5.In Promising Young Woman, when Cassie's scheduled texts started to appear on the screen, revealing that she had a backup plan in case she went missing.
"I got my hands on this script maybe a year before the movie came out, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. After Cassie was murdered, I kept thinking, 'It can't end this way, can it?' But then everything unfolded, and we saw that she had a backup plan the whole time, just in case things went wrong at the bachelor party. A truly gutting ending with her demise, but at least there was a tiny bit of justice."
Here's the full scene:
6.In Joker, when it was revealed that Arthur's romantic relationship with Sophie was all in his head and none of it actually happened.
"He's the most unreliable narrator, but I still never expected it."
Here's the full scene:
7.In Uncut Gems, when Adam Sandler's character made it through that intense and hectic basketball game, only to be killed moments after winning his ridiculous bet.
"I GASPED!"
Here's the full scene:
8.In Orphan, when 9-year-old Esther turned out to be a 33-year-old murderer who was trying to seduce her adoptive father, murder him, and then burn the house down.
"The fact that she was a grown woman posing as a little girl was creepy as hell. When she started revealing her true self at the end, I felt so uncomfortable!" —amberb
"It blew my mind. My mouth literally dropped. I had to show it to my friend the next day because it was so good." —rhinosrule658
Here's the full scene:
9.In Spider-Man: Far from Home, when Mysterio released doctored footage that made Spider-Man look like the villain and then revealed his true identity to the entire world.
"I literally had to lay on the floor to compose myself after this."
Here's the full scene:
10.In Zootopia, when Judy realized that Assistant Mayor Bellwether was behind all of the attacks and was framing predators as savage creatures.
"This whole movie is so good and has so many layers to it, so I should have expected this twist, but my jaw dropped."
Here's the full scene:
11.In Searching, when David pieced together that Vick, the cop who led the case on his daughter's disappearance, was the one behind everything.
Here's the full scene:
12.In The Usual Suspects, when Kujan realized that every single word out of Verbal's mouth was a perfectly orchestrated lie, and Verbal was actually Keyser Söze.
"I remember watching this in the theater, and the audience stood up and applauded because of this scene. It's one of the best movies, and this is certainly one of the best scenes ever written."
—G3D
Here's the full scene:
13.In Wreck-It Ralph, when King Candy started glitching, and everyone found out that he was actually Turbo.
—Beverley Carry, Facebook
Here's the full scene:
14.In Us, when it was revealed that Red had been living as Adelaide for decades and the real Adelaide was trapped under the boardwalk.
"When Lupita's character gives her son that look in the car...I just couldn't handle it! Such a good twist."
Here's the full scene:
15.In Now You See Me, when Dylan, the FBI agent responsible for capturing the Four Horsemen, turned out to be the one who orchestrated the whole heist.
"The biggest plot twist would definitely have to be the ending of this movie. I’ve watched it at least 10 times, and every time it still shocks me."
Here's the full scene:
16.In Split, when Bruce Willis's character from Unbreakable appeared in the final scene, revealing that the whole movie was actually a sequel to the one that came out 16 years earlier.
"This was actually so genius. Everyone thought it was a standalone movie, and then that final scene really pieced everything together and showed it was a sequel. A brilliant twist."
Here's the full scene:
17.In Ex Machina, when Ava trapped Caleb in the house and then escaped via the helicopter that was originally sent for him.
"I spent the whole time rooting for Caleb and Ava, only to be left speechless and disturbed when she left my boy to die. It makes you reconsider the whole movie and wonder if who we thought was the antagonist was just a misguided good guy."
Here's the full scene:
18.In Shutter Island, when Leonardo DiCaprio's character realized he was actually a patient at the asylum, not a real US Marshal.
"The plot twist is mind-blowing. It will throw you off the edge. I honestly never saw it coming."
Here's the full scene:
19.In Avengers: Infinity War, when Thanos ended up sacrificing Gamora — the only thing he ever loved — in order to get the Soul Stone.
"This whole scene had me on the edge of my seat, and when he threw Gamora over the ledge my entire theater screamed."
Here's the full scene:
20.In Interstellar, when Mann tricked everyone into thinking his planet could support human life, and then he tried to kill Cooper to cover his tracks.
"Who would have guessed Matt Damon was gonna be the bad guy who faked everything?!"
Here's the full scene:
21.In Coco, when Héctor found out that Ernesto poisoned him and stole all of his songs.
"I'm still not over Héctor being the father instead of Ernesto, who murdered him. This movie wrecked me."
—ordtierney31 and megandeanm
Here's the full scene:
22.In The Visit, when the mom noticed over video chat that the old people her kids were staying with weren't actually their grandparents, but escaped mental patients.
"I went into the movie thinking it was gonna be about their mutual psychosis, but it turned into so much more. When we found out the old people weren't actually the kids’ grandparents, the entire theater gasped. One woman even yelled 'No!' when it all went down."
Here's the full scene:
23.In Black Swan, when Nina thought she killed Lily, but the final scene showed that she actually stabbed herself with the broken mirror.
"The ending to this movie hurt my brain!"
Here's the full scene:
24.In Whiplash, when Fletcher ambushed Andrew on stage with the wrong music in an attempt to ruin his career, solely because Andrew testified against him.
"I was convinced there'd be a traditional happy ending to this movie, but when Miles Teller's character was tricked in front of everyone...I just wasn't expecting it. I audibly gasped."
—Maddy Bryant, Facebook
Here's the full scene:
25.In The Boy, when Brahms (the doll) was smashed into thousands of pieces, and then a real-life man emerged from inside the walls of the house, meaning he actually survived the fire 20 years ago.
"Prior to watching this movie, I thought it was a typical ghost/horror movie. I could not have been more wrong! That ending had me shook. It was way too real! I watched it because Lauren Cohan had the lead role in it, and I expected a regular ‘doll’ movie, but then I saw the end...that was intense and wild."
—strangerthanitseems and ts19
Here's the full scene:
26.In Spider-Man: Homecoming, when Peter went to Liz's house to pick her up for the dance, but her father — who turned out to be Vulture — answered the door.
"I thought that Michael Keaton was just being a normal and playfully intimidating dad before this scene, but when Peter opened the door my jaw DROPPED."
Here's the full scene:
27.In La La Land, when the dreamy montage showed Mia and Sebastian living happily ever after, but then it cut back to reality and Mia was with a different guy.
"I saw it with my friend, and I was so excited for them to 'get back together' in the end, but then I just started crying."
Here's the full scene:
28.In Snowpiercer, when everyone had been convinced for years that life wasn't sustainable outside the train, but at the end they saw a polar bear roaming safely outside.
"The ending literally had me pacing the room, rocking back and forth in a ball, and uttering 'What?!' for 20 minutes after I finished it."
Here's the full scene:
29.In The Departed, when Costigan captured Sullivan and thought he was finally going to get his life back, but he was immediately killed in the elevator.
"I jumped so much when I saw that elevator scene the first time. I still kind of jump."
Here's the full scene:
30.In Get Out, when Chris and Rose were trying to escape, and then Rose suddenly broke character and revealed she was going to hold him captive.
"This moment freaked me out!"
Here's the full scene:
31.In Arrival, when the "flashbacks" were actually future memories, meaning Louise and Ian were going to have a daughter and watch her die.
"My mind was utterly blown. Still one of my favorite movies to date."
Here's the full scene:
32.In Saw, when the "dead" body on the ground woke up and revealed himself to be Jigsaw, the mastermind behind all of the torture.
"When Saw first came out, it messed me up. When the killer stood up and the monologue started and they flashed back to the beginning with the key going down the drain...it blew my mind."
Here's the full scene:
33.In Seven Pounds, when it was revealed that Ben actually killed seven people while texting and driving, so he wanted to preserve his body parts and donate them.
"That death scene with the jellyfish really got me."
Here's the full scene:
34.And, of course, in Avengers: Endgame, when everyone returned through the portals to help defeat Thanos and save the entire universe.
"The portals scene is basically, like, 10 years of movies culminating into that one moment. The visuals, combined with the music as it finally swells into the full-blown Avengers theme, is an unexpected plot moment that'll give you chills every time."
Here's the full scene:
Did your favorite shocking movie moment not make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.