Have you ever been in a movie theater when, all of a sudden, a film does something that makes you react in ways you didn't expect?
You sit up, get closer to the screen, and sometimes cover your mouth in disbelief. You're thinking, "who thought of this?" While the film progresses (and sometimes ends) on a note that feels like too much of a change in tone, or a peculiar moment that "shouldn't have been there," you're delightfully flabbergasted. In other cases, you frown while muttering "wha?" and glance at your movie partner to see if they're also bewildered. The lack of explanations, reasons, and conclusions is sometimes intentional and holds a purpose. When they don't, you're in for a treat as you try to fall sleep while thinking of that certain scene.
We went beyond what seemed like reasonable decisions in this list, collecting some completely WTF moments which caught us all by surprise, for better ot worse. We included cinematic moments that, to this day, no one seems to be able to explain, but everyone has accepted as part of a bigger purpose or an interpretation. We also made sure to include the awkward, downright uncomfortable, and the disturbing by design. In any case, don't try to explain these as they often mean less than what you can come up with.
These are the moments in film that made you yell out loud "WTF?"
16 Bonus: Something in the Sky - Fargo (TV Show)
We know the list should address movie moments, but we couldn't leave this one out. In Fargo, crime and those who commit it are the recurring themes, with every variation made possible in greatly written scripts, and with every character being valuable to the plot. But what happened in episode nine of season two (or even episode one) was way too absurd to associate to the events taking place in Sioux Falls.
We would love to reveal what it is, but if you haven't guessed it, see it for yourself. It's a breath of fresh air in the form of an illogical plot device that speaks highly of a confident showrunner that can get away with anything. It's a complete WTF moment in a series of surprising twists and turns. Now, let's get to the movies.
15 Nazi Monsters Shootout - An American Werewolf in London
The Muppets is on TV, and an all-American family is waiting for mom to make dinner. Suddenly, someone knocks at the door. What follows is the most absurd moment in An American Werewolf in London, a film whose title is extremely literal. It's not only the extreme violence. It's the fact that they're mutants, they're Nazis, and they hold no mercy as they unleash violence upon the family. But relax! It's only a nightmare.
Or is it? Once David Kessler wakes up, and he's in the hospital while trying to cure himself over a bite wound, things will be OK. Surely director John Landis won't extend this sequence beyond the logic of what already is a dreamlike plot...
14 Day-O - Beetlejuice
Tim Burton's Beetlejuice is full of moments that make you wish you lived in the Burton-verse. But one scene in particular made you want to be part of a family being haunted by friendly ghosts, and that is the "Day-O" scene. A dinner party becomes a strange dance sequence in which attendees dance to a Harry Belafonte song ("Banana Boat") and lose control over what ghosts force them to do.
This is one of those moments that could only happen in a Burton film, and one of those that we're sure was highlighted in marker in script notes as expendable. Luckily, we got it in full, and Beetlejuice stayed on the humorously ridiculous tone that we're so thankful for.
13 Rewinding - Funny Games
As if the film wasn't disturbing enough, Michael Haneke's Funny Games gives too much power to its endearing villains. Such power goes beyond the boundaries of the story, and it's directly related to the villains' bizarre ability to break the fourth wall.
In what feels like an optimistic moment in the film, Paul, one of the monsters participating in the home invasion, takes a remote control and rewinds the film itself. He remediates their failure and confirms the nightmare will never stop until the family members are completely dead. This is one of the moments on this list that some viewers will never understand.
12 "There's No Santa Claus" - Gremlins
We don't know who to blame for this one — writer Chris Columbus, director Joe Dante, or Spielberg himself. Regardless, decades after the release of Gremlins, the scene in which Kate describes how she found out Santa didn't exist is heartbreaking, bizarre to say the least, and incredibly effective for the film's weird tonal mix.
We will summarize: Kate's father disappears on Christmas Eve and days later his body was found. He had planned to surprise Kate by dressing up as Santa and going down the chimney. But instead he broke his neck and died on a snowy night.
If the film doesn't traumatize you, then this scene will. Everyone wanted it to be out of the final cut, but Dante insisted on it, and we're actually thankful for the weirdest moment in a franchise about little creatures that wreak havoc, but also drink, smoke and bet as if there were no tomorrow.
11 Vengeance of the Gods - The Cabin in the Woods
Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods is a film we don't appreciate enough. It shed light on the rules of slasher films and actually drew a plot around the necessity to have them. If you think the plot of a corporation making people die under very familiar circumstances is beyond comprehension, stick until the ending.
There is a reason why someone planned this and a large company is coldly following the strategy, and that reveal is the most important moment in the film. At the very last minute, the ones who (really) rule society show up and destroy a world that isn't worth saving now. This is one of those moments you have to see to understand its magnitude.
10 Unexpected Death - The Other Guys
In one of the posters for Adam McKay's The Other Guys, there's a funny tagline. It says "NY's finest were busy." This obligates us to include what's inherently a very funny moment in a film we don't appreciate enough. The stars are Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, but early in the film they're underdogs in a police department that doesn't accept mistakes.
Te real stars of the police are Danson and Highsmith, played by Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson respectively. The plot, however, surprises us as bad boys Danson and Highsmith make a mistake during a pursuit. Contrary to expectations, their roles become cameos as their characters leap to their deaths from a tall building, thinking they were aiming for bushes.
It's a surprising death scene that's fully functional in a film with a traditional comedy tone.
9 Frog Rain - Magnolia
Whatever you think of director Paul Thomas Anderson's decision to include a rain of frogs in his great film Magnolia, it will be OK. We can assure you the director will agree with what significance you give to it. The one people agree with the most is divine providence.
The rain happens as one of the characters decides to steal money for himself to achieve a noble cause and frogs start falling from the sky in millions. It doesn't go better for him as he slips and falls. Frogs also prevent a suicide and even help a family reconciliation to take place. To call this clever plot device Biblical is a definite understatement
8 Bear Sex - The Shining
Stanley Kubrick's classic horror film The Shining is filled with heavy, haunting imagery. Few films of this nature are still as iconic as the Jack Nicholson-led claustrophobic ghost film. But nothing can prepare you (even if you've seen it hundreds of times) for the "bear performing fellation" scene. Nothing is graphic, of course, but the suggestion is palpable and effective. Also, the camera work is nightmare inducing as a long shot becomes too close, and we get the image of a person dressed as a bear positioned to give some love to a man sitting on a bed.
There are several interpretations to what it means, but curiously this time, the book's far better in explaining why (in the book, the bear costume is a dog's). But perhaps it's better if you don't try to understand what's basically a weaponizing scene designed by Kubrick's mentality.
7 The End - The Mist
We couldn't leave this out of a list of films with WTF scenes. It's the ending for The Mist that director Frank Darabont came up with that, to this day, feels "unnecessary" when considering King's work in the novella. Nevertheless, the adaptation wouldn't be the same without it
In case you haven't seen it yet, be aware that this is the bleakest way to end an already grim story: The leader of a survival group decides to shoot his son and other survivors because they won't be able to make it. Seconds after, the mist dissipates and help arrives. Ouch.
6 A Bear Appears - Annihilation
With Alex Garland's Annihilation, we knew the Shimmer held a bizarre version of nature that aliens played with. But we weren't prepared for a mutant bear whose head resembles a human skull. That's a moment of absolute terror in the film.
But there's more. When the creature grunts and howls, the sound it produces can only be compared to the sound of 1000 suffering human souls screaming for help. Every single viewer got goosebumps while watching this scene and those who say they didn't, are terrible liars.
5 The Baby - mother!
Darren Aronofsky's mother! is a great conversation starter — but it won't be a short one. People still spend hours trying to agree on the interpretation for what the film actually means, from climate change allegory to religious myth. We can only say Aronofsky has to be proud of it.
The film's pivotal scene includes graphic violence unlike we've seen in modern cinema. The main character, mother, suffers through an invasion of obnoxious people without a specific objective. However, it's not until a baby appears that we feel Aronofsky has gone too far. We won't share the details of what happens. We will only say "be prepared." You should.
4 Every Sex Scene - Titane
What is beautiful about Julia Ducournau's Titane is that the film actually makes sense in this very restricted universe where metal and human flesh can merge. However, the film never goes for lack of logic and sticks to an emotional theme that gets stronger in the third act.
But it's the first scene in Titane that will make you grab your head and applaud for the extreme side of French cinema: Sex is awkward. But sex with a car? That's weird, but it has a point, and it's the basis for one of the most interesting pieces of modern horror.
3 Spiders and Unanswered Questions - Enemy
We won't dig around the bushes. Denis Villeneuve's Enemy is a cryptic film with too many questions and not enough answers. And if that weren't enough, Villeneuve decides to be faithful to the script and conclude the film with a shot that will blow your mind.
This is a film about doppelgängers and what would happen if they met each other. But the themes of existentialism are really heavy and make Enemy a confusing psychological thriller that not many will be able to solve. And how about a giant tarantula ending for a cherry on top?
2 The Question and Answer - Happiness
Happiness by Todd Solondz is a very hard film to watch. Yes, it's a comedy drama, but the subjects are dark enough to make you squirm. The themes of sexual repression and angst being streamlined in a simple plot in an American household are well represented in a Solondz's script.
However, it's that scene of a boy asking his father the most horrible question in the world that makes your blood freeze as you stare with your mouth open. And you know what's even more horrible? An extremely honest answer that may drive you away from finishing a very unsettling film.
1 "Pancakes" - Cabin Fever
Up to this point in Eli Roth's small gem of a film, Cabin Fever, many things have happened, the body count is curiously high, and the film's become a mixed tone festival. What's another ingredient going to do?
A survivor of a modern flesh-eating virus arrives at a gas station and begs for help. The manager comes out and asks him to wait. But suddenly a kid sitting on the porch starts screaming "pancakes!" non-stop and making weirdly beautiful karate kicks. The dude stares in awe. We, the audience, do the same. When the boy bites him, and somehow realizes he's gotten the virus, we have no option but to laugh at the insanity of Roth's decision to include this for seemingly no reason whatsoever. What the f*ck?