Neither ‘The Sixth Sense’ nor ‘Shutter Island’: the final scene of this 1997 film left millions of people completely disoriented

Plot twists are one of the most recognizable storytelling devices in film. Even though they have existed since the earliest days of cinema, the term became especially popular after The Sixth Sense (1999), The Sixth Sense by M. Night Shyamalan. Since then, films like Shutter Island (2010) Shutter Island have continued to build on a formula that has become incredibly widespread.

Another movie with an ending that completely shocks viewers is The Game (1997), by David Fincher. The director had already unsettled millions with Se7en and he wanted to take that feeling even further. With The Game, audiences left theaters stunned by what they had just seen: a twist so unexpected it felt impossible to predict.

The final scene of The Game

Spoilers for the movie begin here.

The Game follows Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas), a cold and isolated man who is about to turn 48, the same age his father was when he died by suicide. His brother Conrad (Sean Penn), who is far more carefree, gives him a strange and intriguing birthday gift: the phone number of a company that creates personalized “games.” Driven by curiosity, Nicholas calls.

That is when a relentless thriller begins, with David Fincher constantly blurring the line between reality and fiction for both Nicholas and the audience. In the final scene, a paranoid and emotionally shattered Nicholas, who has gradually begun to lose his grip on reality, climbs to the rooftop of the company’s building and threatens to kill Christine, an employee. Then he sees the door open and fires instinctively, killing his brother Conrad, who had been walking in with a bottle of champagne to celebrate his birthday.

Unable to cope with what he believes he has done, Nicholas throws himself off the building in an apparent suicide attempt. But instead of dying, he crashes onto a giant air cushion as a stunned crowd looks on.

In that moment, he realizes that everything has been part of the game, and that Conrad is not dead at all. He had only wanted to inject some excitement into Nicholas’s painfully dull life. David Fincher pulled off a twist on top of another twist.

Praise and criticism

Many people saw David Fincher as a true genius for crafting two major twists in the same movie, with both landing as equally unexpected. In fact, The Game is the favorite film of Guti, former player for Real Madrid.

Others, however, felt the ending went too far and became an unnecessary attempt to outdo itself. Either way, the film was not a major box office success, but it helped Fincher continue his rise in the film industry. His next feature was the iconic Fight Club (1999).

• The Game is available on Amazon Prime Video.

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