Can anyone name some mysteries in stories where the answer ended up delivering and was better than the mystery itself?
Can anyone name some mysteries in stories where the answer ended up delivering and was better than the mystery itself?
I’ve watched shows, movies, read comics or listened to podcasts where there is a lot of build up around a mystery, only for the end to be lackluster. In these the journey itself was more riveting than where we ended up. What are some instances where the answer lived up to the hype?
extremely good question to ask OP.
thinking on it right now, perhaps Moon (2009)
Yes! I think this qualifies.
Basically every episode of Columbo. The mystery isn't the crime, but how he's going to solve it.
The subgenre Columbo falls under is a "howcatchem" or an inverted detective story, as opposed to the more typical "whodunnit".
Just in case OP likes that setup and wants to keyword search for more. One I like and has a second season in works is Poker Face starring Natasha Lyonne.
When it was first released, The Sixth Sense ending blew everyones' minds.
Usual Suspects and Se7en as well.
My youngest sister has never watched Sixth Sense so that's the plan the next time one of us visits the other.
I suspect even though she doesn't know the twist, it has invaded pop culture references and memes enough that she will figure it out early on in the movie. I remember even just knowing there was A Twist^TM was enough for me to spot what was coming much earlier on than the reveal. Really looking forward to seeing what she thinks of the movie from her Gen Z perspective.
I definitely think this movie popularized the “but it needs a twist at the end” trend.
+1 Usual Suspects for sure. That movie blew my mind.
All three great answers. I thoroughly enjoyed them. I’ve been trying to get my wife to watch Se7en or Usual Suspects for years.
Fun fact about Fenster's weird accent: Benicio Del Toro decided that he was playing a "Black Chinese Puerto Rican Jew".
I never watched sixth sense but I've already had it spoiled :(
Not sure if it's what you're looking for, but I'd say the mystery of the dead bear cub in central park 10 years ago. This was minor news back then and basically was forgotten about, until RFK Jr. (former third party presidential candidate) admitted to being the person behind it, confessing it to a confused Roseanne Barr.
I've never heard him speak. What an odd quavering voice he has!
He has a neurological condition, spasmodic dysphonia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spasmodic_dysphonia)
There's no way I'm the first person to think of this, but it's just crossing my mind right now - imagine if his story is complete fiction and some certifiable lunatic somewhere is absolutely raging over stolen valor.
This also just crossed my mind, after reading this and seeing who is claiming the deed.
This is not relevant to the story, but like, what the fuck is happening in this video? It looks like someone tried to artificially create a depth of field by rotoscoping Roseanne and adding a blur to everything behind her or.... something. There's definitely a matte around her that's occasionally flickering and fucking up. It's hard to say what exactly because it's so compressed, but there's also something else about that video as well (besides it's subject matter) that's just really weird.
I had completely forgotten this was even a thing, and even more bizarre timing of the reveal behind the person.
Primer
The mystery is working out what's going on. The answer is a way cooler outcome than what you thought going in.
The only time travel movie i would describe as "realistic". One of my favorite movies overall.
Maybe not the best example, but The Prestige was very fun. I thought the reveal was worth waiting for, it sort of felt like a whodunit.
I can totally see the Prestige counting for this.
If you haven’t seen it or heard anything about it, I think Memento applies.
I loved Memento, very good example.
Id say quite a few Twilight Zone episodes had endings that were better than the mystery. But of course, there were just as many episodes where the opposite was true.
The man from earth (2007). Low budget but a great movie, particularly if you know nothing about it beforehand.
That was a truly special movie. Loved it.
And whatever you do, don't watch the sequel. It's quality is the exact opposite of the first movie.
Yeah, I made that mistake. I just pretend the sequel doesn't exist.
The Sixth Sense. I didn't predict the twist because I didn't know it had a twist, so when it dropped, it absolutely delivered.
Same with Memento, but less so, because I was actively trying to work out what was happening. The twist caught me by surprise, but I knew some sort of reveal was coming
Most Brandon Sanderson books.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell comes to mind. A Jesuit priest is the only survivor of a first-contact flight to an alien world and returns horribly disfigured in mind and body and refuses to talk about what happened. We slowly learn what happened to everyone as the story unfolds. Great SF novel and not religious, although it explores religion.
I always enjoy the payoff of Lucky Number Slevin even after watching it a few times.
I know there are more but I'm struggling to think at the moment, I might have to come back to this..
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul G. Tremblay comes to mind.
I don't know that the payoff is necessarily better than the mystery, but the show Dark is a great mystery story as well.
This is one hard to say. Dark is one of my favorite shows, but I do think the journey is better, the journey is kind of the process for the acceptance of the finale, so it does make sense.
Tana French novels often live up to the hype, at least for me.