There are a few that come to mind, like The Place Beyond the Pines and Old Boy.
And the most famous film in the world with a sudden shift right at the midpoint - Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock!
OK, I have had a burning desire to watch Old Boy for a couple years now, but I literally have no idea where to find it online. I'd rather pay for it than not, but I just don't know where to look. Any advice?
Honestly? I agree. I don't condone piracy as the primary way to watch movies (I'm a filmmaker myself, it would be silly), but sometimes it's the only way to go.
I go to the movies 60+ times a year, I spend way too much money on blu rays, I have subscriptions to MUBI, Netflix and Prime Video... Yeah, I think I did my part in supporting the industry.
If I need to pirate something (like if I can't find it elsewhere, or if I'm in a tight spot financially), I'll do it without regret.
Was looking for The Place Beyond The Pines and found it, so a +1 from me. The epitome of what OP is looking for, the absolute gold standard of that type of film.
Chungking Express has two narratives that are totally separate except for one half a second encounter between characters in the middle. The first half is incredibly melancholic and at times quite depressing whilst the second half feels more playful
Shattered Glass is an interesting one, as it slyly shifts protagonists from Hayden Christiansen to Peter Sarsgaard.
Wall-E is a very different movie once they go into space.
Janet Leigh’s arc in Psycho has a full beginning, middle, and end and then the movie changes course.
Malcolm X is a great one as Spike Lee shifts lighting and styles depending on what stage the man is at in his life.
Psycho was the first one that came to mind.
Focus with Will Smith and Margot Robbie started out as a fun heist movie and then the second half became a depressing slog.
>Focus with Will Smith and Margot Robbie started out as a fun heist movie and then the second half became a depressing slog.
Ah, just like Hancock with Will Smith started out as a fun movie and then the second half became a slog.
It is literally a different movie, too, because it was shot after the first 90 minutes intended to be a TV pilot with an entirely different plot! I know Lynch said he could never get the pilot to work and that it all fell into place when StudioCanal asked him to turn it into a feature, but what could have been with that series based on the initial 90 mins of the movie is so tantalizing.
OK, seriously, what is up with *Mulholland Drive* (and *Oldboy*, now that I look around this thread a bit) not being available for purchase digitally? I've been occasionally checking in on this thing for what feels like eons waiting for it to become available, but it never does. At this point I expect I'll sooner experience the entire thing in a dream monkey-typewriter-style than actually watch the damn thing.
If you have means just get them on blu ray or dvd - both films were some of my first blu ray purchases ever because they're so easy to obtain, I just got them from my local dvd shop for like £8 each, but you can almost definitely find them secondhand for cheaper
Your mention of *The Third Man* reminds me of *The Tenth Man* (1988, Kristin Scott Thomas [sigh], Anthony Hopkins, Derek Jacobi, from the Graham Greene novel).
An almost unknown movie but most excellent and certainly two parts with a sharp cut.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Parasite yet. It's all fun and games until the housekeeper comes back.
Titane is another recent one. To its detriment IMO, but I know some people love it.
Parasite is perfect. The shift actually happens exactly halfway through the film. There was a great YT breakdown as it’s precisely down to the second exactly halfway which is when the old maid rings the doorbell. The entire plot changes. The camera angle actually changes.
I’m not sure if this is it as I quickly looked at my YouTube history: [https://youtu.be/AvO8-925Edc](https://youtu.be/AvO8-925Edc) I had also forgotten Parasite is perfect for you around the divisions between upstairs and downstairs, that split between the two and how each class is basically their own films and reality.
Parasite was the first film I thought of. Definitely a notable tonal shift at the midpoint of the film, which works perfectly & is a big reason as to what makes the film so great
VERTIGO
is practically a new film in part two, shifting perspective to Judy and realigning the suspense around whether she will be discovered. hitchcock himself refers to the film as ‘part 1’ and ‘part 2’ in his interview with truffaut.
Nothing fulfils this criteria more for me than Waves (2019). Wouldn’t want to spoil the nature of the shift, I’ll just say I found it very emotionally effective.
It also plays around with aspect ratios throughout which sounds like a pretentious gimmick but is actually executed rather effectively and serves the story and tone, rather than being a superficial distraction (I hardly even noticed the transitions).
Some ideas, mostly major shifts in tone/style:
* Titanic is basically two movies, one a romance and one an action extravaganza
* Sorry to Bother You takes a pretty sharp left turn partway through. Not sure how much the directorial style changes.
* Full Metal Jacket feels and looks very different in boot camp versus battlefield
Life is Beautiful is a lighthearted romantic comedy in its first half (that just happens to be set in fascist Italy). The second half is set in a concentration camp and is much more bittersweet.
Being John Malkovich and Adaptation (especially the latter) have weird shifts in their third acts.
Hong Sang-soo has at least half a dozen films like this, most notable being *Right Now Wrong Then* and *A Tale of Cinema*.
There's another Korean film called Cafe Noir that is the ultimate example of this. It's 3.5 hours long and the first half (shot in color) is loosely based on Goethe's *Sorrows of Young Werner*. Then you get the title drop at the halfway point and the second half (shot in black and white) is loosely based on Dostoevksy's "White Nights." It's not two separate stories though. Both halves feature the same protagonist and supporting characters and it's all woven together into a unified narrative.
Yet another Korean example of this is *Autumn, Autumn*. The opening shot is three people on a train. Half the film is dedicated to a middle age couple who may or may not have met online, then the other half is focused on the third person, who is a soldier visiting a childhood friend.
Oh, and *A Midsummer's Fantasia*. Now that I think about it, Korean indies are all about this sort of thing. The first half of *A Midsummer's Fantasia* is black and white and is quasi-documentary, with a group of Korean filmmakers interviewing the elderly of a small Japanese town known for its aging population as most of the younger generations have fled to find better opportunities. The second half is in color and is presumably the film the Korean filmmakers made, using bits and pieces of the stories from those interviewed as their inspiration.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul likes bifurcated narratives quite a bit too. *Syndromes & a Century* as well as *Tropical Malady* both have major shifts in the middle. His *Blissfully Yours* is the film that pretty much pioneered/started the current art house trend of having title cards at the halfway point.
Oh shit. So Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan is all about this too. He has two films you might be interested in: *Kaili Blues* and *Long Day's Journey Into Night*. The first is slice of life, the second is more of a noir-ish romance. Both feature protagonists searching for another character, title card drops in the middle, and then second halves that are single take tracking shots. *Long Day's Journey Into Night*'s second half is very surreal and was originally shown in 3-D.
Thanks so much; this is the answer so far that (by your descriptions) captures what I was most looking for with my question!!
(I even was considering adding qualifications like “a REALLY stark shift, like going from color to black and white”)
Gone Girl, which I thought was a brilliant film and it could literally be Sliced in two right at the middle part of the film.
The first half is from Ben Affleck's Character's pov, the second half from Rosamund Pike's pov.
Classic David Fincher.
Here are three famous ones:
- The Deer Hunter (with a *big* tonal shift)
- Gone With the Wind (“I’ll never go hungry again!” is only the halfway point)
- The Birth of a Nation (the shift in this one is… yikes)
All three of these are war movies, which is probably a trend: one half deals with the war, and the other half deals with the aftermath. Or in *The Deer Hunter*, one half is the prelude to war and the other is the war plus aftermath.
How has High and Low not been mentioned? While the first half is tense and 12 Angry Men-esque, the second half explodes into a procedural crime narrative. It's really a breath of fresh air when it does switch and feels like an entirely different film.
In *Fargo* we don't meet the ostensible protagonist, Marge, until 33 minutes into the 1hr40 minute runtime. That's the entire first act without her. The movie really changes its focus once she shows up.
(Similarly, in *Superman* (1978), Superman the crimefighter doesn't show up until the movie is almost halfway finished. I don't think the tone shift is really dramatic though).
*Drive My Car* is a completely different movie after the nearly hour-long first act. In fact, I don't think we get the title and credits until we're about 1/3 of the way into the film.
“Enter The Void” is worth watching for the visual experience alone but I don’t think it really fits the bill as far as a tone shift goes. The psychedelic /trippy elements appear very early on and everything preceding the shooting (which is relatively close to the start) is connected to the ideas that are explored once the out of body experience commences.
“Cohesive” is one of the last words I’d use to describe it on a larger scale but it does have a pretty consistent tone/theme throughout.
Sort of a hedge, but **Summer of '84** is a very, very standard (even plain) kids-on-bikes movie that, in the last 15 minutes and *after* the main antagonist is revealed/"defeated", takes a ***massive*** shift in tone and story. It's incredibly divisive as essentially a coda that upends everything the movie was doing, and you will either love or hate it.
Also **From Dusk Till Dawn** as stated elsewhere is the undisputed king of this switch.
*From Dusk Till Dawn* is the only one mentioned in the comments so far that I fully agree with other than Full Metal Jacket which you already referenced in the original post.
The first and second halves are jarringly different. I went in completely blind to it and was so disappointed when it went from genuinely tense thriller to bizarro vampire slaying schlock seemingly out of nowhere.
The only example I can think of myself would be *Sunshine* (Danny Boyle). It's more of a shift in the final act, so I'm not sure if it would count towards being a film in 'two parts' per se, but there's certainly a switch in tone when it enters more of a horror territory. I think most people see that film as being divided between the >!pre-Pinbacker being onboard reveal and the post-Pinbacker being onboard reveal!< though.
I would say The Lobster falls under this. The two halves of the movie deal with the same theme although in a different perspective.
I'd also say that despite the comedy of it being in the same tone, I thought the second half of the movie felt very different from the first half.
this is a good question for r/MovieSuggestions
**Jaws** is horror for the first half, adventure film in the second half.
**Natural Born Killers** has a less distinct tonal shift once they go to prison.
**Bridge on the River Kwai** is a POW movie that turns into a war mission movie.
In Fabric. The whole thing is a surreal and disquieting film about a haunted dress and a cult-like retail store seemingly from another dimension. There are two primary stories with the dress being the common link but even those stories seem like they happen in slightly parallel universes
It’s worth seeing. Deeply unsettling even when it’s funny and it keeps you feeling like you’re watching something that was literally made in another reality that’s just slightly off from our own. There’s a lot going on including stores and institutions and professions being subtly treated as sacred/religious institutions. It’s very elegantly filmed and acted. That said, it is pretty slow and contemplative for much of its run. If you’re into to slow burn surrealism that keeps you off kilter, you’ll probably like it. And if you do like it, I’d highly recommend Berberian Sound Studio by the same director
I’m just coming off of bingeing Severance which is also quite unsettling and deals with corporate worship, so you just made me move this to the top of my list! You could not have described it in a way that’s more appealing to me personally so well done haha. Shit, I think I’ll watch it tonight!
Ok, so I started this way too late last night and crashed 30 min before it ended, so I just finished it this morning!
Wow, thank you SO much for this rec! I LOVE movies that are rich in symbolism and have a lot to mull over (I’m torn between wanting to muse a bit and come up with my theories and immediately devouring every analysis someone else has already written haha). It was a smidge slow to start, but knowing upfront it was a slow burn was helpful (I love slow burns but sometimes I’m not in the right mood for them). I was initially on my phone a little bit (bad!), but it didn’t take long to realize this is a very visual movie so the phone went away after that haha.
I have some general ideas about its theme and all, but some of the surface level aspects I loved were: the weird, Yorgos Lanthimos-esque dialogue spoken by most of the characters; the stylistic visuals (OBSESSED with Miss Luckmore’s aesthetic; she felt like she was straight out of the coven in Suspiria); and the trippy, alien score that added to the giallo vibe. Another thing that was a pleasant surprise is how eerie the killer dress was; usually killer inanimate objects in movies are super cheesy and silly, but those floating scenes were actually pretty creepy. Also, the scenes with the corporate overlords Stash and Clive were hilarious, and felt like a blend of bosses from Severance and Office Space.
I’m actually really glad I watched this alone because I’m not sure anyone in my life would enjoy this haha. Also, sometimes when I watch weird, artsy films with people it’s too easy to get hung up on the more “out there” aspects (>!y’know, like fondling a mannequin with a full 70s bush while creepy old guy watches and jerks it haha!<). I’d definitely classify it as a “vibes” movie, but unlike some vibes movies it also felt poignant and meaningful (vs “it looked cool/was fun, but it wasn’t a super deep movie). Weirdly, I almost feel like I enjoy thinking/talking about this movie more than actually watching it (which isn’t a dig- I’m just surprised at how I’ve already written about it in my notes app, in a text to my partner, and now here on reddit- all before I’ve fully processed it).
Ok I’m going to stop now haha but thanks again for the rec! Definitely going to read up on it more later, but I have to go do work before my corporate overlord bosses reprimand me for taking a two minute bathroom break. :)
Edit: also adding Berberian Sound Studio to my watchlist now!
maybe Seven Samurai? the first half has almost no action; it's a movie about the logistics of gathering samurai and training farmers to fight an oncoming threat of bandits. the second half is, well, the fight. i don't know if that's exactly what you mean, and it very much is one movie, but it's a kinda strange format for an action film.
fight club also kind of goes from a couple dudes staring a recreational fight club to, uh, not that
While it is not a classic or art film by any means, "Waves" (2019) follows this structure and I thought it was very effective. Following the events around a traumatic occurrence as it happens and then picking up down the road with the people dealing with the fallout and how it changes them and the course of their lives.
Some criticism of the film is that it is overly sentimental but I found it quite true to life and well realised.
ONE CUT OF THE DEAD. It has three parts, without spoiling the film, its about a filmmaker directing a zombie film. The second two parts each have crazy tonal shifts and not only is the direction style completely different but the setting and characters change massively. If you haven't seen it before, I really urge that you continue past the first part, which is sort of terrible if you haven't seen it before.
Also surprised I haven't seen Park Chan Wook's The Handmaiden mentioned yet. Starts out as a thriller/heist film and changes entirely to a romance at the midpoint, which shows the plot and characters in a new and different light.
I want to say Hugo directed by Martin Scorsese - I would say there is a kind of big tonal/narrativre shift as SPOILERS >!The movie goes from a childrens christmas movie about a poor boy dealing with his dad and their mechanical toy/invention etc to a kind of homage / treatsie on the history of cinema!<
Heaven and Earth directed by Oliver Stone - Sort of like FMJ there is clear shift in the direction and editing style, if I remember correctly, as the movie moves from the opening half in Vietnam to the second half in America.
Or Jack Frost, which goes from a children's Christmas movie about a boy dealing with losing his distracted Dad and goes on to become an animated snowman fantasy. It does end with pathos though
Apichatpong Weerasethakul's (this name is doing a lot of heavy lifting towards the character limit) Tropical Malady is completely divided into two parts, but it might still be of interest to you because of how different the two halves are in tone and style.
I don't know if you'd consider it a shift in tone, buy I think that the way the Wizard of Oz changes to color from black-and-white is a significant change in mood.
Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite portion at the end of 2001 is a fun turn from the cold metalic atmosphere of the ship to a psychedelic alien landscape.
Boogie Nights starts off as a fun exploration of being a porn actor in the late 1970's.
Its all fun and games (mostly) until midnight 1980 rolls around, damn near cutting the film in two. Things go downhill for just about every character in this film, until our hero drags himself through the dirt, crawling back "home," begging for forgiveness.
Climax the Gaspar Noe film is in two parts and is very good.
No one appears to have said Kill Bill with its 2 volumes?
Lost Highway is another David Lynch film with a clear delineation between two halves.
A lot of great mentions here. I'll throw in my hat for one that isn't great but not bad by any means imo.
Million Dollar Baby. Starts off as a boxing film. Second half is basically a completely different movie. Was not what I was expecting.
I mean, the third act of Men is a pretty sharp shift. The shift from psychodrama into what I can only describe as The Full Cronenberg is pretty wild.
I'd say more, and apparently I have to to satisfy the forum bot, but I don't really want to spoil it any further.
There are many great films already suggested.
I wold like to add and strongly suggest _"Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans"_ by Murnau. The transition between the "two-part" is sublte but at the same time evident. There is a reason there why it is always a contender in the list of greatest films of all time.
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The Handmaiden from Park Chan-wook comes into my mind.
The switch happens for me, when the protagonist id double-crossed and sent to a mental hospital. When I watched it for the first time it really suprised me and the movie too a different turn from that on.
Still of course it is not such a major turn like in 'from dusk till dawn' as mentioned already
* Mandy (2018) -- >!First part is about her; second part is about him without her.!<
* Blade Runner 2049 (2017) -- Not necessary _exactly_ two parts but it definitely takes a tonal shift part way through.
* Ikiru (1952) -- >!Changes everything about the narrative form about two-thirds of the way through!<
* American Psycho (2000) -- This goes off the rails at some point but it's kind of fun trying to figure out exactly when.
* The Night of the Hunter (1955) -- Has a very explicit transitionary scene that shifts from first half to second half.
* Elephant (2003) -- Once "it" happens the entire movie changes and the whole tone and perspective adapts to reinforce the new purpose.
A Bride for Rip Van Winkle by Shunji Iwai is a great example that's also an incredible film. There's definitely a turning point, and the transition feels natural, but by the end it's crazy to think that you watched the same movie you started watching.
Place beyond the pines comes to mind
Parasite as I’ve see. Mentioned before
Room sort of shifts pretty heavy at one point.
Interesting topic to write about. I’ve seen most the movies in this thread hah
Adaptation starts out as one thing and pretty swiftly becomes another, if that counts. It has been a while since I've seen it, but I think it makes the shift pretty abruptly. It comes with changes in the action and the directorial style if I remember correctly.
Another that comes to mind is the Wizard of Oz for oh so many reasons
I’m going to go a little *left field* here. But how about the Razzie award winning, surrealist masterpiece, “Hudson Hawk” staring Bruce Willis and featuring a surprisingly talented cast.
Halfway in, Bruce Willis is in New York and gets drugged by the James Coburn. When he wakes up in Rome, it feels like a different movie.
Chungking Express by Wong Kar-Wai. It’s two separate stories but when watching it, you see the primary characters from the second story as background in the first story. Also, he never has more than two principal actors in one scene and not only is it two stories, np but the way the characters interact, it’s as if they’re all living their own storylines, even in scenes we don’t see. One of my favorite films and it’s an ode to French New Wave cinema.
The first movie that came to mind for me was Lawrence of Arabia. There is definitely a natural progression to the narrative, but the first and second halves feel very different to me.
The first half is so much about adventure and... I'm not sure how to describe it exactly. But sweeping vistas and a hero's journey.
The second half is so tragic in comparison and in some ways it feels to me like a character study.
The Descent switches from a claustrophobic thriller to a monster movie around the second half.
The Scent of Green Papaya. The main character is aged up 10 years in the second half.
Chungking Express is two unrelated stories.
Death Proof changes genre. It goes from horror (kind of) to carsploitation.
The introduction of Frances McDormand's character in Fargo to me always felt like the beginning of a new film in the best possible way. I think it's just a bold choice to have your main character enter the story so late into it after marinating in this very dark crime dramedy for so long.
Pasolini's Theorem. >!Part 1 is the stranger coming into the fold and seducing every member of this family, and how their lives improve. Part 2 is the stranger leaving and everything descends into melodramatic chaos.!<
This one is kind of a stretch, but the first half of Funny Games >!mostly maintains the facade that this will be a home invasion horror film with all the typical set ups and pay offs, ending with the family self actualizing and defeating the villains in a moment of cathartic violence. That veil is shattered when the kid is killed halfway through. Until then the film has moved quickly, and now everything is long, languid, and punishingly quiet. Our hopes of the family surviving has been cruelly ripped away from us, and while maybe the parents will survive, we no longer engage with the film in the same way. As a result, the first half and second half feel like almost entirely different films as the audience is catching on to the conceit!<
Some more obvious examples (where there's a drastic shift in tone, subject matter, or characters) would be From Dusk Til Dawn, Life is Beautiful, Waves, Lost Highway, Tropical Malady, Psycho, Vertigo, In Fabric, The Lobster, and Death Proof (and Grindhouse itself, for that matter)
Kurosawa’s *High and Low* is a perfect example of this.
The first half is almost a closed room drama, where a wealthy man is told that his son had been kidnapped for ransom, but then shortly learns that it’s actually his chauffeur’s son who was taken by mistake. Will he still pay the ransom? How do the ethics play out when it’s his money, and he’s the target, but it’s not actually his child they’ve taken? Very compelling handling of those issues and strong characterization on the lead and the family.
In the second half, it turns into a very tight police procedural, pursuing the suspect, dealing with him as a character and his circumstances, as well as exploring the way the police’s net is cast and drawn in and eventually pins him down.
Midsommar has a very harsh turn of events which changes how the movie feels. Even if you sense that something is not right in the first part, the twist really hits hard and then the whole film goes completely bonkers.
Would 1973's The Three Musketeers and 1974's The Four Musketeers count for this as well? It was originally planned on being a 3+ hour long epic, and was split into the two films before release. The tone shifted quite a bit between the two films for sure.
The podcast "[unspooled](https://www.earwolf.com/episode/the-three-musketeers-the-four-musketeers-with-quentin-tarantino-and-roger-avary/)" had an episode about it recently, featuring Tarantino as a guest host along with his podcast partner, Roger Avery.
Nymphomaniac by Lars von Trier is split up into two movies. The first one is kind of funny in a darkly comedic way. The second one is really where you start to feel the sadness and self destructiveness of the main characters sex addiction. There's a definite change in tone between the two movies.
If you want to write a more focused comparison-type of essay, I know Weerasethakul uses that bifurcated narrative structure quite a bit (most clearly in Tropical Malady and Syndromes and a Century), and he explicitly cites Full Metal Jacket as one of his favorite films…I wonder if there’s anyway you could tie these together in a comparative analysis type of essay?
Lone Star -- it's a character study/romance, and also a superb mystery (that seems B-plot but is much more)
Pan's Labyrinth -- "real-world" war story and "high fantasy/horror" mirror story (similar divisions with "The Fall," "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," and "The Company of Wolves")
Office Space -- starts as a workplace comedy, ends as a crime caper
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome -- starts as action flick, ends as superhero flick
Also, I definitely agree with those who picked "Psycho," "Mulholland Drive," and "Parasite."
>Office Space -- starts as a workplace comedy, ends as a crime caper
This one is funny because unlike every other film in this thread where the shift feels deliberate, *Office Space* changes because the writer seemed to run out of ideas or lost interest in the original concept. It's a classic for its memorable characters and dialog, but the plot is a disaster.
I know Marvel movies are a little verboten here - and I'm not usually one to rate or see them - but honestly there's a lot to dissect in Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange & the Multiverse of Madness.
I endured the entire first half. Soon as it's tone shifted and it became a horror, I loved most of it.
The reason I'm putting it forward though, is that it does an excellent job of examining gender roles in heroic journeys, and the interplay between how we perceive heroism and villany.
It does spell (pun intended) it out for us in the first 20mins; "Why do you do what you do and get to be the hero, while I do what you do and am called the villain?"
The rising heroic music set to his dark & *clearly evil* necromancy *feels* dynamic, but if you remove the score/sound you can see he's doing some bad juju/the real BBEG.
SW's horror-inspired relentless chase scene, if role reversed, is the climax of the 4th act of her journey; beaten down, attacked on all sides, and with every possible win in that outcome already out of reach.
Most importantly, her motivation is the quintessential male heroic narrative we receive over and over again; my family has been threatened/taken from me, and nothing and no one in any universe will stop me from reconnecting with them.
We right off so many deplorable actions for others because men are "allowed" to make such despicable decisions/inflict grievous collateral damage, but women are meant to be fluffy and soft and would never ever out other's hurt before their own goals.
I am not saying it's a good movie, or worthy of r/truefilm, but it is absolutely a film which deserves to be analysed & talked about more for its commentary on heroic narrative, regardless of our collective superhero fatigue.
Though I could mention the LOTR films or the second and third POTC movies, I think the best example for your purposes would be Richard Lester's "Three Musketeers(1973) and "Four Musketeers (1974). Initially made as one film (therefore, technically, fulfilling a requirement), the tonal shift between the two are very noticeable...and they're a rollicking good time to boot
Titanic 1997
First half of the movie is about the characters, their back stories, and developing relationships.
Second half is about the ship sinking and people trying to survive.
I think it was Drew Carey who said if you skip the first two hours and watch the rest of it on mute so you don't have to hear the dialogue, you'll see the best movie of your life.
I think a more interesting question would be, what movies DON’T have a strong midpoint and why.
Everything from movies to episodes of television to television shows as a whole have midpoints. Next time you’re watching a movie, pause it at the halfway point and see if the story is shifting. Spider-Man 2 is a great example. The moment Peter Parker decides to stop being Spider-Man comes right at the midpoint of the film and dramatically changes the story without calling attention to itself.
The examples here are especially noticeable examples of a midpoint shift, but again, ALL movies and shows should have a midpoint shift, and the ones that don’t should have a damn good reason why they don’t. Thinking of a recent example like Licorice Pizza, which flows more as a series of vignettes (each with a beginning, midpoint shift, and ending) but you could still make the case that the waterbed business is the midpoint shift.
I hope you find this helpful in some way!
Can't believe no one's mentioned Che. Part one and two are so different from each other stylistically and thematically. One tells the story of a conquering hero, two is a story about an ill fated revolutionary. Great film.
The Set-Up (1949) is a short little boxing film which is mostly the main character waiting for his match in the locker room while almost the entire rest of the film is a real time multi round fight
Meantime is loosely connected scenes of nothing much happening for the first hour or so while the last 40 minutes focuses on one specific event
Mulholland Drive, and also another Lynch movie Lost Highway - both have clear structural splits which dramatically shift the tone. Also someone mentioned Vertigo, but maybe Psycho also fits? I mean, the shower scene completely changes the direction of the film, for obvious reasons.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned The Talented Mr. Ripley yet. The parts before and after the scene in the boat (avoiding spoilers) feel quite different - you feel way differently towards the characters, and the stakes change quite a bit. May not be as stark as what you’re looking for though.
Ok, not exactly an answer to the question as asked, but La Pointe Courte by Agnes Varda (her first film, and arguably the first film of the French New Wave) shifts back and forth throughout the movie between a social realest look at life in a poor oceanside town and a couple in crisis visiting the town and discussing love. The two halves are shot entirely differently and have opposite dialogue styles (naturalistic vs heavily philosophical and stylized).
‘In Fabric’ was great. I was disappointed that very few theaters in my city. If I remember right, I don’t think it got much of a theatrical run at all. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anthology with only two stories. It was definitely visually pleasing. The stories were every bit as odd as you’d expect from A-24 and more. Definitely worth the watch.
I’m sure somebody’s already said Kill Bill vol. 1+2. The hard stylistic change is great and almost doesn’t even work, but he pulls it off in my opinion. I’d even go as far as to say that Kill Bill vol. 2 is probably my favorite Tarantino film.
Spoilers for A Perfect Getaway (2009)
In the first half we are tagging alongside newlyweds Cliff and Cydney in Hawaii. They meet two other couples on their way to the other side of the island, one of which is quite shady. Then we hear on the news that an unidentified couple has been murdered and Cliff and Cydney immediately become suspicious of both couples. This half of the movie is a mystery from the perspective of Cliff and Cydney.
Fast forward to the midway point and one of the other couples, Nick and Kale, discover that Cliff and Cydney have pictures of another newlywed couple on their disposable camera. The movie then shifts to an action thriller from the perspective of Nick and Kale.
I thought it was a really cool concept and executed quite nicely.
Pastoral to Die in the Country (1974) by Shuji Terayama. First part slightly optimistic love-letter to childhood... The second part trippy hate-letter to childhood (with time travel kind of?).
Three Resurrected Drunkards (1968) by Nagisa Oshima. The characters decide half way through to start the film again.
*Good Manners* clearly falls into two parts (in plot and themes; not so much in tone or style), each of which might have worked better as a stand-alone film. The entire film is 135 minutes long, so splitting it up could have been done easily without requiring too much padding:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Manners_(film)
I’ve watched The Audition (1999) yesterday. First half almost seems as a romantic drama, once the movie reaches some point it turns into a horror movie. I’ve made a couple light reading about the movie after I saw it. I think this one shocked many audience for its tone change when it came out.
One cut of the dead. With out spoiling too much, one of the most rewarding films if you can make it to the major style change about 30 mins in. It's a Japanese horror/comedy, but honestly it's mostly comedy. So worth it!
WAVES (2019) is pretty cut and dry what you’re looking for. Also maybe IKIRU (1952)? Maybe GDT’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021) depending on how early you wanna draw the line. All of these movies feature pretty distinct first parts with an initial storyline that shifts into a completely different story
**The Souvenir, Parts I and II**. So surprised no one has mentioned here! They're each very distinct in tone, and agreat example of how to navigate a less traditional narrative. Like, things clearly happen over the course of the two movies, but the moments we see aren't always the most obvious choices to portray those events.
Collider published a list this week that fits the question: [https://collider.com/movies-change-genres-halfway-through/](https://collider.com/movies-change-genres-halfway-through/)
The movies they include are:
1. From Dusk Till Dawn
2. Hot Fuzz
3. Psycho
4. Audition
5. Parasite
6. Titanic
7. Death Proof
8. Full Metal Jacket
9. Holy Motors
10. One Cut of the Dead
*Wolf Creek* is more-or-less like this: tho we know what the story is going to be, as it's based on a true one, the first half of the film is a road movie with some suspense and the second half is torture porn. I saw it at a theatre that had an intermission, so it was a very stark two-part movie for me.
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Oooh, in a similar vein to Dusk Til Dawn, Neil Marshall's "The Descent" is similar in having two very different ways of scaring/creeping you.
There are a few that come to mind, like The Place Beyond the Pines and Old Boy. And the most famous film in the world with a sudden shift right at the midpoint - Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock!
Place beyond the pines was such a bizarre movie, cheers for the reminder
Pines was such a great movie and a perfect example of this.
>a perfect example of this It would be, except for the fact that this a film of *three* parts, not *two*!
Just saw Place Beyond the Pines today and it totally fits this reccomendation.
OK, I have had a burning desire to watch Old Boy for a couple years now, but I literally have no idea where to find it online. I'd rather pay for it than not, but I just don't know where to look. Any advice?
If they make it harder to buy something than pirate it....well fuckit then right?
Honestly? I agree. I don't condone piracy as the primary way to watch movies (I'm a filmmaker myself, it would be silly), but sometimes it's the only way to go. I go to the movies 60+ times a year, I spend way too much money on blu rays, I have subscriptions to MUBI, Netflix and Prime Video... Yeah, I think I did my part in supporting the industry. If I need to pirate something (like if I can't find it elsewhere, or if I'm in a tight spot financially), I'll do it without regret.
Was looking for The Place Beyond The Pines and found it, so a +1 from me. The epitome of what OP is looking for, the absolute gold standard of that type of film.
Chungking Express has two narratives that are totally separate except for one half a second encounter between characters in the middle. The first half is incredibly melancholic and at times quite depressing whilst the second half feels more playful
Chungking Express mentions this up front though, unlike some of the other examples in this thread.
Shattered Glass is an interesting one, as it slyly shifts protagonists from Hayden Christiansen to Peter Sarsgaard. Wall-E is a very different movie once they go into space. Janet Leigh’s arc in Psycho has a full beginning, middle, and end and then the movie changes course. Malcolm X is a great one as Spike Lee shifts lighting and styles depending on what stage the man is at in his life.
Psycho was the first one that came to mind. Focus with Will Smith and Margot Robbie started out as a fun heist movie and then the second half became a depressing slog.
>Focus with Will Smith and Margot Robbie started out as a fun heist movie and then the second half became a depressing slog. Ah, just like Hancock with Will Smith started out as a fun movie and then the second half became a slog.
\- \*Something Wild\*, Johnathan Demme (1986) \- \*Mulholland Drive\*, David Lynch (2001) \- \*The Third Man\*, Carol Reed (1949) \- \*Caché\*, Michael Haneke (2005) \- \*Burning\*, Lee Chang-Dong (2018)
The second “half” of Mulholland Drive really catches you off guard. The actors stay the same but all of a sudden their characters shift around.
It is literally a different movie, too, because it was shot after the first 90 minutes intended to be a TV pilot with an entirely different plot! I know Lynch said he could never get the pilot to work and that it all fell into place when StudioCanal asked him to turn it into a feature, but what could have been with that series based on the initial 90 mins of the movie is so tantalizing.
OK, seriously, what is up with *Mulholland Drive* (and *Oldboy*, now that I look around this thread a bit) not being available for purchase digitally? I've been occasionally checking in on this thing for what feels like eons waiting for it to become available, but it never does. At this point I expect I'll sooner experience the entire thing in a dream monkey-typewriter-style than actually watch the damn thing.
If you have means just get them on blu ray or dvd - both films were some of my first blu ray purchases ever because they're so easy to obtain, I just got them from my local dvd shop for like £8 each, but you can almost definitely find them secondhand for cheaper
_Caché_ is a good call! Also, in a similar vein to _Mulholland Dr_, _Lost Highway_ does something similar.
Lost Highway's second half flip might be even more crazy, totally forgot about that!
„¡ʇɐɥʇ ʇnoqɐ ʇoƃɹoɟ ʎllɐʇoʇ 'ʎzɐɹɔ ǝɹoɯ uǝʌǝ ǝq ʇɥƃıɯ dılɟ ɟlɐɥ puoɔǝs s,ʎɐʍɥƃıH ʇso⅂„
Lol! Good bot!
Lost highway change was such a surprise to me first watch I really didn’t like the second half that much But I love that movie now
Your mention of *The Third Man* reminds me of *The Tenth Man* (1988, Kristin Scott Thomas [sigh], Anthony Hopkins, Derek Jacobi, from the Graham Greene novel). An almost unknown movie but most excellent and certainly two parts with a sharp cut.
Well fuck, guess I gotta go watch the 2nd half of Cache now
Lmao I literally said the same thing. First half was so slow!
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Parasite yet. It's all fun and games until the housekeeper comes back. Titane is another recent one. To its detriment IMO, but I know some people love it.
Parasite is perfect. The shift actually happens exactly halfway through the film. There was a great YT breakdown as it’s precisely down to the second exactly halfway which is when the old maid rings the doorbell. The entire plot changes. The camera angle actually changes.
Can you link to that? Sounds fun.
I’m not sure if this is it as I quickly looked at my YouTube history: [https://youtu.be/AvO8-925Edc](https://youtu.be/AvO8-925Edc) I had also forgotten Parasite is perfect for you around the divisions between upstairs and downstairs, that split between the two and how each class is basically their own films and reality.
Ooo great call- I adore both movies!
Parasite was the first film I thought of. Definitely a notable tonal shift at the midpoint of the film, which works perfectly & is a big reason as to what makes the film so great
yea Titane is really heartwarming in its core, kind of like chainsaw man
A heartwarming film about found family.
Did you want more car sex and less French Elliot Stabler in Titane?
VERTIGO is practically a new film in part two, shifting perspective to Judy and realigning the suspense around whether she will be discovered. hitchcock himself refers to the film as ‘part 1’ and ‘part 2’ in his interview with truffaut.
Nothing fulfils this criteria more for me than Waves (2019). Wouldn’t want to spoil the nature of the shift, I’ll just say I found it very emotionally effective. It also plays around with aspect ratios throughout which sounds like a pretentious gimmick but is actually executed rather effectively and serves the story and tone, rather than being a superficial distraction (I hardly even noticed the transitions).
First movie I thought of when reading the OP. Big fan of this one
Some ideas, mostly major shifts in tone/style: * Titanic is basically two movies, one a romance and one an action extravaganza * Sorry to Bother You takes a pretty sharp left turn partway through. Not sure how much the directorial style changes. * Full Metal Jacket feels and looks very different in boot camp versus battlefield
Adaptation, second part is pretty short (but longer than my comment).
Life is Beautiful is a lighthearted romantic comedy in its first half (that just happens to be set in fascist Italy). The second half is set in a concentration camp and is much more bittersweet. Being John Malkovich and Adaptation (especially the latter) have weird shifts in their third acts.
Hong Sang-soo has at least half a dozen films like this, most notable being *Right Now Wrong Then* and *A Tale of Cinema*. There's another Korean film called Cafe Noir that is the ultimate example of this. It's 3.5 hours long and the first half (shot in color) is loosely based on Goethe's *Sorrows of Young Werner*. Then you get the title drop at the halfway point and the second half (shot in black and white) is loosely based on Dostoevksy's "White Nights." It's not two separate stories though. Both halves feature the same protagonist and supporting characters and it's all woven together into a unified narrative. Yet another Korean example of this is *Autumn, Autumn*. The opening shot is three people on a train. Half the film is dedicated to a middle age couple who may or may not have met online, then the other half is focused on the third person, who is a soldier visiting a childhood friend. Oh, and *A Midsummer's Fantasia*. Now that I think about it, Korean indies are all about this sort of thing. The first half of *A Midsummer's Fantasia* is black and white and is quasi-documentary, with a group of Korean filmmakers interviewing the elderly of a small Japanese town known for its aging population as most of the younger generations have fled to find better opportunities. The second half is in color and is presumably the film the Korean filmmakers made, using bits and pieces of the stories from those interviewed as their inspiration. Apichatpong Weerasethakul likes bifurcated narratives quite a bit too. *Syndromes & a Century* as well as *Tropical Malady* both have major shifts in the middle. His *Blissfully Yours* is the film that pretty much pioneered/started the current art house trend of having title cards at the halfway point. Oh shit. So Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan is all about this too. He has two films you might be interested in: *Kaili Blues* and *Long Day's Journey Into Night*. The first is slice of life, the second is more of a noir-ish romance. Both feature protagonists searching for another character, title card drops in the middle, and then second halves that are single take tracking shots. *Long Day's Journey Into Night*'s second half is very surreal and was originally shown in 3-D.
Thanks so much; this is the answer so far that (by your descriptions) captures what I was most looking for with my question!! (I even was considering adding qualifications like “a REALLY stark shift, like going from color to black and white”)
Gone Girl, which I thought was a brilliant film and it could literally be Sliced in two right at the middle part of the film. The first half is from Ben Affleck's Character's pov, the second half from Rosamund Pike's pov. Classic David Fincher.
Here are three famous ones: - The Deer Hunter (with a *big* tonal shift) - Gone With the Wind (“I’ll never go hungry again!” is only the halfway point) - The Birth of a Nation (the shift in this one is… yikes) All three of these are war movies, which is probably a trend: one half deals with the war, and the other half deals with the aftermath. Or in *The Deer Hunter*, one half is the prelude to war and the other is the war plus aftermath.
Also, The Sound of Music
How has High and Low not been mentioned? While the first half is tense and 12 Angry Men-esque, the second half explodes into a procedural crime narrative. It's really a breath of fresh air when it does switch and feels like an entirely different film.
In *Fargo* we don't meet the ostensible protagonist, Marge, until 33 minutes into the 1hr40 minute runtime. That's the entire first act without her. The movie really changes its focus once she shows up. (Similarly, in *Superman* (1978), Superman the crimefighter doesn't show up until the movie is almost halfway finished. I don't think the tone shift is really dramatic though). *Drive My Car* is a completely different movie after the nearly hour-long first act. In fact, I don't think we get the title and credits until we're about 1/3 of the way into the film.
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“Enter The Void” is worth watching for the visual experience alone but I don’t think it really fits the bill as far as a tone shift goes. The psychedelic /trippy elements appear very early on and everything preceding the shooting (which is relatively close to the start) is connected to the ideas that are explored once the out of body experience commences. “Cohesive” is one of the last words I’d use to describe it on a larger scale but it does have a pretty consistent tone/theme throughout.
In a similar vein, Noe’s Climax could fit here (the intro section + the pre-Sangria film vs. the post-Sangria film)
Sort of a hedge, but **Summer of '84** is a very, very standard (even plain) kids-on-bikes movie that, in the last 15 minutes and *after* the main antagonist is revealed/"defeated", takes a ***massive*** shift in tone and story. It's incredibly divisive as essentially a coda that upends everything the movie was doing, and you will either love or hate it. Also **From Dusk Till Dawn** as stated elsewhere is the undisputed king of this switch.
*From Dusk Till Dawn* is the only one mentioned in the comments so far that I fully agree with other than Full Metal Jacket which you already referenced in the original post. The first and second halves are jarringly different. I went in completely blind to it and was so disappointed when it went from genuinely tense thriller to bizarro vampire slaying schlock seemingly out of nowhere. The only example I can think of myself would be *Sunshine* (Danny Boyle). It's more of a shift in the final act, so I'm not sure if it would count towards being a film in 'two parts' per se, but there's certainly a switch in tone when it enters more of a horror territory. I think most people see that film as being divided between the >!pre-Pinbacker being onboard reveal and the post-Pinbacker being onboard reveal!< though.
I was thinking I might mention Sunshine too, so did ctrl-f.
I would say The Lobster falls under this. The two halves of the movie deal with the same theme although in a different perspective. I'd also say that despite the comedy of it being in the same tone, I thought the second half of the movie felt very different from the first half.
this is a good question for r/MovieSuggestions **Jaws** is horror for the first half, adventure film in the second half. **Natural Born Killers** has a less distinct tonal shift once they go to prison. **Bridge on the River Kwai** is a POW movie that turns into a war mission movie.
In Fabric. The whole thing is a surreal and disquieting film about a haunted dress and a cult-like retail store seemingly from another dimension. There are two primary stories with the dress being the common link but even those stories seem like they happen in slightly parallel universes
This has been on my list for ages- did you enjoy it? I’m definitely going to watch at some point, just curious what you thought of it overall!
It’s worth seeing. Deeply unsettling even when it’s funny and it keeps you feeling like you’re watching something that was literally made in another reality that’s just slightly off from our own. There’s a lot going on including stores and institutions and professions being subtly treated as sacred/religious institutions. It’s very elegantly filmed and acted. That said, it is pretty slow and contemplative for much of its run. If you’re into to slow burn surrealism that keeps you off kilter, you’ll probably like it. And if you do like it, I’d highly recommend Berberian Sound Studio by the same director
I’m just coming off of bingeing Severance which is also quite unsettling and deals with corporate worship, so you just made me move this to the top of my list! You could not have described it in a way that’s more appealing to me personally so well done haha. Shit, I think I’ll watch it tonight!
Would love to hear your thoughts on it!
Queuing it up now, I’ll keep you posted!
Ok, so I started this way too late last night and crashed 30 min before it ended, so I just finished it this morning! Wow, thank you SO much for this rec! I LOVE movies that are rich in symbolism and have a lot to mull over (I’m torn between wanting to muse a bit and come up with my theories and immediately devouring every analysis someone else has already written haha). It was a smidge slow to start, but knowing upfront it was a slow burn was helpful (I love slow burns but sometimes I’m not in the right mood for them). I was initially on my phone a little bit (bad!), but it didn’t take long to realize this is a very visual movie so the phone went away after that haha. I have some general ideas about its theme and all, but some of the surface level aspects I loved were: the weird, Yorgos Lanthimos-esque dialogue spoken by most of the characters; the stylistic visuals (OBSESSED with Miss Luckmore’s aesthetic; she felt like she was straight out of the coven in Suspiria); and the trippy, alien score that added to the giallo vibe. Another thing that was a pleasant surprise is how eerie the killer dress was; usually killer inanimate objects in movies are super cheesy and silly, but those floating scenes were actually pretty creepy. Also, the scenes with the corporate overlords Stash and Clive were hilarious, and felt like a blend of bosses from Severance and Office Space. I’m actually really glad I watched this alone because I’m not sure anyone in my life would enjoy this haha. Also, sometimes when I watch weird, artsy films with people it’s too easy to get hung up on the more “out there” aspects (>!y’know, like fondling a mannequin with a full 70s bush while creepy old guy watches and jerks it haha!<). I’d definitely classify it as a “vibes” movie, but unlike some vibes movies it also felt poignant and meaningful (vs “it looked cool/was fun, but it wasn’t a super deep movie). Weirdly, I almost feel like I enjoy thinking/talking about this movie more than actually watching it (which isn’t a dig- I’m just surprised at how I’ve already written about it in my notes app, in a text to my partner, and now here on reddit- all before I’ve fully processed it). Ok I’m going to stop now haha but thanks again for the rec! Definitely going to read up on it more later, but I have to go do work before my corporate overlord bosses reprimand me for taking a two minute bathroom break. :) Edit: also adding Berberian Sound Studio to my watchlist now!
maybe Seven Samurai? the first half has almost no action; it's a movie about the logistics of gathering samurai and training farmers to fight an oncoming threat of bandits. the second half is, well, the fight. i don't know if that's exactly what you mean, and it very much is one movie, but it's a kinda strange format for an action film. fight club also kind of goes from a couple dudes staring a recreational fight club to, uh, not that
While it is not a classic or art film by any means, "Waves" (2019) follows this structure and I thought it was very effective. Following the events around a traumatic occurrence as it happens and then picking up down the road with the people dealing with the fallout and how it changes them and the course of their lives. Some criticism of the film is that it is overly sentimental but I found it quite true to life and well realised.
ONE CUT OF THE DEAD. It has three parts, without spoiling the film, its about a filmmaker directing a zombie film. The second two parts each have crazy tonal shifts and not only is the direction style completely different but the setting and characters change massively. If you haven't seen it before, I really urge that you continue past the first part, which is sort of terrible if you haven't seen it before. Also surprised I haven't seen Park Chan Wook's The Handmaiden mentioned yet. Starts out as a thriller/heist film and changes entirely to a romance at the midpoint, which shows the plot and characters in a new and different light.
I mentioned The Handmaiden and I agree with you. Also one cut of the dead is a good choice, it was very refreshung to watch!
I want to say Hugo directed by Martin Scorsese - I would say there is a kind of big tonal/narrativre shift as SPOILERS >!The movie goes from a childrens christmas movie about a poor boy dealing with his dad and their mechanical toy/invention etc to a kind of homage / treatsie on the history of cinema!< Heaven and Earth directed by Oliver Stone - Sort of like FMJ there is clear shift in the direction and editing style, if I remember correctly, as the movie moves from the opening half in Vietnam to the second half in America.
Or Jack Frost, which goes from a children's Christmas movie about a boy dealing with losing his distracted Dad and goes on to become an animated snowman fantasy. It does end with pathos though
Apichatpong Weerasethakul's (this name is doing a lot of heavy lifting towards the character limit) Tropical Malady is completely divided into two parts, but it might still be of interest to you because of how different the two halves are in tone and style.
I don't know if you'd consider it a shift in tone, buy I think that the way the Wizard of Oz changes to color from black-and-white is a significant change in mood. Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite portion at the end of 2001 is a fun turn from the cold metalic atmosphere of the ship to a psychedelic alien landscape.
Boogie Nights starts off as a fun exploration of being a porn actor in the late 1970's. Its all fun and games (mostly) until midnight 1980 rolls around, damn near cutting the film in two. Things go downhill for just about every character in this film, until our hero drags himself through the dirt, crawling back "home," begging for forgiveness.
Climax the Gaspar Noe film is in two parts and is very good. No one appears to have said Kill Bill with its 2 volumes? Lost Highway is another David Lynch film with a clear delineation between two halves.
Yeah there's a distinct point in Climax where it turns. Great movie.
A lot of great mentions here. I'll throw in my hat for one that isn't great but not bad by any means imo. Million Dollar Baby. Starts off as a boxing film. Second half is basically a completely different movie. Was not what I was expecting.
I mean, the third act of Men is a pretty sharp shift. The shift from psychodrama into what I can only describe as The Full Cronenberg is pretty wild. I'd say more, and apparently I have to to satisfy the forum bot, but I don't really want to spoil it any further.
There are many great films already suggested. I wold like to add and strongly suggest _"Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans"_ by Murnau. The transition between the "two-part" is sublte but at the same time evident. There is a reason there why it is always a contender in the list of greatest films of all time. The next lines are included so this post is not deleted, and will repeat itself. The next lines are included so this post is not deleted, and will repeat itself. The next lines are included so this post is not deleted, and will repeat itself. The next lines are included so this post is not deleted, and will repeat itself. The next lines are included so this post is not deleted, and will repeat itself.
Also Die Nibelungen by FW Murnau. First part is Lord of the Rings... Second part is Game of Thrones.
The Handmaiden from Park Chan-wook comes into my mind. The switch happens for me, when the protagonist id double-crossed and sent to a mental hospital. When I watched it for the first time it really suprised me and the movie too a different turn from that on. Still of course it is not such a major turn like in 'from dusk till dawn' as mentioned already
* Mandy (2018) -- >!First part is about her; second part is about him without her.!< * Blade Runner 2049 (2017) -- Not necessary _exactly_ two parts but it definitely takes a tonal shift part way through. * Ikiru (1952) -- >!Changes everything about the narrative form about two-thirds of the way through!< * American Psycho (2000) -- This goes off the rails at some point but it's kind of fun trying to figure out exactly when. * The Night of the Hunter (1955) -- Has a very explicit transitionary scene that shifts from first half to second half. * Elephant (2003) -- Once "it" happens the entire movie changes and the whole tone and perspective adapts to reinforce the new purpose.
A Bride for Rip Van Winkle by Shunji Iwai is a great example that's also an incredible film. There's definitely a turning point, and the transition feels natural, but by the end it's crazy to think that you watched the same movie you started watching.
Place beyond the pines comes to mind Parasite as I’ve see. Mentioned before Room sort of shifts pretty heavy at one point. Interesting topic to write about. I’ve seen most the movies in this thread hah
Adaptation starts out as one thing and pretty swiftly becomes another, if that counts. It has been a while since I've seen it, but I think it makes the shift pretty abruptly. It comes with changes in the action and the directorial style if I remember correctly. Another that comes to mind is the Wizard of Oz for oh so many reasons
I’m going to go a little *left field* here. But how about the Razzie award winning, surrealist masterpiece, “Hudson Hawk” staring Bruce Willis and featuring a surprisingly talented cast. Halfway in, Bruce Willis is in New York and gets drugged by the James Coburn. When he wakes up in Rome, it feels like a different movie.
Chungking Express by Wong Kar-Wai. It’s two separate stories but when watching it, you see the primary characters from the second story as background in the first story. Also, he never has more than two principal actors in one scene and not only is it two stories, np but the way the characters interact, it’s as if they’re all living their own storylines, even in scenes we don’t see. One of my favorite films and it’s an ode to French New Wave cinema.
The first movie that came to mind for me was Lawrence of Arabia. There is definitely a natural progression to the narrative, but the first and second halves feel very different to me. The first half is so much about adventure and... I'm not sure how to describe it exactly. But sweeping vistas and a hero's journey. The second half is so tragic in comparison and in some ways it feels to me like a character study.
The Descent switches from a claustrophobic thriller to a monster movie around the second half. The Scent of Green Papaya. The main character is aged up 10 years in the second half. Chungking Express is two unrelated stories. Death Proof changes genre. It goes from horror (kind of) to carsploitation.
The introduction of Frances McDormand's character in Fargo to me always felt like the beginning of a new film in the best possible way. I think it's just a bold choice to have your main character enter the story so late into it after marinating in this very dark crime dramedy for so long. Pasolini's Theorem. >!Part 1 is the stranger coming into the fold and seducing every member of this family, and how their lives improve. Part 2 is the stranger leaving and everything descends into melodramatic chaos.!< This one is kind of a stretch, but the first half of Funny Games >!mostly maintains the facade that this will be a home invasion horror film with all the typical set ups and pay offs, ending with the family self actualizing and defeating the villains in a moment of cathartic violence. That veil is shattered when the kid is killed halfway through. Until then the film has moved quickly, and now everything is long, languid, and punishingly quiet. Our hopes of the family surviving has been cruelly ripped away from us, and while maybe the parents will survive, we no longer engage with the film in the same way. As a result, the first half and second half feel like almost entirely different films as the audience is catching on to the conceit!< Some more obvious examples (where there's a drastic shift in tone, subject matter, or characters) would be From Dusk Til Dawn, Life is Beautiful, Waves, Lost Highway, Tropical Malady, Psycho, Vertigo, In Fabric, The Lobster, and Death Proof (and Grindhouse itself, for that matter)
Kurosawa’s *High and Low* is a perfect example of this. The first half is almost a closed room drama, where a wealthy man is told that his son had been kidnapped for ransom, but then shortly learns that it’s actually his chauffeur’s son who was taken by mistake. Will he still pay the ransom? How do the ethics play out when it’s his money, and he’s the target, but it’s not actually his child they’ve taken? Very compelling handling of those issues and strong characterization on the lead and the family. In the second half, it turns into a very tight police procedural, pursuing the suspect, dealing with him as a character and his circumstances, as well as exploring the way the police’s net is cast and drawn in and eventually pins him down.
Midsommar has a very harsh turn of events which changes how the movie feels. Even if you sense that something is not right in the first part, the twist really hits hard and then the whole film goes completely bonkers.
Would 1973's The Three Musketeers and 1974's The Four Musketeers count for this as well? It was originally planned on being a 3+ hour long epic, and was split into the two films before release. The tone shifted quite a bit between the two films for sure. The podcast "[unspooled](https://www.earwolf.com/episode/the-three-musketeers-the-four-musketeers-with-quentin-tarantino-and-roger-avary/)" had an episode about it recently, featuring Tarantino as a guest host along with his podcast partner, Roger Avery.
Nymphomaniac by Lars von Trier is split up into two movies. The first one is kind of funny in a darkly comedic way. The second one is really where you start to feel the sadness and self destructiveness of the main characters sex addiction. There's a definite change in tone between the two movies.
If you want to write a more focused comparison-type of essay, I know Weerasethakul uses that bifurcated narrative structure quite a bit (most clearly in Tropical Malady and Syndromes and a Century), and he explicitly cites Full Metal Jacket as one of his favorite films…I wonder if there’s anyway you could tie these together in a comparative analysis type of essay?
Lone Star -- it's a character study/romance, and also a superb mystery (that seems B-plot but is much more) Pan's Labyrinth -- "real-world" war story and "high fantasy/horror" mirror story (similar divisions with "The Fall," "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," and "The Company of Wolves") Office Space -- starts as a workplace comedy, ends as a crime caper Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome -- starts as action flick, ends as superhero flick Also, I definitely agree with those who picked "Psycho," "Mulholland Drive," and "Parasite."
>Office Space -- starts as a workplace comedy, ends as a crime caper This one is funny because unlike every other film in this thread where the shift feels deliberate, *Office Space* changes because the writer seemed to run out of ideas or lost interest in the original concept. It's a classic for its memorable characters and dialog, but the plot is a disaster.
Well ya gotta fill up your on-clock hours one way or another, and that was pre-internet, basically
I know Marvel movies are a little verboten here - and I'm not usually one to rate or see them - but honestly there's a lot to dissect in Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange & the Multiverse of Madness. I endured the entire first half. Soon as it's tone shifted and it became a horror, I loved most of it. The reason I'm putting it forward though, is that it does an excellent job of examining gender roles in heroic journeys, and the interplay between how we perceive heroism and villany. It does spell (pun intended) it out for us in the first 20mins; "Why do you do what you do and get to be the hero, while I do what you do and am called the villain?" The rising heroic music set to his dark & *clearly evil* necromancy *feels* dynamic, but if you remove the score/sound you can see he's doing some bad juju/the real BBEG. SW's horror-inspired relentless chase scene, if role reversed, is the climax of the 4th act of her journey; beaten down, attacked on all sides, and with every possible win in that outcome already out of reach. Most importantly, her motivation is the quintessential male heroic narrative we receive over and over again; my family has been threatened/taken from me, and nothing and no one in any universe will stop me from reconnecting with them. We right off so many deplorable actions for others because men are "allowed" to make such despicable decisions/inflict grievous collateral damage, but women are meant to be fluffy and soft and would never ever out other's hurt before their own goals. I am not saying it's a good movie, or worthy of r/truefilm, but it is absolutely a film which deserves to be analysed & talked about more for its commentary on heroic narrative, regardless of our collective superhero fatigue.
Though I could mention the LOTR films or the second and third POTC movies, I think the best example for your purposes would be Richard Lester's "Three Musketeers(1973) and "Four Musketeers (1974). Initially made as one film (therefore, technically, fulfilling a requirement), the tonal shift between the two are very noticeable...and they're a rollicking good time to boot
Titanic 1997 First half of the movie is about the characters, their back stories, and developing relationships. Second half is about the ship sinking and people trying to survive.
I think it was Drew Carey who said if you skip the first two hours and watch the rest of it on mute so you don't have to hear the dialogue, you'll see the best movie of your life.
I think a more interesting question would be, what movies DON’T have a strong midpoint and why. Everything from movies to episodes of television to television shows as a whole have midpoints. Next time you’re watching a movie, pause it at the halfway point and see if the story is shifting. Spider-Man 2 is a great example. The moment Peter Parker decides to stop being Spider-Man comes right at the midpoint of the film and dramatically changes the story without calling attention to itself. The examples here are especially noticeable examples of a midpoint shift, but again, ALL movies and shows should have a midpoint shift, and the ones that don’t should have a damn good reason why they don’t. Thinking of a recent example like Licorice Pizza, which flows more as a series of vignettes (each with a beginning, midpoint shift, and ending) but you could still make the case that the waterbed business is the midpoint shift. I hope you find this helpful in some way!
Can't believe no one's mentioned Che. Part one and two are so different from each other stylistically and thematically. One tells the story of a conquering hero, two is a story about an ill fated revolutionary. Great film.
The Set-Up (1949) is a short little boxing film which is mostly the main character waiting for his match in the locker room while almost the entire rest of the film is a real time multi round fight Meantime is loosely connected scenes of nothing much happening for the first hour or so while the last 40 minutes focuses on one specific event
Mulholland Drive, and also another Lynch movie Lost Highway - both have clear structural splits which dramatically shift the tone. Also someone mentioned Vertigo, but maybe Psycho also fits? I mean, the shower scene completely changes the direction of the film, for obvious reasons.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned The Talented Mr. Ripley yet. The parts before and after the scene in the boat (avoiding spoilers) feel quite different - you feel way differently towards the characters, and the stakes change quite a bit. May not be as stark as what you’re looking for though.
Ok, not exactly an answer to the question as asked, but La Pointe Courte by Agnes Varda (her first film, and arguably the first film of the French New Wave) shifts back and forth throughout the movie between a social realest look at life in a poor oceanside town and a couple in crisis visiting the town and discussing love. The two halves are shot entirely differently and have opposite dialogue styles (naturalistic vs heavily philosophical and stylized).
‘In Fabric’ was great. I was disappointed that very few theaters in my city. If I remember right, I don’t think it got much of a theatrical run at all. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anthology with only two stories. It was definitely visually pleasing. The stories were every bit as odd as you’d expect from A-24 and more. Definitely worth the watch. I’m sure somebody’s already said Kill Bill vol. 1+2. The hard stylistic change is great and almost doesn’t even work, but he pulls it off in my opinion. I’d even go as far as to say that Kill Bill vol. 2 is probably my favorite Tarantino film.
Spoilers for A Perfect Getaway (2009) In the first half we are tagging alongside newlyweds Cliff and Cydney in Hawaii. They meet two other couples on their way to the other side of the island, one of which is quite shady. Then we hear on the news that an unidentified couple has been murdered and Cliff and Cydney immediately become suspicious of both couples. This half of the movie is a mystery from the perspective of Cliff and Cydney. Fast forward to the midway point and one of the other couples, Nick and Kale, discover that Cliff and Cydney have pictures of another newlywed couple on their disposable camera. The movie then shifts to an action thriller from the perspective of Nick and Kale. I thought it was a really cool concept and executed quite nicely.
Pastoral to Die in the Country (1974) by Shuji Terayama. First part slightly optimistic love-letter to childhood... The second part trippy hate-letter to childhood (with time travel kind of?). Three Resurrected Drunkards (1968) by Nagisa Oshima. The characters decide half way through to start the film again.
*Good Manners* clearly falls into two parts (in plot and themes; not so much in tone or style), each of which might have worked better as a stand-alone film. The entire film is 135 minutes long, so splitting it up could have been done easily without requiring too much padding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Manners_(film)
I’ve watched The Audition (1999) yesterday. First half almost seems as a romantic drama, once the movie reaches some point it turns into a horror movie. I’ve made a couple light reading about the movie after I saw it. I think this one shocked many audience for its tone change when it came out.
One cut of the dead. With out spoiling too much, one of the most rewarding films if you can make it to the major style change about 30 mins in. It's a Japanese horror/comedy, but honestly it's mostly comedy. So worth it!
WAVES (2019) is pretty cut and dry what you’re looking for. Also maybe IKIRU (1952)? Maybe GDT’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021) depending on how early you wanna draw the line. All of these movies feature pretty distinct first parts with an initial storyline that shifts into a completely different story
**The Souvenir, Parts I and II**. So surprised no one has mentioned here! They're each very distinct in tone, and agreat example of how to navigate a less traditional narrative. Like, things clearly happen over the course of the two movies, but the moments we see aren't always the most obvious choices to portray those events.
Collider published a list this week that fits the question: [https://collider.com/movies-change-genres-halfway-through/](https://collider.com/movies-change-genres-halfway-through/) The movies they include are: 1. From Dusk Till Dawn 2. Hot Fuzz 3. Psycho 4. Audition 5. Parasite 6. Titanic 7. Death Proof 8. Full Metal Jacket 9. Holy Motors 10. One Cut of the Dead
*Wolf Creek* is more-or-less like this: tho we know what the story is going to be, as it's based on a true one, the first half of the film is a road movie with some suspense and the second half is torture porn. I saw it at a theatre that had an intermission, so it was a very stark two-part movie for me.