…Um, probably not. But they’re good ones nevertheless. It’s read and learn time, kids. Read and learn:
5 Movies and TV Shows With Brilliant Clues in the Dialogue
by Amanda Mannen, Lachlan M., Zackarias Speed, Ryan Menezes
Foreshadowing is one of those things that takes a lot of effort from the writers but goes largely unnoticed by viewers — it exists mainly as a reward to those loyal fans who watch a movie or TV show over and over. Yet, as we’ve already pointed out on several occasions, your favorite movies and TV shows are absolutely rife with tiny clues that predict important plot developments. Here are five major plot twists that were actually spoiled by the characters themselves, if you’d just listened closely …
#5. Everyone in The Matrix Tells Neo That He’s Going to Die
The Matrix was a pretty groundbreaking movie in many regards, not the least of which was trying to convince us that Keanu Reeves is in fact Jesus Christ. The movie achieved this by first putting Reeves’ Neo into a virtual reality game and having him kill a bunch of cops before ultimately (and thankfully) giving way to the main plot twist where Neo dies and comes back as “The One,” the trench coat-wearing kung-fu savior of humanity.
Why We Should Have Seen It Coming:
First, the obvious ones.
Early on in the movie, we get a glimpse of Thomas Anderson/Neo’s life as a cubicle schmuck where he has a few interactions with regular people that are just lousy with foreshadowing. The first is when Neo sells a floppy disk to the ’90s cyberpunk Choi.
Upon delivery, Choi then tells Neo:
“Hallelujah! You are my savior, man! My own personal Jesus Christ!”
In hindsight, this reads like a stealth advertisement for Subtlety in Screenwriting and You, considering that Neo eventually does pull a Jesus by coming back from the dead. But a little less subtle is Choi somehow managing to read from Neo’s completely blank facial expression that he is stressed out, and telling him:
“It sounds to me like you need to unplug, man.”
This is of course soon followed by Neo literally unplugging a bunch of cables from his body and waking up in the real world through what can only be described as a virgin birth.
But the biggest clue to Neo’s inevitable, messianic death comes from his interaction with theOracle: the kindly cookie-baking lady who lies to Neo and tells him that he’s not the One because he needs to discover it on his own and all that jazz. Except that … she didn’t really lie. When Neo confirms with the Oracle that he is not the One, she tells him he is waiting for something. What, exactly?
“Your next life, maybe. Who knows? That’s how these things go.”