Let’s be honest: you don’t normally tune into a romantic comedy because you’re looking for a very deep plot. Instead, most of us are watching these films because we want to see a cute story of boy meets girl that leaves us with a big grin on our faces while the credits are rolling.
Nonetheless, there are plenty of rom-coms that don’t just have wild plots: they also have plot twists crazy enough to make you forget about the romance. Don’t believe us? Keep reading to discover the craziest plot twists in rom-com history!
Cruel Intentions
While most people haven’t read the original novel it is based on (Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos), most audiences are familiar with Cruel Intentions. It’s the tale of two manipulative monsters, Sebastian and Kathryn, who enjoy playing games with Annette. Eventually, bad boy Sebastian seems like he’s on the path to redemption once he realizes he has developed feelings for his prey.
We say “seems” because Sebastian ends up getting into a car crash and losing his life. This completely subverted our expectations of seeing his redemption story and his “happily ever after” with Annette. Then again, this bleak plot twist perfectly suits the bleak world of Cruel Intentions.
Palm Springs
Palm Springs is a very unconventional rom-com because its plot revolves around characters stuck in a time loop where they endlessly repeat the same day. Nyles is the first one stuck in the loop, but he is eventually joined by Sarah. As they live out the same 24 hours again and again, the two fall in love, and it seems like we’re going get our happy ending well ahead of schedule.
That’s when the movie drops the bombshell that Nyles already had sex with Sarah before she got stuck in the time loop. This undermines almost everything about their relationship, forcing her to question if she can forgive him or if he is even truly the man she fell in love with. They do end up getting back together, but this crazy plot twist is arguably more memorable than the romance.
Crazy, Stupid Love
Few plot twists are quite as smart and quite as organic as what we get in Crazy, Stupid Love. In this film, we follow two very distinct stories: the first is the tale of Cal, a recent divorcee who is learning the ways of picking up ladies from Jacob. Meanwhile, Jacob gets tired of playing the field once he falls in love with Hannah.
For much of the movie, it seemed like these two plots wouldn’t really intersect. By the end, however, we discover that Hannah is actually Cal’s own daughter, and this causes instant friction because Cal knows what a player Jacob really is. The film ultimately ends well, but we couldn’t stop thinking about this plot twist long after the credits stopped rolling.
500 Days of Summer
When is a plot twist not a plot twist? Even though 500 Days of Summer presents itself as a typical rom-com for most of its runtime, the movie tells us at the beginning that it is a “story about love” rather than “a love story.” Still, as we watch Tom fall madly in love with the titular summer, we can’t help but root for the two of them to end up together.
That doesn’t happen, though: not only is Tom always more serious about the relationship, but after they break up, Summer ends up getting engaged (right as Tom thinks they’re getting back together, no less) and even getting married to someone else. The plot twist is basically built into our own expectations, and we have a hard time accepting that these two cute characters aren’t destined to be a couple the same way we have trouble understanding why some of our own relationships end up imploding.
Remember Me
If there is a hall of fame for crazy rom-com plot twists, we are confident that Remember Me is part of it. The movie certainly deals with some serious issues like the death and suicide of beloved family members, but the story still ends up following all of the romantic comedy tropes we have come to know and love. As such, we watched to the end of the movie hoping to see Tyler and Ally’s relationship take flight.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get quite the flight we were looking for. In the final moments of the movie, we discover that Tyler actually dies in the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York City. Defenders of the film have tried to justify this crazy twist by pointing out how it loosely reinforces the theme of love extending beyond life itself. Call us crazy, but we don’t buy that for the simple fact that nobody ever expects one of their rom-com leads to inexplicably die in a terrorist attack right before the movie ends!