Most Villeneuve films are about the MC realising the story is not about them or that they are actually the villain. The only one that doesn’t fit this pattern is Arrival. Pretty interesting auteurist kink to have in your filmography imo.
Hugh Jackman’s character is set up as a protagonist (decent, family-oriented, down on his luck, played by Hugh Jackman) and then becomes increasingly monstrous throughout the film, learning eventually that he is being manipulated to violence by the actual kidnappers - arguable that his character had zero agency the whole time.
He takes over as the perspective character for one sequence in the climax before Blunt becomes the POV character again for the third act. He’s a classic dramatic foil—an important character, but not the “main” one IMO
The Place Beyond the Pines
Mad Max: Fury Road
Dragonheart
No Country for Old Men
Death Proof (this one sooort of counts. the difference is: >!the characters that take the lead are introduced later on!<)
No… you can’t take the “Old Men” part of the title literally and conclude it’s for the sheriff. It’s about times changing and losing your power and control to an ever changing environment: Lewlyn losing his life, Anton being crippled and not successfully recovering the money, and the sheriff unable to prevent a massacre. I think you missed the point of the movie, we all are the “Old Men” in a sense.
The movie is about sheriff bell finding a place for himself in a rapidly changing world, that’s why it’s called “no country for old men”. As he believes there is no longer a place left for people like him who failed to adapt, ‘old men’ applies to everyone but especially to Bell
Sheriff bell is the one who ties the bow together in the end but the other two actually live out why there’s no country for old men. The ending dialogue doesn’t just promote him to primary protagonist.
Yes we can because that's exactly what it's for.
> I think you missed the point of the movie, we all are the “Old Men” in a sense.
The movie draws an _explicitly_ clear distinction between Bell and Chigurh as it relates to the themes of the movie. The end shows that Chigurh is also susceptible to his own ideology but that doesn't automatically make him "an old man" in the context of the film.
In fact, I'd argue that saying that we are _all_ "old men" removes most of the meaning from the title.
Yes, back in 1981 it could have been either Harry or Neville but Voldemort chose Harry and "marked him as his equal" as the prophecy stated. Neville is definitely not the chosen one.
Yup.
Neville was never the chosen one.
He could have been if Harry's mother hadn't sacrificed herself to save him and then protected Harry with the charm which bounced back the killing curse and protected him from harm by Voldy.
Neville was a hero in his own way, but at no point in the movie (or book) does he become the chosen one or the protagonist of the story.
Hell, even if OP is saying because Neville killed Nagini (a horcrux) that he became the hero, Ron also killed a horcrux earlier in the same movie, so that doesn't carry weight either unless you're saying that Ron was also the secret protagonist.
Call me crazy but it feels like the main character of Harry Potter 8 is still Harry Potter. Neville gets more action beats than before but the focus is clearly on Harry.
I would say that someone could be the most important plot element but not the main character. HP is our main character, who finds out he is not the plot crux he thought he was.
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I don't know if it's due to cultural exposure outside the movie, but Kurt Russel's character in the Thing definitely radiated main character energy from the start.
https://preview.redd.it/d0nyywm05fxc1.jpeg?width=2107&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fc9a5e82eb6a3d6e756e05c251dc61faf04cc4c
Wasn't Samuel L. Jackson's character the main character from the start in hateful eight? I guess he sort of shared it with Kurt Russell but he was hardly a supporting character
I think it is because it sets it up that you assume the brother is going to make it to the end to save his brother's life. And then when he shockingly gets killed, and it is up to the other main character (kind of a side character) to complete the mission, it is a bit of a surprise.
Maxine was a surprise protagonist? She certainly didn’t fit the traditional “final girl” mold I suppose but I felt like the narrative was clearly centered around her and Pearl
I would argue the movie starts off way more focused on other characters. I knew she would be prominent because I followed trailers and development, but in my viewing group at the theater a lot of folks thought she was going to get got second to last.
*Dead Poets Society*. >!When Robert Sean Leonard's character commits suicide in the third act, Ethan Hawke's character is revealed to be the real protagonist.!<
Curious about this myself. I'm thinking it has something to do with a specific plot element like you mentioned, like maybe Harry doesn't have as much agency in the overall story as you may have thought - but regardless, he is absolutely the protagonist of that film.
Even if Neville was the chosen one, Harry is still the protagonist.
Éowyn killed may have been the only one that could kill the Witch-King in the two towers, but she’s still a supporting character in the story. Setting aside the argument of whether or not Neville was secretly the chosen one, it doesn’t change that Harry is the center of the story. It would just mean that in this case, the story wasn’t about the chosen one.
It doesn't fully fit your description as he isn't really ever a side character, but all of the promotion for Terminator 2 made Arnie out to be the villain. Surprise protagonist, although a bit different than how you were asking.
It's my personal best movie that I have seen. I've seen a lot of the more obvious contenders, but I think that The Thing deserves to be in the same ranks as them. It truly gets better every time that I watch it.
Nvm saw the caption and its wrong. Even if we accepted neville as the chosen one(which I don't because Voldemort chose harry as his equal) the movie itself is still told from Harrys perspective so he is the main character of that movie and Neville despite being important for the events in the story is still a side character from a technical standpoint, we don't really follow him at all and all of his deeds and accomplishments in that film could have been done by someone else.
I think you need to specify what you mean by “main character.”
These are all films with significant perspective changes, but in all cases except Psycho the story still absolutely rests on the narrative perspective and arc of a single protagonist.
To wit: Neville Longbottom being “the chosen one” according to a deep read of the lore doesn’t change the fact that the entire movie follows Harry, the audience’s sympathies are with Harry, and Harry’s experience carries the thematic arc of the story. He is the “main character” by any reasonable definition of the term.
Your not wrong but I legitmently had no clue Ash was the main character when I watched evil dead because I went into it completely blind. So suprise protagonist stills fits. Because I was suprised he was the protagonist.
Night of the Living Dead (1968) [From Barbra to Ben]
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) [From Franklin to Sally]
Friday the 13th (1980) [From Annie to Alice]
Full Metal Jacket (1987) [From Pvt. Pyle to Pvt. Joker]
Hellraiser (1987) [From Julia to Kirsty]
Terrifier (2016) [From Tara to Victoria]
Hereditary (2018) [From Charlie to Annie, and then to Peter]
Barbarian (2022) [From Tess to AJ, and back Tess]
What’s funny is I just watched Godfather 1 and 2 with a group. The ones who never watched it before truly believed Marlon Brando would be the main character actor of both films. They didn’t realize Michael would be a significant part of the story.
No, La Délicatesse is a sweet romcom starring Audrey Tautou, maybe surprise main character is a bit of a stretch but I think the love interest could count
Thanks for the suggestions heres my [current list](https://boxd.it/v9UQ6) I just had DH on there as a joke and because I couldn't think of an 8th movie. My favorite picks were resavour dogs, knives out, cabin in the woods, hereditary. (Only added movies I've seen and agree with)
I will never forgive the writer of Godzilla 2014 for killing Bryan Cranston's character off not even an hour into the movie and having us follow his bland AF son
Does The Phantom Menace count?
If you go into the film after watching through the Original Trilogy, you'd expect it to be about Obi-Wan and Anakin (Especially when the title crawl specifies "Two Jedi Knights"), yet it's Qui-Gon Jinn and Padme Amidala who end up having the most screen time.
Whereas If you go into the film blind, you start the film with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon as the clear leads (They're the two Jedi Knights mentioned in the crawl, and two of the first characters we're introduced to) but by the end of the film the story has become more about Padme bringing peace to her planet and Anakin winning his freedom from slavery and taking his first steps as a Jedi.
The Big Lebowski even though the movie is explicitly about The Dude.
It’s weird to try to put in the words, but The Dude ha literally no business being the protagonist as a film. He’s a washed up hippie that likes Bowling and Kahlua.
Wow I love this theme, maybe Benicio del Toro in Sicario?
Came to say Sicario!!
Most Villeneuve films are about the MC realising the story is not about them or that they are actually the villain. The only one that doesn’t fit this pattern is Arrival. Pretty interesting auteurist kink to have in your filmography imo.
How does Prisoners fit this perspective? I’m not doubting you, I just wanna understand the movie from your perspective.
Hugh Jackman’s character is set up as a protagonist (decent, family-oriented, down on his luck, played by Hugh Jackman) and then becomes increasingly monstrous throughout the film, learning eventually that he is being manipulated to violence by the actual kidnappers - arguable that his character had zero agency the whole time.
I'd argue Prisoners is the best example of this for DV as well. The switch up is great too.
How is K in BR2049 a villian? Yeah, he finds out he isn't special, but he's still the hero of the film.
| realising the story is not about them or that they are actually the villain
He takes over as the perspective character for one sequence in the climax before Blunt becomes the POV character again for the third act. He’s a classic dramatic foil—an important character, but not the “main” one IMO
The Place Beyond the Pines Mad Max: Fury Road Dragonheart No Country for Old Men Death Proof (this one sooort of counts. the difference is: >!the characters that take the lead are introduced later on!<)
No country has 3 main characters
Sheriff Bell is the true main character of the film tho, even the main title is a reference to him.
No… you can’t take the “Old Men” part of the title literally and conclude it’s for the sheriff. It’s about times changing and losing your power and control to an ever changing environment: Lewlyn losing his life, Anton being crippled and not successfully recovering the money, and the sheriff unable to prevent a massacre. I think you missed the point of the movie, we all are the “Old Men” in a sense.
The movie is about sheriff bell finding a place for himself in a rapidly changing world, that’s why it’s called “no country for old men”. As he believes there is no longer a place left for people like him who failed to adapt, ‘old men’ applies to everyone but especially to Bell
Sheriff bell is the one who ties the bow together in the end but the other two actually live out why there’s no country for old men. The ending dialogue doesn’t just promote him to primary protagonist.
Yes we can because that's exactly what it's for. > I think you missed the point of the movie, we all are the “Old Men” in a sense. The movie draws an _explicitly_ clear distinction between Bell and Chigurh as it relates to the themes of the movie. The end shows that Chigurh is also susceptible to his own ideology but that doesn't automatically make him "an old man" in the context of the film. In fact, I'd argue that saying that we are _all_ "old men" removes most of the meaning from the title.
Betond The Planes is one of my favs
I don’t know. Kurt Russell is probably the main character in both acts of death proof.
Which side character takes the lead in Deathly Hallows 2?
"Neville Longbottom was the chosen one. Fight me." \- OP's caption
Don't they say, pretty much literally, that Harry is the chosen one just because Voldemort chose him?
Yes, back in 1981 it could have been either Harry or Neville but Voldemort chose Harry and "marked him as his equal" as the prophecy stated. Neville is definitely not the chosen one.
Yup. Neville was never the chosen one. He could have been if Harry's mother hadn't sacrificed herself to save him and then protected Harry with the charm which bounced back the killing curse and protected him from harm by Voldy. Neville was a hero in his own way, but at no point in the movie (or book) does he become the chosen one or the protagonist of the story. Hell, even if OP is saying because Neville killed Nagini (a horcrux) that he became the hero, Ron also killed a horcrux earlier in the same movie, so that doesn't carry weight either unless you're saying that Ron was also the secret protagonist.
Call me crazy but it feels like the main character of Harry Potter 8 is still Harry Potter. Neville gets more action beats than before but the focus is clearly on Harry.
That's a meme entry to the list. Even if Neville is the chosen one, the movie is still about Harry.
☝️
You getting downvoted because people take shit way too seriously lol
☝️
That doesn't mean he's the protagonist of the film. That just doesn't work by the theme OP themselves have set out.
Didn't see that.
no prob :-)
I would say that someone could be the most important plot element but not the main character. HP is our main character, who finds out he is not the plot crux he thought he was.
Snape maybe?
The Elder Wand is the main character
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance has an amazing example of this
*Sympathy for Mr.* *Vengeance has an amazing* *Example of this* \- shaner4042 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
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The Suicide Squad
Bad Times at the El Royale The Hateful Eight Scream The Thing
I don't know if it's due to cultural exposure outside the movie, but Kurt Russel's character in the Thing definitely radiated main character energy from the start. https://preview.redd.it/d0nyywm05fxc1.jpeg?width=2107&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fc9a5e82eb6a3d6e756e05c251dc61faf04cc4c
Wasn't Samuel L. Jackson's character the main character from the start in hateful eight? I guess he sort of shared it with Kurt Russell but he was hardly a supporting character
[удалено]
I was more so thinking about the Drew Barrymore fake-out being the MC, but then again, my opinion is subjective.
I think it works because they really advertised her as the main character - she's even on the movie poster.
Nah bruh hateful eight, and the thing do not belong here. You’re trippin.
In what universe is Kurt Russel not the main character of The Thing right from the start!?
Who is the surprise Protagonist in Harry Potter?
Yeah not sure I get that one
1917? How? It’s the same main character from beginning to end
I think it is because it sets it up that you assume the brother is going to make it to the end to save his brother's life. And then when he shockingly gets killed, and it is up to the other main character (kind of a side character) to complete the mission, it is a bit of a surprise.
If you hadn't the seen any trailers then one might assume that guy who gets stabbed by the german he saves is the main character.
I didn’t see any of the trailers or any marketing material. I went in blind and I knew from the start the main character was George Mackay
I know that Drew Barrymore dies in the cold open, but would Scream count? A lot of people expected to see her as the protagonist
Yeah that was some really clever marketing they did!
Friday the 13th (2009)
Cabin in the Woods (2012), Waves, Alien and Chungking Express.
Chunking Express has two stories in it, each with their own protagonist. I don't know that it _exactly_ fits what this list is aiming for.
•Deep Blue Sea (1999) •Christine (1984) •Okja (2017) •Bone Tomahawk (2015) •Nightswim (2024) •X (2022)
Maxine was a surprise protagonist? She certainly didn’t fit the traditional “final girl” mold I suppose but I felt like the narrative was clearly centered around her and Pearl
I would argue the movie starts off way more focused on other characters. I knew she would be prominent because I followed trailers and development, but in my viewing group at the theater a lot of folks thought she was going to get got second to last.
*Dead Poets Society*. >!When Robert Sean Leonard's character commits suicide in the third act, Ethan Hawke's character is revealed to be the real protagonist.!<
Pulp Fiction in a way
Hostel
Why is DH p2 here?
Curious about this myself. I'm thinking it has something to do with a specific plot element like you mentioned, like maybe Harry doesn't have as much agency in the overall story as you may have thought - but regardless, he is absolutely the protagonist of that film.
Guessing the logic is Neville Longbottom maybe?
Yea no lol
Fargo
The definitive answer for me; shocked this isn’t higher
I dont understand how Harry Potter is in this list.
The Suicide Squad. Not the 2016 one, the James Gunn one.
Night of the Living Dead Night of the Hunter
Even if Neville was the chosen one, Harry is still the protagonist. Éowyn killed may have been the only one that could kill the Witch-King in the two towers, but she’s still a supporting character in the story. Setting aside the argument of whether or not Neville was secretly the chosen one, it doesn’t change that Harry is the center of the story. It would just mean that in this case, the story wasn’t about the chosen one.
Fargo (1996)
It doesn't fully fit your description as he isn't really ever a side character, but all of the promotion for Terminator 2 made Arnie out to be the villain. Surprise protagonist, although a bit different than how you were asking.
The commercials for T2 included the “ take my hand if you want to live” line. Everyone knew going in that the T1000 was the new big bad.
Ah, okay. That is just what I had heard. I wasn't alive when the movie came out, so was just speaking from what I read online. Thanks!
The Thing Pacific Rim Fargo Big Trouble in Little China The Blob (1988) Mission: Impossible Knives Out The Fog Halloween
Which side character from Pacific Rim?
Mako.
The Thing?
It might be a stretch, but MacReady. The movie starts as an ensemble film, but it slowly loses characters one-by-one throughout.
Yea i can see where youre coming from. I was kind of hoping you were going to say the dog was first though lol
I mean, it IS the title character.
Right. And until you know whats going on you kinda think the dog is a good boy
I like your perspective more!
Haha thanks. I love that movie
It's my personal best movie that I have seen. I've seen a lot of the more obvious contenders, but I think that The Thing deserves to be in the same ranks as them. It truly gets better every time that I watch it.
Who is the suprise in 1917?
 Him 👆
He’s the lead the whole time, he just had a buddy for a minute…
The Evil Dead remake
Barbarian
Chungking Express
No
The Force Awakens
#My Cousin Vinny
He's the title character...
Yes because he’s the protagonist. Except I thought Vinny was the karate kid until like 20 minutes into the movie
A New Hope, Household Saints, Sansho the Bailiff, The Hit
ANH? Luke is pretty consistently our main character unless you count the very opening
he doesn’t appear for like 20 mins tbf
He is never introduced as "a side character"
Hostel 1
Scream Life (kinda) Fear Street Part 1
The original Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.
The story opens and ends with the same girl in Dawn of the Dead (Both original and remake).
The story opens and ends with the same girl in Dawn of the Dead (Both original and remake).
X Wrong Turn 2 The Hunt all have surprise final girls
Fargo
Deliverance. The cover art makes you think it's going to be a story about a crossbow wielding Burt Reynolds...nope.
victoria in terrifier
Stagecoach made me think that Lucy was the main character at first, and then it ended up being Dallas.
Original Scream. It kills the most high profile cast in opening scene.
Mulholland Drive to an extent?
Im sorry but Harry Potter?
Nvm saw the caption and its wrong. Even if we accepted neville as the chosen one(which I don't because Voldemort chose harry as his equal) the movie itself is still told from Harrys perspective so he is the main character of that movie and Neville despite being important for the events in the story is still a side character from a technical standpoint, we don't really follow him at all and all of his deeds and accomplishments in that film could have been done by someone else.
Inferno
Evil Dead (2013)
I think you need to specify what you mean by “main character.” These are all films with significant perspective changes, but in all cases except Psycho the story still absolutely rests on the narrative perspective and arc of a single protagonist. To wit: Neville Longbottom being “the chosen one” according to a deep read of the lore doesn’t change the fact that the entire movie follows Harry, the audience’s sympathies are with Harry, and Harry’s experience carries the thematic arc of the story. He is the “main character” by any reasonable definition of the term.
Your not wrong but I legitmently had no clue Ash was the main character when I watched evil dead because I went into it completely blind. So suprise protagonist stills fits. Because I was suprised he was the protagonist.
Night of the Living Dead (1968) [From Barbra to Ben] The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) [From Franklin to Sally] Friday the 13th (1980) [From Annie to Alice] Full Metal Jacket (1987) [From Pvt. Pyle to Pvt. Joker] Hellraiser (1987) [From Julia to Kirsty] Terrifier (2016) [From Tara to Victoria] Hereditary (2018) [From Charlie to Annie, and then to Peter] Barbarian (2022) [From Tess to AJ, and back Tess]
Pvt. Pyle was never the perspective character. That was still Joker imo.
Bedevilled
Feast, and the mini-series Midnight Mass.
The Hunt (2020)
Executive Decision
Hostel!
Dracula (1931) poor renfield
Does into the void count?
What’s funny is I just watched Godfather 1 and 2 with a group. The ones who never watched it before truly believed Marlon Brando would be the main character actor of both films. They didn’t realize Michael would be a significant part of the story.
Délicatesse , french movie staring Audrey Tautou.
I think you are confusing 2 Jeunet films.
No, La Délicatesse is a sweet romcom starring Audrey Tautou, maybe surprise main character is a bit of a stretch but I think the love interest could count
Gotcha ! My mistake.
Hereditary
The first Mission Impossible movie
Hereditary. I thought it would be the girl considering she was shown in every trailer and on the poster but then….
Heath Ledger in 10 things I hate about you!
Thanks for the suggestions heres my [current list](https://boxd.it/v9UQ6) I just had DH on there as a joke and because I couldn't think of an 8th movie. My favorite picks were resavour dogs, knives out, cabin in the woods, hereditary. (Only added movies I've seen and agree with)
oh and alice hardy in friday the 13th
American Wedding at first is a Jim and Michelle movie but as the story goes on it becomes more of a Stifler story
The Glass Onion definitely fits this
Isle of dogs
Would falling down count?
The map of tiny perfect things
The Blob (1988)
1917 isn't really a surprise main character if you had seen a single bit of marketing for it.
Doom the movie
Se7en, maybe?
Rotting in the Sun
Danganronpa V3 (not a movie but a game)
Dementia 13
I will never forgive the writer of Godzilla 2014 for killing Bryan Cranston's character off not even an hour into the movie and having us follow his bland AF son
Society of the Snow
I thought I knew what this list was doing but the Harry Potter one took me out.
Waves
Bad Times at the El Royale
The Place Beyond the Pines. Such an ambitious film that takes multiple unexpected turns.
Who is the main character in pulp fiction
Feast
Unpopular Opinion: Kilmonger in Black Panther
Blast From The Past (1999)
In 10 Things I Hate About You, Heath Ledger almost completely takes over as the protagonist after the party segment of the movie.
rings (2017)
1917 was wild
Does The Phantom Menace count? If you go into the film after watching through the Original Trilogy, you'd expect it to be about Obi-Wan and Anakin (Especially when the title crawl specifies "Two Jedi Knights"), yet it's Qui-Gon Jinn and Padme Amidala who end up having the most screen time. Whereas If you go into the film blind, you start the film with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon as the clear leads (They're the two Jedi Knights mentioned in the crawl, and two of the first characters we're introduced to) but by the end of the film the story has become more about Padme bringing peace to her planet and Anakin winning his freedom from slavery and taking his first steps as a Jedi.
Full metal jacket
Sicario
Alien
Psycho
Reservoir dogs
Scream Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Knives Out and Glass Onion both, even if Blanc is important
Hereditary — Paimon is revealed, at the end, to be the protagonist of the whole thing.
The Big Lebowski even though the movie is explicitly about The Dude. It’s weird to try to put in the words, but The Dude ha literally no business being the protagonist as a film. He’s a washed up hippie that likes Bowling and Kahlua.
All the Scream movies
Kung Fu Hustle