Movies aren't always what they say they are. Expecting the unexpected is part of the fun, and is one of the reasons a visit to the cinema can be so thrilling. Fans sit down to a lighthearted 2 hours of big-screen brilliance only to find themselves heading into deep, far more serious water. It can greatly enhance the experience.
Of course, it can also have the opposite effect and leave an audience member feeling cheated or misled. For better or worse, some motion pictures switched things up. After getting off to a cheery start, some delivered a more serious, thought-provoking picture than what was initially expected.
10 Parasite Took Black Comedy To Even Darker Places
Bong Joon-ho's darkly comedic masterpiece hardly even hints at the horrors that await viewers in 2019's Parasite. What starts as a fascinating study and takedown of the South Korean class system slowly descends into a tale of murder and mayhem.
Parasite has more than its fair share of graphic violence. Given that the majority of Parasite is littered with hilarious moments of black comedy, few audience members really expected things to take such a turn toward terrifying bloodshed.
9 Jojo Rabbit Brought The Laughs Alongside The Tears
Taiki Waititi's campy caricature of Adolf Hitler brilliantly sets up Jojo Rabbit as a feel-good, heartwarming, and hilarious takedown of Nazi culture. While this is certainly true of Jojo Rabbit as a whole, there are plenty of moments within that conjure up tears rather than laughter.
The tender scenes remind viewers just how awful life was for so many people during WWII, though they never take away from Waititi's comedy as his main weapon against Nazism. Hitler himself would not have found Jojo Rabbit funny, but that gave audiences all the more reason to laugh in 2019.
8 What Dreams May Come Is Far More Heartbreaking Than It Is Humorous
The legendary Robin Williams is certainly guilty when it comes to lending his face to movies that don't exactly fit with what the comedy king is famous for. Rip-roaring laughter is almost always a product of his family-friendly fare. Though 1998's What Dreams May Come has plenty of moments to make viewers smile, its subject matter is more serious than many of Robin's fans may be used to.
Starting out as a familiar depiction of perfect family life, this fantasy film switches its settings to the afterlife with a heartbreaking turn. Though the sad moments are matched with wholesome ones, Vincent Ward's What Dreams May Come is no easy watch.
7 The Sound Of Music Is Jolly Until The War
Perhaps one of the most uplifting movies ever made, The Sound Of Music is jam-packed with delightfully catchy songs. The songs are all enhanced by the mesmerizing tones of the great Julie Andrews, and colorful, heart-soothing imagery of the Austrian countryside.
Though the 1965 classic is set during wartime, it still comes as a shock for viewers when the horrors of the conflict seep over into the lives of the Von Trapp family. It's an undeniable entry on any list of the greatest musicals ever made. Though The Sound Of Music has far more emotional substance than its songs may imply.
6 Happiness Is Unlikely To Leave Any Viewer Feeling Happy
On the surface, this black comedy from Todd Solondz appears as a fairly standard, albeit quirky, black comedy. Movies, regardless of genre, do not get much more shocking, controversial, or downright disturbing than Happiness.
The Philip Seymour Hoffman starring picture is likely too much to stomach for most viewers. Happiness takes a deep dive into depravity. Aside from the controversial aspects, the 1998 flick is packed with stylish humor and thought-provoking looks at some of the darker aspects of humanity.
5 The Truman Show Is A Disturbing Look At Simulated Reality
Jim Carrey's status as a comedian is legendary. It wasn't surprising for audiences to expect a hilarious take on the hidden-camera concept when they sat down to view The Truman Show back in 1998. While there are laughs to be had while watching Peter Weir's film, the emotional trauma that Truman endures is extremely disturbing when put under a microscope.
A film perhaps even more relevant today with cameras seemingly ever-present in society, The Truman Show has a lot to say about reality and people's perceptions of it. Not a great deal of it is positive.
4 Audition Is The Not The Romantic Romp It First Seems
The Japanese horror Audition is certainly serious. What begins as a disarming romantic comedy descends into jaw-dropping horror, resulting in final sequences that are a world away from Audition's lighthearted beginning.
Director Takashi Miike manages to contrast eye-catching beauty with shock horror. At times, Audition is an incredibly hard watch. Frequently cited as one of Japan's finest entries into the fright-filled genre, Audition is an unforgettable journey into the unexpected.
3 From Dusk Till Dawn Takes A Sharp Turn Into Horror
Though this Robert Rodriguez classic was never going to be family-friendly fun, the first half of From Dusk Till Dawn is a stylish, humorous, and deeply engaging crime drama. Movie midpoints don't get much more shocking than the moment vampires take this film hostage.
From crime caper to horror hit, From Dusk Till Dawn flips the script masterfully, and left many audiences with jaws wide upon release in 1996. Lighthearted may seem a stretch for some, but fangs and blood feedings weren't exactly on the cards during the early minutes of this motion picture.
2 Something Wild Adds Ray Liotta Into The Mix To Really Change Things Up
Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels begin Jonathan Demme's Something Wild with their characters embracing a free-spirited and fun getaway. All it takes to turn this 1986 action-comedy on its head is the emergence of a delightfully deranged Ray Liotta as Ray Sinclair.
The Goodfellas star is typically electric in Something Wild, with Liotta earning multiple awards for his showing. Jonathan Demme was still a few years away from Silence Of The Lambs, but the violence he sprinkles into this film is especially shocking after such an upbeat opening.
1 Life Is Beautiful Is Both Beautiful and Utterly Devastating
Roberto Benigni is Italian cinematic royalty. Before Life Is Beautiful took the world by storm in 1997, he was known as a hilarious funnyman. His Oscar-winning comedy-drama takes place during the Holocaust, but Life Is Beautiful is really about the human spirit. There may be no more triumphant a depiction in all of cinema.
Life Is Beautiful's beginning is as the name suggests: beautiful. The feel-good and humorous depiction of romance in 1940s Italy is quickly erased by Nazi occupation. Benigni manages to maintain the warmth and love even in the face of such horror. This is one film that remarkably warrants just as many tears of joy as tears of sadness.