29 Times People Really, Totally, And Truly Misunderstood The Point Of A Movie (And It Was Embarrassing)

Recently, Reddit user FinalDemise posed the question, "What's the worst case of someone misunderstanding the plot of a movie you've ever seen?," to the folks over at r/AskReddit. And their responses are some of the funniest things I've read in a while. Check it out:

Note: Some spoilers ahead, but a lot of these movies are old, so...

1."I watched Les Misérables in the theater with my parents. At the very end of the movie, my dad whispered, 'Wait, Hugh Jackman was the prisoner at the beginning?!' He had no idea...the whole movie why Javert had beef with this apparent random character."

—agentbauer
Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

2."I knew someone that thought Thanos snapping his fingers in Avengers: Infinity War just sent a bunch of people back to their home planet."

A powerful character in armor raises a large gauntlet with glowing stones, evoking a dramatic scene from a movie

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Null / ©Walt Disney Co./courtesy Everett / Everett Collection

3."My wife is a big history buff, especially US history. She also doesn’t like campy vampire/zombie/monster movies. I made her watch Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Ten minutes into the movie, she turned to me and said, 'I don’t think this actually happened.'"

A person in period costume with long coat and cravat holds an axe, set against a historical backdrop with a candelabra

4."Some friends and I were watching the James Bond movie Spectre while extremely drunk and got really confused by the repeated and overlapping sections. We were talking about how the Memento style use of non-linear time was a great addition to the Bond films, only to realize I had been sitting on the remote and rewinding it all night. I think we were watching it for about 4 hours."

—cowboysted

5."I once watched Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery with my much younger brother, and at the end, he said, 'This would be such a cool movie if they would just take things seriously.' He had never seen James Bond and thought the movie was real, but everyone was just bad at acting."

—Such-Ad-5643

6."I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with my not-yet-wife, and she was like, 'This movie makes no sense; it starts with a bunch of people running and then...what's happening?' I didn't realize she never saw the first movie."

—ClownfishSoup

7."My favorite part about watching The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in the theater was at the end when a guy yelled out, 'That's it?!' I guess he didn't realize it was the first of a trilogy and was a little upset at the lack of closure."

Person reaching for a ring on the ground with a focused expression, referencing a scene from a fantasy movie

8."I am not a fan of superhero movies, but I liked the X-Men when I was younger. So, I thought I would check out one of the X-Men movies. I downloaded one that featured one of my favorite characters. I started watching it; they messed up his whole backstory; there were no other mutants and no action. After about 30 minutes in, I realized it wasn't a superhero movie. So anyways, Jake Gyllenhaal was really good in Nightcrawler."

A person with a camera investigates the side of a vehicle at night, shining a flashlight. Scene suggests intrigue or a search in a movie setting

9."My mom thought Rogue One had a happy ending because 'they were hugging in front of a sunset' at the end of the movie."

Actors in futuristic military uniforms, standing in a spaceship scene from a sci-fi movie

10."My mom loved The Prestige. I expressed surprise because it didn't seem like her kind of movie (she considers Jumanji a horror movie). She was surprised at my surprise and asked why I thought she wouldn't like it. I said it was pretty dark with all the jealousy, revenge, betrayal, and murder. She was even more surprised and said she didn't pick up on any of that stuff. She just 'liked the magicians doing their fun tricks.'"

Two actors in period attire converse on a cobblestone street, evocative of a historical or theatrical setting, featured in a TV and movies article

11."My ex-girlfriend only realized halfway through Schindler's List that Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes were different people, which I found so hilarious as the film must have seemed totally different in her mind. So yeah, to her, the hero of a film about the Holocaust was an enthusiastic Nazi casually murdering people and being generally evil."

A person in a suit holds a cigarette, staring intently. Smoke swirls around, creating a dramatic atmosphere. Background features blurred figures

12."This reminds me of a similar post where the OP's wife didn't realize Matt Damon and Leo DiCaprio were two different people in The Departed."

Two men in a tense confrontation on a rooftop; one in a leather jacket, the other in a dark jacket with hands raised defensively

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Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

13."Watching Titanic in a cinema in the West End of Glasgow. Ship hits the iceberg, the girl behind me says, 'Aw, it's gonna sink.' To which her date replied with absolute confidence, 'Na, it willnae.'"

A couple in vintage attire embraces romantically on a ship deck

14."I watched Elvis in the theater, and when the paper showed his death, an older woman behind me gasped and sadly whispered, 'Oh no, he died.' Earlier, when he took a pill from his doctor, the same lady gasped, 'No Elvis, don't take that!' One would think someone so devoted to Elvis would know the end of this movie."

Person in a black lace shirt with a retro hairstyle, standing in front of a Ferris wheel, conveying a classic, cinematic vibe
Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection

15."My sister-in-law asked if The Martian is based on a true story..."

Person in a futuristic space suit on a rocky terrain, evoking a science fiction or exploration theme

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20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection

16."I remember someone once saying that Scar from The Lion King isn't evil because he is a lion. 'Wild animals can't be evil, they're just acting on their nature.' Bro, I kind of forgot the whole anthropomorphic talking animals with human-like thoughts and morals part, I guess."

Simba and Scar from "The Lion King" share a tense moment on a rocky ledge in the animated film
Disney / Everett

17."Someone once told me they thought The Matrix was about a guy learning to code and getting really good at VR."

Scene from an action movie with a person dodging projectiles in slow motion, bending backwards in a dynamic pose
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

18."I saw The Matrix Reloaded (the second movie) with a guy who was way outside the pop culture loop and hadn't really heard anything about either movie. He thought the characters entering/leaving the Matrix were being disintegrated, and was at a total loss, thinking the movie was displaying a non-sequential timeline."

Person in sleek black outfit and sunglasses, reminiscent of a character from a sci-fi movie
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

19."My dad thought Memento was in chronological order and didn't have a fucking clue what was happening the whole time."

Man sits at a desk, shirtless, with writing on his body, examining a paper in a dimly lit room. Scene evokes contemplation

20."When I was a kid, and I saw The Hunt for Red October, I didn't know the definition of 'defect. So, I had no idea what was going on the entire time."

A serious-looking man in a military uniform stands in front of complex control panels, suggesting a scene from a film or TV show
Paramount / ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

21."Somehow, my dad completely missed that The Princess Bride is a comedy."

Two actors dressed as a couple in an elegant medieval-style outfit, standing in front of a patterned backdrop. The scene evokes a fantasy setting

22."My adult siblings were watching a movie at my mom's house. My mom falls asleep, as she always does. In the movie, they were going to extract a person from someplace. My young niece asks what extract means, and my mom wakes up briefly and says, 'They are going to pull all his teeth out.' So from that point on, everyone was waiting for that to occur."

Action scene with a rugged man in tactical gear holding a gun, looking tense in a dimly lit industrial setting
Netflix / Everett

23."My Dad thought This Is Spinal Tap was a documentary. He couldn't see why they'd been successful."

Two individuals sit in a room filled with guitars. One wears a casual outfit with a hat, and the other sports a sleeveless shirt with a skeleton print
Embassy Pictures / ©EMBASSY PICTURES

24."It’s not the entire plot, but when we watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, a friend thought Snape wanted to see Harry’s green eyes again as he died because they were the color of Slytherin's house."

A character wearing a dark robe with long hair stands in a dimly lit hallway, appearing pensive
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

25."My friend, being critical of Apollo 13, said, 'They just want their Hollywood ending with that finish.' WOOSH!!!!!!"

Three actors in astronaut suits sit inside a spacecraft cockpit, portraying a tense scene from a space-themed film

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Universal / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

26."Someone on here talked about his friend hating on District 9. When he asked his friend why? His friend said they are just some disgusting bugs. 'Who cares if they die?'"

Scene from a sci-fi film with a large spaceship hovering above a group of people, one person wearing a vest and holding a walkie-talkie

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Sony Pictures / ©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

27."Someone I was watching Planet of the Apes with said at the end, 'They had a statue of liberty too?'"

Beach scene with the Statue of Liberty's torch in the sand, referencing a classic sci-fi movie. People walk along the shoreline

28."My father-in-law fell asleep while we were all watching Groundhog Day. Woke up at the end and said, 'So the whole thing was a dream.' Yes and no, I guess."

Crowded scene from a movie with actors and a film crew, including a man in a suit and a woman in a coat, surrounded by extras in a public space

29.Finally, "In my high school history class we were talking about The Notebook one day. Someone mentioned the couple dying at the end, and a girl started SOBBING. 'They died?? I thought they fell asleep!'"

Two people sit on a bench; the man reads a book, while the woman, in a patterned shawl, listens. They appear to be in a garden setting

Do you have a funny story about someone COMPLETELY missing the point of a movie (or getting really confused)? Tell us about it in the comments below or via this totally anonymous form, and maybe we'll do a part two!