Narrative technique · used in 3 films
Giving the audience the mystery's solution before the main character finds it. The film stops being a whodunit, and the tension comes from watching them stumble toward what you already know.
Examples
Alfred Hitchcock · 1954
Tony lays out the entire plan to Swann before it happens, and you hear every step. The film stops being a whodunit and turns into a question of how the plan will fall apart. You watch the police stumble toward what you already know.
Where to see it: Tony's pitch to Swann. He tricks Swann into leaving fingerprints on a letter, then threatens to expose him unless he kills Margot.
Alfred Hitchcock · 1958
Hitchcock makes an unusual choice with the structure here. Judy's letter reveals that she was Madeleine all along, so you get the answer well before the ending. That said, the rest of the film still works. You watch Scottie rebuild the trap he's already caught in, and you know about it while he doesn't.
Where to see it: Judy writing and then tearing up the letter. You're given the truth, and Scottie spends the rest of the film getting closer to it.
Rian Johnson · 2019
Johnson shows you what Marta did in the first act, so the mystery looks solved. The rest of the film is about how the truth will come out, who gets hurt and what the Thrombey family's reactions tell you about them. Because you get the answer early, the whodunit turns into a study of the characters.
Where to see it: Marta's account of the night's events. You learn what seems to be the solution while the detective and the family still don't know it, and the film's second mystery starts.
Questions
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