Last Christmas - Official Trailer. Video / Universal Pictures
SPOILER WARNING: Only read on if you're happy to find out what happens in Last Christmas.
There's a new movie in cinemas now called Last Christmas and it contains one heck of a plot twist.
The film stars Emilia Clarke as Kate, a young woman whose life is an absolute mess.
Kate has alienated her family and friends with her selfish behaviour, seemingly hates her job at a Christmas shop and has all but given up on her dream of becoming a professional singer.
But then she meets Tom (played by Henry Golding), a charming man who volunteers for a charity and who gradually inspires Kate to turn her life around.
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But something's not quite right. Kate, who hints that she is still recovering from a major operation, can never get a hold of Tom when she needs him. And when she does see him, he's always wearing the same clothes.
Ever since the film's trailer was released in August, people have been speculating online as to what the plot twist could be, and it's fair to say the guessing game annoyed Clarke.
"It's bloody annoying. Frustrating," she told IndieWire.
Last Christmas. Photo / Supplied
The Last Christmas script was written by Emma Thompson (yes, the actress), who did her best to make sure the plot twist wasn't too obvious, Clarke said.
"Emma and (her husband) Greg wrote this script together, but they sent the script to all of their friends and it was only ready when their friends didn't see the twist coming and couldn't guess until it happens," the Game of Thrones star said.
THE PLOT TWIST REVEALED
OK, this is your last chance to stop reading if you don't want to know what happens in Last Christmas.
We should explain that the movie features the music of George Michael and Wham!, including the holiday classic, Last Christmas.
Do you remember the song's lyrics? Last Christmas, I gave you my heart …
Fans are not impressed with the plot twist - or the movie. Photo / Supplied
Well, that's pretty much what the plot twist is.
It turns out that Tom is a ghost. Towards the end of the film we discover that he was actually killed two years earlier in a bike accident.
Director Paul Feig opened up about the twist in an interview with Vulture and said he and Thompson never wanted to make a movie abut a woman being saved by a man.
"Sometimes you're in this movie like, 'Oh, he's really helping her show her the way'," he said. "But when you do realise, 'Oh my goodness, she's actually helping herself', it's a very empowering message in the guise of a rom-com."
Actor Henry Golding was told about the plot twist before he even read the script and said they tweaked it before filming.
"My agent spoiled it for me. He was like, 'Oh God, this script is amazing. There's this huge reveal and blah blah blah, you're dead'. I'm like, 'Ah, man, why?'" he told Vogue.
"But when I read it, it was a very different reveal, which we changed. Originally, I wasn't at the bench with (Kate at the end, after she finds out he's dead), and (Tom's) phone lights up, and it's a message from him, and he says his goodbyes that way.
Last Christmas puts a twist on xmas no one asked for. Photo / Supplied NZH 07Nov19 -
"I was like, 'Guys, I really think that Tom needs to say a proper goodbye. He needs to be there and he needs to have that moment with Kate'. And that's what we did."
Last Christmas received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising the film's "sentimental journey" and others suggesting the twist was a little too predictable.
The harshest review came from Rolling Stone, which gave the film one star and wrote: "Last Christmas is bad. Incredibly, shockingly, monumentally bad. The kind of bad that falls somewhere between finding a lump of coal in your stocking and discovering one painfully lodged in your rectum."
Feig responded to Rolling Stone on Twitter, writing: "We can't win everybody over but we will continue to try! I swear all of our hearts were in the right place. Can our one star at least be a really really big star?"
I think the lesson that the writers, director and creators of #LastChristmas need to take away from this is...don’t try to bait and switch us. We can spot a ghost boyfriend/figment of the heroine’s imagination from miles away.
The movie #LastChristmas was quite awful. You don’t have any reason to like the characters, so when there’s an enormous plot twist you’re outraged and want a refund immediately. If you’ve been forced to go by a loved one, take 10 bottles of wine minimum.
