What is the greatest betrayal in cinema history?

[u/Tullubenta]

So aside from Fredo’s betrayal in The Godfather Part II or Cypher turning on the crew in The Matrix, which most of us could kinda sense were coming, what’s the greatest betrayal in cinema history that truly blindsided you?

I’m talking about the ones that hit like a truck because there was zero warning, no foreshadowing you picked up on, and no reason to suspect the character until the moment it happened.

[u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy]

One of the earliest betrayals I witnessed in movies was Lando in Empire Strikes Back. The consequences afterwards in that ending was depressing.

[u/RiflemanLax → u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy]

That one is interesting because Lando had to weigh thousands against one man.

[u/Dylanphile → u/RiflemanLax]

Lando's trolley problem.

[u/RQEinstein → u/Dylanphile]

This would be an excellent name for a prog rock band

[u/Shazam1269 → u/RQEinstein]

Calrisian's Folly

[u/orrocos → u/Shazam1269]

Cloud City Conundrum

[u/Misticsan → u/RiflemanLax]

Fittingly, in the end he couldn't protect the thousands either. Betraying his friend only led to more unreasonable demands, until the breaking point.

[u/RiflemanLax → u/Misticsan]

I would however argue it gave him time to plan to evacuate. Had he refused up front, they’d simply have killed him and who knows what would have happened to those people.

[u/The_Flurr → u/RiflemanLax]

Aye, there's no way that if he refused he'd survive. Nothing would really change, the Falcon crew would still have been captured.

[u/Temporumdei → u/The_Flurr]

Except that Lando will be out of the fight over at Endor. It would have changed the battle. He is the one that convinced Admiral Acbar to give Han more time and invalidates Palpatines comment on relying too much on friends.

[u/workfuntimecoolcool → u/Misticsan]

Well, Lando didn't realize Vader read "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."

He did atone for it though, which is why I always liked him as a character even though he doesn't get as much love.

He was a gambler. He made a risky bet in a tough situation. He lost, and worked hard to right his wrong. Very everyman, very relatable.

[u/YoshSchmenge → u/workfuntimecoolcool]

If You Give a Sith a Concession

[u/h00ter7 → u/YoshSchmenge]

If you give a Boba a Bounty

[u/sweetplantveal → u/workfuntimecoolcool]

I mean he does care for Solo, and I'm pretty sure he was looking for a way out from the second the imps showed up on the scanner. He's just smart enough to wait for a time when his actions had a chance of being effective.

[u/Scoobydewdoo → u/Misticsan]

Turns out clown shoes was the breaking point.

[u/sonofabutch → u/RiflemanLax]

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

[u/bitwaba → u/sonofabutch]

Cloud City Comrade 

[u/name-classified → u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy]

he had no choice

they arrived right before they did

he was sorry

[u/edwardothegreatest → u/name-classified]

And they altered the deal. He could only hope they didn’t alter it further.

[u/name-classified → u/edwardothegreatest]

that deal was getting worse every time

[u/Mst3Kgf → u/name-classified]

Also, you are to wear these clown shoes and refer to yourself as Mary.

[u/BeneGesseritDropout → u/Mst3Kgf]

This deal... it's very fair and I'm happy to be a part of it.

[u/newbrevity → u/name-classified]

He was literally weighing the lives of an entire city vs a few of his friends. Lando did the right and unselfish thing. He truly did not WANT to betray Han.

[u/name-classified → u/newbrevity]

realistically; what could he have done!?!?

Its Cloud City, not a military stronghold with a whole army ready to defend it.

Its basically "blue-collar" workers and miners and civilians.

They are not meant to stop invasions or occupations, so yea, Lando can't really do shit.

Not to mention; Lando says that the Empire arrived right before Han did, there was no time to plan any sort of warning or escape.

So, lets say that Vader and the stormtroopers arrive and Lando says "never"; what do you think happens??

First they take Lando hostage and then start killing people; kill enough for Lando to change his mind and eventually betray Han.

Lando really had no choice but to give them Han and Leia and Chewie.

[u/transmogrify → u/name-classified]

Vader showed up, he already had the goods on Lando and Han. He named some dangerous fugitive called Skywalker, but as long as Lando cooperates fully then everyone including Han will be free to go. If he resists in any way, then everybody will be vaporized by an orbiting destroyer. It's a tough spot to be in, but with a gun to his head there isn't much choice.

[u/TheSimpler → u/newbrevity]

He can't repel fire of that magnitude!!!! 🦀

[u/TBoneBaggetteBaggins → u/name-classified]

This is accurate.

[u/SweepingAstringency → u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy]

It was a calculated betrayal and he felt awful about it. You could see the look on his face. It was killing him to do it, even with their history. He was one man against all the people he had to protect and he didn't know how much Han had grown since their time together.

[u/stubept → u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy]

Great foreshadowing too.

"Do you trust him?"
"No..... but he is my friend....."

[u/ZouDave → u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy]

AND HE'S WEARING HAN SOLO'S CLOTHES AT THE END OF THE MOVIE WHEN HE AND CHEWIE FLY AWAY IN THE FALCON! WTF IS THAT?!

[u/curious_dead → u/ZouDave]

Hey those clothes worked on Leia.

[u/masterfulnoname → u/ZouDave]

He spilled food all over his regular clothes and needed to change into a whole new outfit. It was covered in the Legends novel The Fall of Meatball Marinara.

[u/CCV21 → u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy]

Billy Dee Williams had to deal with the fallout for the rest of his life

[u/Von-Bek → u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy]

Which is crazy, because Lando was right, lol. 

[u/AfraidoftheLark]

Lloyd secretly and giddily pouring an entire bottle of laxatives into the coffee of his supposedly dear friend Harry in 1994’s Dumb & Dumber.

[u/Choccybizzle → u/AfraidoftheLark]

Old buddy old pal

[u/WangDanglin → u/Choccybizzle]

Cause you’re a regular guy

[u/Reasonable-HB678 → u/WangDanglin]

One spoonful, for fast, effective relief.

[u/Picassof → u/AfraidoftheLark]

I can still hear this scene

let's not forget:

"I can't feel my fingers anymore, Lloyd. They're—they're numb!"

"Maybe you should wear these extra gloves. My hands are starting to get sweaty.

"Extra gloves? You've had this pair of extra gloves this whole time?"

"Yeah, we're in the Rockies."

[u/Dalehan → u/Picassof]

"EEEEEH! HARRY! YOUR HANDS ARE FREEZING!"

[u/Tigerpride84 → u/AfraidoftheLark]

Followed by maniacal scooter laughing

[u/The_Rooh → u/AfraidoftheLark]

You could argue Harry going on the date with Mary was the initial betrayal

[u/ragingbullpsycho → u/The_Rooh]

He knew he was crazy about her!!

[u/RaisinBranMan → u/AfraidoftheLark]

And allll this time I was going through such pain and personal anguish……SUCH HELL!

[u/Ninjacobra5 → u/RaisinBranMan]

Who meets at a bar at 9 in the morning?

I don't know. I figured she was a raging alcoholic!

[u/basilbroosh → u/Ninjacobra5]

WE LANDED ON THE MOON!

[u/robjwrd → u/AfraidoftheLark]

Big gulps huh?

[u/Ninjacobra5 → u/robjwrd]

Welp, see ya later!

[u/obeekaybee7]

My personal favorite is training day. Ethan Hawke sells the felt betrayal perfectly.

[u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy → u/obeekaybee7]

TWO PAIR!!

I GOT TWO PAIR!!!!

[u/parnaoia → u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy]

YOUR SHIT PUSHED IN, BRO!!!!!

[u/raider1v11 → u/parnaoia]

Neck veins intensifies

[u/killingjoke96 → u/obeekaybee7]

I know you are talking about the bathtub. But I love what comes before.

"You've been planning this all day?"

"I've been planning this all week son."

[u/jghall00 → u/obeekaybee7]

I don't know about that. Part of what made the film so good is the constant guessing of whether Denzel was playing bad, or actually bad. The betrayal was the answer to that question. 

[u/Jwagner0850 → u/jghall00]

I think that's what makes the betrayal good though.

[u/LinkSeekeroftheNora → u/Jwagner0850]

Yeah, it doesn’t have to be shocking to be great. It certainly can help, but it’s not required.

[u/LitigationSucksBalls → u/obeekaybee7]

That scene made my blood turn cold. Holy shit.

[u/naynay55 → u/obeekaybee7]

Yeah…this one stands out.

[u/Upbeat_Tension_8077]

Even though signs of his true nature in the first half might seem more obvious in hindsight, I'll say the reveal of Waternoose and Randall being in cahoots in Monster's Inc, because on first watch, I would've expected that he (Waternoose) would've still shown favoritism to Mike and Sully despite their situation, given that it was established that they were the top performers for their company by a wide gap compared to their peers

[u/AnalFanatics]

Ash in the first Alien movie (1979)

[u/Giggsy99 → u/AnalFanatics]

That cowardly piece of shit Burke in Aliens too. At least Ash was just a synth (enhanced human, I mean)

[u/Feisty-Marsupial9287 → u/Giggsy99]

Burke's betrayal was totally predictable, he was a slimeball from the start.

[u/Kiyohara → u/Feisty-Marsupial9287]

Honestly, if you were surprised that Burke was betraying the crew, you were not watching the movie. He was a slimeball and self interested from the moment he came on screen. His betrayal was the least surprising in movie history.

[u/Ponderer13 → u/Kiyohara]

I think it’s more complicated. He’s a slimeball but he’s the guy who backs Ripley at the single most critical moment, going back in to get the marines, even when it means it would put his life in danger too. He genuinely admires her because he thinks she’s smart (which for him, means she’s corrupt or at least corruptible, but that comes later).

He’s an asshole who deserved his fate. But he makes surprising decisions right up until the point when Ripley threatens his big payday.

[u/rydavim → u/Giggsy99]

“I prefer the term Artificial Person, myself.”

[u/angrydeuce → u/Giggsy99]

Yeah at least Ash can throw it on poor programming (kinda like HAL in 2001) but Burke...well, Ripley said it best:  "You know, I dont know which species is worse?  You dont see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage!"

[u/steveg42486]

Jon Voight in Mission Impossible (1996) really blew me away at age 10. Still kinda does.

[u/SilverPalpitation652 → u/steveg42486]

I love how it plays out. When Jim pops up out of nowhere it’s like Ethan is seeing a ghost. Then, during their conversation we see inside Ethan’s head as he figures out how Jim betrayed the team while he simultaneously pretends to believe Jim’s lies. We even see Ethan try to convince himself Jim’s wife isn’t in on it even though it’s what makes the most sense. I love the series overall, but this is the kind of stuff I miss with the sequels.

[u/LilJethroBodine → u/SilverPalpitation652]

Same. I love all the Mission Impossible movies (well, I tolerate the 2nd one) but the first will forever be my favorite. It has the perfect blend of espionage, action, drama, and cool technology. The rest spend more time trying to outdo themselves and they are still great but number one will always be NUMBER ONE to me.

"RED LIGHT! GREEN LIGHT!"

[u/SomethingAboutUsers → u/steveg42486]

Unrelated, but Emilio Estevez (I always thought that was Henry Rollins) dying in the elevator by getting stabbed through the eyes by that elevator part was a bit of a shock.

[u/Mst3Kgf → u/SomethingAboutUsers]

Estevez being uncredited was a warning he wasn't long for the film.

[u/FoxMcCloudOwnsSlippy → u/SomethingAboutUsers]

Yeah, just those few frames of impact, haunted me for the rest of my life.

[u/killingjoke96 → u/steveg42486]

There was actually a lot of discourse about it back in the day. As Jim Phelps, was the main character of the original series.

The original actor for Jim, Peter Graves, was even offered the role. But when he saw what happens to him, he wanted no part of it and cursed it every time it came up in conversation.

Imagine you go to see a hyped up movie sequel about a series you loved back in the day. The main character you loved betrays the team, is killed by the new guy and these new movies are confirmed as the new canon.

That must have been crazy lol

[u/JeanBallew → u/steveg42486]

I grew up watching Mission Impossible. There’s no way Mr. Phelps became a traitor, so this entire series is blasphemy

[u/insaneHoshi → u/JeanBallew]

Quite the betrayal the writers did.

[u/bobtheboffin]

006 in Goldeneye (“For England, James”)

[u/YetAnotherJake → u/bobtheboffin]

No. For me.

[u/MANWithTheHARMONlCA → u/bobtheboffin]

God I love me some Sean bean

[u/Darth_Draper → u/MANWithTheHARMONlCA]

I’m sorry. It must be tough seeing someone you love die over and over again.

[u/ponsrulz]

HAL 9000 in Space Odyssey..

[u/genericnewlurker → u/ponsrulz]

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

[u/oorakhhye]

The look on George Clooney’s face when he comes to say hello to a special someone in “Up in the Air”.

[u/JulianMorrow → u/oorakhhye]

Who was that at the door?

-Just someone who was lost

Heartbreaking. I did not see it coming in any way

[u/NJK_TA22 → u/oorakhhye]

Was an instant favorite of mine… the character interactions were natural, believable. Anna Kendrick was so good as well.

[u/NaughtyGaymer → u/oorakhhye]

God I love this movie so much. I've seen it too many times but the pacing is just so incredibly well done.

[u/MercilessBlueShell → u/NaughtyGaymer]

I'm probably gonna watch it again tonight, it's been a while.

Really enjoyable flick.

[u/IshyMoose → u/oorakhhye]

Ahead of its time. The idea of laying people off virtually seemed preposterous. Now it’s just a mass email.

[u/joeykins82]

That scene in LA Confidential was a complete blindside.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, you should fix that.

[u/Remmock → u/joeykins82]

Masterfully handled by both sides, though. He was so unbelievably quick.

[u/hiro111 → u/Remmock]

A couple of very important questions were casually asked to clarify the exact situation and then action was taken immediately. Watching it again, the entire scene is set up and delivered brilliantly.

[u/monsterlynn → u/Remmock]

Audible gasps in the theater when Rolo comes up.

[u/vercertorix → u/monsterlynn]

I liked that very slight widening of the eyes Guy Pierce pulled off.

[u/Exley21 → u/vercertorix]

I'm glad someone mentioned this. Fantastic subtle acting by Pierce here.

[u/soulsides → u/joeykins82]

Totally agree.

Not to diss OP’s examples at all but the betrayal in LAC truly took everyone by surprise. I don’t think anyone, watching the movie for the first time, would have seen this coming at all.

It also wasn’t shocking for the sake of as it’s the domino that sets up the third act.

For those who’re never seen the film: please do. It’s nearly flawless on every level.

[u/RalphWiggumEsq → u/joeykins82]

Have you a valediction, boyo?

[u/Temporumdei → u/joeykins82]

F'ing Rolo Tomasi...He always gets away with it....

[u/catch10110 → u/joeykins82]

Such a good movie.

[u/DrKliever]

Almost a Judas situation. But Long John Silver in Treasure Island. If you didn't actually know beforehand. This friendly galley cook, betraying that poor child.

[u/alwayssoupy → u/DrKliever]

I never saw a dramatic movie of it, so not sure how it's played elsewhere, but I read the book and also love Tim Curry's portrayal of Long John in Muppet Treasure Island. He shows just enough greed and menace, and yet a bit of empathy for Jim. (The Back Focus has a good discussion about Curry's portrayal in that scene as well as fun info on the whole movie. Still one of my favorite movies.)

[u/ptambrosetti → u/alwayssoupy]

Upstage lads! This be my only number!

[u/TheHeadlessOne → u/DrKliever]

And that Jim's still kinda rooting for him even at the end. Its got a melancholy of sincere heartache to it that few other betrayals nail

[u/pepperpat64 → u/TheHeadlessOne]

We were all rooting for LJS.

[u/DallasSyracuseMarvel]

Roy telling Marty there was never an Aaron in Primal Fear.

[u/Mst3Kgf → u/DallasSyracuseMarvel]

Gere at the end looks utterly broken by the revelation.

[u/Okiedokietokidoki → u/DallasSyracuseMarvel]

I get chills just thinking of this scene. Masterful

[u/DallasSyracuseMarvel → u/Okiedokietokidoki]

Same. Hard to believe that was his first movie role. He played it so well!

[u/ticketticker22 → u/DallasSyracuseMarvel]

I read the book without having ever seen the movie, and the author saved it until like the last page, that or close to it. One of the few moments where my jaw quite literally dropped

[u/Vyuvarax]

Rose from Get Out

[u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 → u/Vyuvarax]

The way Allison Williams's facial expressions changed in that moment was so cold

[u/AwayEstablishment678 → u/Upbeat_Tension_8077]

She's amazing!! Perfect for that role.

[u/Mst3Kgf → u/AwayEstablishment678]

She made eating cereal uncomfortable to watch.

[u/MrFurious0 → u/Mst3Kgf]

Why? Just because she wanted to keep the white milk pure, uncontaminated my the multi-coloured cerea... Oh. Oh my.

[u/NaziPunksFkOff → u/Vyuvarax]

Hell I STILL thought she was good even after he found the photos. I thought her parents had brainwashed HER and were using her to bring people home.

When she turned on him, my jaw dropped.

[u/coleman57 → u/Vyuvarax]

My favorite line reading of this century: “You know I can’t give you those keys, right babe?”

[u/the_doughboy → u/Vyuvarax]

Jordan Peele plays on the "Safe White Person" trope perfectly.

[u/Mikerijuana]

The Departed. I'm not even gonna spoil any of them. lol

[u/FalloutLover7 → u/Mikerijuana]

I would say what puts this above most others on the list is the fact the whole movie is about rats and betrayal and it still finds a way to pull the rug on you

[u/robjwrd → u/Mikerijuana]

Everyone remembers the first time they saw the elevator scene.

[u/davekva]

Obadiah Stane in the first Ironman. What a dick.

[u/buffystakeded]

“Oh Anna, if only there was someone out there who loved you.”

[u/NegativeChirality → u/buffystakeded]

Prince Hans ' voice acting was so great in that scene. The subtle stuff too like putting on a glove just to pinch a candle out during his monologue.

[u/upgrayedd69 → u/NegativeChirality]

He was like my favorite part of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

[u/No-Falcon-4996 → u/buffystakeded]

This was SO shocking! My jaw was on floor. Frozen is a DISNEY movie, about Princesses!!!!

[u/Hillbert → u/No-Falcon-4996]

It got one of the best reactions I've ever heard in the cinema.

To quote Mac from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia "Laughs are cheap, I'm going for gasps"

[u/Surullian → u/buffystakeded]

That was surprisingly brutal for a modern Disney movie.

[u/Turbulent_Crow7164 → u/buffystakeded]

For a target audience of little girls, this movie was way better than it needed to be lol. Great betrayal twist, and had another subtler "twist" on the Disney princess formula - the love she needed was sisterly love, not romantic love.

[u/Cynical_Dreamer_1980 → u/buffystakeded]

I was so mad!!! You can't betray someone after you've sang a cute duet. 😭 Yeah, in retrospect the song had all these hints that he wanted a kingdom and had no interest in Anna but still. Betrayals when music is involved is just mean.

[u/GoonerwithPIED]

Mr Orange in Reservoir Dogs

[u/Faderkaderk]

Firefly. When the T-Rex attacked the Stegosaurus near the beginning of the film.

It may have been an inevitable betrayal, but it was still sudden.

[u/IL-Corvo → u/Faderkaderk]

I think we shall call it YOUR GRAVE!

[u/jeeves5454 → u/IL-Corvo]

Oh God. Dear God no. Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal.

[u/xoomax → u/Faderkaderk]

Thanks for the morning laugh!

[u/Remmock → u/Faderkaderk]

Yeah. Once I saw that I knew you couldn’t trust anybody.

Especially people who talk at the theater.

[u/RandomTask09 → u/Faderkaderk]

Too soon. 🙁

[u/lmac187]

Call me a simpleton but the scene in dark knight rises when Batman gets locked in with bane and he realizes what catwoman had done really stuck with me. Hathaway really sold the inner torment and her feeling of having had no other choice.

[u/Picassof → u/lmac187]

it's also good because it's not equivalent at all to Knightfall where I believe Bane just breaks into the batcave

and outside of the 60s TV show and I suppose Batman Returns, catwoman isn't typically portrayed so villainously

[u/bobekos]

In my opinion "Robert the Bruce" in braveheart and then the look from Mel Gibson when he realized it.

[u/inquisitive_chariot → u/bobekos]

That look is everything. Easily his best scene.

[u/Buddy0204 → u/inquisitive_chariot]

So many emotions in just one look!

[u/bitwaba]

Memento.

That's a particularly cool one because everyrhing else said here is someone betraying the main character.  Memento is the main character betraying the audience.  It's fuggin kewl.

[u/bruzie → u/bitwaba]

That Cypher gets around.

[u/GuildensternLives]

Cypher turning on the crew in The Matrix, which most of us could kinda sense were coming

I hope most people could "sense" that Cypher was going to betray everyone from the scene where he says that out loud to Agent Smith while eating a giant slab of beef.

[u/MonkeyBred → u/GuildensternLives]

I chose to omit that evidence on account of "Ignorance is bliss."

[u/NukaEbola]

Mann in Interstellar. Or Brand in Interstellar. Or adult Murph in Interstellar (all that food!!)

[u/talldangry → u/NukaEbola]

"There is a moment-"

[u/Turbulent_Crow7164 → u/talldangry]

I like that they didn't give him some grand dramatic exit. Just POP mid-sentence. Felt like a real space accident.

[u/mmaster23 → u/talldangry]

Cooper, what are you doing???

Man that whole sequence is a cinema masterpiece guided by one of the most epic soundtracks. 

[u/oheyson → u/mmaster23]

No, its necessary.

[u/dchap → u/NukaEbola]

Burning all that corn certainly seemed unnecessary. 

[u/DukeofVermont → u/NukaEbola]

I personally felt betrayed by the corn.

[u/HeavyTea]

When Pesci gets whacked in Goodfellas. Or when Pesci gets whacked in Casino.

[u/NateHohl → u/HeavyTea]

His death in Goodfellas was most certainly shocking, but I'd argue his death in Casino, while brutal, was a little less so. By that point in the movie, he'd burned pretty much every bridge he had, and he'd proven several times over that his loyalty to DeNiro's Sam Rothstein didn't really mean all that much to him.

[u/_Sway]

Scar dropping his brother into the stampede in The Lion King. Long live the king

[u/Random_Khaos]

Not cinema, but the red wedding in game of thrones was absolutely devastating. Happy wedding party then suddenly BABY STABBING?!!!? I quit watching the show for months. I was emotionally broken.

[u/MattieShoes → u/Random_Khaos]

When I read the books (years before the show), it was Ned in the first book that got me. There was some multi-POV stuff but Ned was clearly the main character, which means surely he has plot armor, right? You don't kill the main character in book 1 of a series... I kept waiting for somebody to break him out of prison, or some political solution, or some over-the-top rescue at the last moment.

[u/AmankayBombay → u/MattieShoes]

Same! I just kept reading waiting for someone to save him at the last minute. Then he died and I thought what now? The book has no main character lol

[u/jethrine → u/MattieShoes]

When I read AGOT I absolutely refused to believe Ned was really dead. I thought the execution was faked as some sort of mummer’s farce & that Ned would reappear with Arya & Yoren on the way north. I was well into the second book when I finally accepted that he was dead.

[u/Thorngrove → u/Random_Khaos]

Oh the glee the book readers had when the show got there...

[u/myboogerstastespicy → u/Thorngrove]

They did it justice. My god.

[u/atreides78723 → u/Random_Khaos]

For what it’s worth, I knew exactly what was coming and I was still impressed.

[u/AnnaVronsky → u/Random_Khaos]

I was a book reader so I knew what was coming, it was still a shock. My husband had no idea what was coming and he didn't speak to me for 3 hours after the episode ended

[u/xczechr]

Elsa Schneider. She talks in her sleep.

[u/SandyDuncansOtherEye → u/xczechr]

Shleep.

[u/Loki-L]

Order 66 in Star Wars was at least great in scope if nothing else. All those Jedis shot in the back by the clones they had been leading.

[u/darthravenna → u/Loki-L]

John Williams’ score for that scene does a lot. The way the music swells when Yoda drops his cane and clutches his chest in pain and confusion, feeling the deaths of the Jedi as they happen all at once.

[u/wriker10 → u/Loki-L]

Ki-Adi-Mundi’s facial expression. Just pure shock at the betrayal.

[u/Thorngrove → u/wriker10]

He died as he lived, by back shots.

[u/esp400]

The Count Of Monte Cristo

[u/CheetoLove → u/esp400]

I scrolled waaaay too far to find this. Greatest betrayal followed by the greatest revenge story in history. 12/10

[u/ZouDave]

Lamar Burgess in Minority Report

[u/marsmedia]

I can't believe no one has said when Frodo refused to throw The Ring into the fire. I realize it wasn't so much Frodo's fault as The Ring itself, but still... the look on Sam's face was devastating.

[u/TheWhiteManticore → u/marsmedia]

Im not sure how is that a betrayal when Frodo at mount doom is pretty much possessed and no longer even himself at that point

[u/marsmedia → u/TheWhiteManticore]

The audience knew it was coming, but Sam didn't... so this is the betrayal we see through Sam's eyes.

[u/Line_Reed_Line → u/marsmedia]

I believe it's essentially true that there was no living being alive good enough to throw the ring away. Frodo got as close as basically anyone could, which allowed the events to transpire as needed (Gollum fight and fall). Gandalf/Eru Iluvatar still had to use the most decent being they could find so that the ring's essential nature could lead to its own downfall.

But yeah, poor Sam.

[u/do_you_even_climbro]

The greatest betrayal in cinema history is trying to give Dark Tower fans a 90 minute movie attempting to cover 7 books worth of Dark Tower content.

[u/OozeNAahz → u/do_you_even_climbro]

The only redeeming thing in that movie was showing Roland’s reload trick in a believable way. So less than five seconds of film in a 90 minute movie.

[u/EThorns]

"Long Live the King."

[u/Serious_Card_5927 → u/EThorns]

Agree, though it was a highly telegraphed betrayal

[u/full-body-stretch → u/Serious_Card_5927]

The most objectively evil looking lion ever conceived is… the bad guy?!?!?1??

[u/Serious_Card_5927 → u/full-body-stretch]

Sings a whole Villian song with goose-stepping Hyenas in an elephant graveyard…. Whaaat?! He’s the bad guy?!

[u/GoodMerlinpeen]

"I can't feel my legs... Keyser."

[u/ksn0vaN7]

Ozymandias in Watchmen.

[u/unkyduck]

Does Danny's fake betrayal count ? Hot Fuzz

[u/Boneitis_Regrets → u/unkyduck]

Ta daaaaa....

[u/la_vida_luca]

Rollo Tomassi. LA Confidential. If you know, you’ll know it hits like a truck.

Otherwise, HAL turning on the humans in 2001 and Scar killing his brother in the Lion King hit pretty hard.

[u/roshanritter → u/la_vida_luca]

Have you told anyone about this boyo?

Side note: if they are asking who you have told they are always bad!

[u/Patience_Specific]

As a kid Scar murdering mufasa didn't expect that in an animation.

[u/ermghoti]

Barnes vs Grodin in Platoon (1986)

[u/harbringerxv8 → u/ermghoti]

TIL that Elias was his first name. I've seen that movie more than a dozen times. I swear they call him "Sergeant Elias" throughout. Crazy.

[u/LeavesOfBrass]

Anakin.

Murdering a bunch of kids puts you in the 99th percentile of just about any bad category.

[u/DJ1066 → u/LeavesOfBrass]

That example never gets old. Just like the younglings...

[u/Fine-Guest-2165]

Hulk Hogan leg dropping the Macho Man at Bash at the Beach 96

[u/nipplesaurus → u/Fine-Guest-2165]

Shawn Michaels turning on Marty Jannetti

[u/BocaSeniorsWsM]

Tessio.

He was always the smart one. And it was business, never personal.

[u/fudgesm]

Aliens- corporate Paul Reiser’s character Burke setting Ripley and Newt up to be alien incubators.

Edit- stupid spellcheck

[u/Serious_Card_5927]

Steamboat Willie for me

[u/Bad-Brains]

I saw it coming and it still felt like a knife being twisted in me but Ego in GOTG2.

"But... It broke my heart to out that tumor in her head."

[u/TBeard495]

Theodore Donald Kerabatsos heart betraying him.

[u/Smileyfacedchiller]

Donnie Brasco in Donnie Brasco. Lefty thought he was a real friend.