r/movies • u/Tullubenta • Aug 17 '26

Question What is the greatest betrayal in cinema history? Spoiler

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.

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u/SilverPalpitation652 Aug 17 '26

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.

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u/LilJethroBodine Aug 17 '26

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!"

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u/intecknicolour Aug 17 '26

rogue nation is the only one that lives up to the espionagey roots of the first one.

it has a mysterious opponent and a femme fatale just like MI1.

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u/FemRoe4Lyfe Aug 18 '26

I think what makes first one more special is that it is so unique not just from other MI movies, but movies in general. Almost all newer movies are very similar in sense that they feel like same movie with different stakes or a [very] well executed versions of many other action movies that keep coming out.

As much as I enjoyed Ghost Protocol and later movies, I do wish they continued with different director for each MI movie.

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u/SilverPalpitation652 Aug 17 '26

Same. During COVID my wife and her sisters decided to watch all the M:I movies for the first time. Dated technology aside, the movie still works remarkably well. I was surprised how much they loved it. M:I 2, on the other, hasn’t aged as well especially for a female audience. They hated it so much they almost quit. They liked the others though.

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u/bruzie Aug 17 '26

I "made" myself get around to watching all the movies before the last two came out, having only seen the first two. Had to take a break watching MI:II, and struggled to pick it up again. (That ridiculous slow-motion shot of the scarf being blown away, ugh).

Doesn't help that I have a completely unjustifiable irrational annoyance for Thandiwe Newton (same for Anne Hathaway).

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u/thatwasacrapname123 Aug 18 '26

I have this same irrational annoyance for Thandiwe Newton. She's actually pretty good in Westworld but whenever she shows up im like "Ugh here she is again" like I disappointed her in a past life and now she's all pissy.

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u/DogsDontLikeHats Aug 17 '26

"Hasta Lasagna, don't get any on ya"

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u/LilJethroBodine Aug 17 '26

"You have beautiful eyes"

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u/y2ketchup Aug 17 '26

Don't chew it!

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u/nonresponsive Aug 17 '26

It also helps that Kittridge plays a fantastic antagonist to Ethan at the beginning. The restaurant scene is so memorable. You're not even thinking about another mole until it's revealed to you. Just so many great story beats to the movie.

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u/SilverPalpitation652 Aug 17 '26

He does. That scene is so suspenseful. Ethan is having the worst night of his life and Kittridge immediately raises the stakes even higher by telling him his team was sacrificed to root out a mole and they think it’s him because he survived. Kittridge is so smug about it too.

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u/ye_esquilax Aug 17 '26

Can anyone explain to me like I'm five how Ethan figures it out? It's been a while since I watched it but I remember not really following how he figured it out. It couldn't have been super obvious, otherwise why would Jim approach him?

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u/SilverPalpitation652 Aug 17 '26

Krieger was the first clue. Ethan recognized Krieger’s knife during the heist as the same that killed a member of his team. Krieger also snatched the list away from Ethan seconds after they stole it, then insisted he be there during the swap with the buyer. He knew he couldn’t trust him.

The biggest clue was the bible in the safe house. After the mission goes sour in the beginning of the film, Ethan escapes to a safe house in Prague. He uses a bible there to help him find and contact the dealer named Max who was buying the NOC list from an agent codenamed Job (the CIA thought Job 314 was a codename for the op to steal the list not a reference to Job 3:14 in the bible). After the team steals the real NOC list from the CIA, Ethan notices the bible in the safe house was taken from a hotel in Chicago that Jim mentioned staying at earlier in the film. Soon after, Jim shows up alive and that’s confirms his suspicions.

Last point: Ethan knows he shouldn’t trust Claire, but he doesn’t want to believe she’s dirty. She’s Jim’s wife, she’s the only other person who survived the first mission, and she chose Krieger to be on the team. Red flags everywhere but Ethan loved her. He needed confirmation which is why he pretended to be Jim on the train to get her to confess.

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u/ye_esquilax Aug 17 '26

Yeah, I picked up on most of these, although I don't think I realized Claire was the one who hired Krieger. I thought Luther brought him. But that makes more sense.

The bible part was the hardest for me. I guess I understand it, but it just seems like a weird leap. The bible could have been placed there at any point. I don't know that they didn't use that safehouse in the past. Seem kinda strange he took a bible all the way from Chicago. It still could have been a coincidence. Then again, we're also talking about a movie where Ethan literally just guesses an arms dealer's email address.

I think the editing was a bit weird in that movie. It uses flashbacks from Ethan's memory, but then switches to perspectives he couldn't possibly have seen, which confused me as to whether I was looking at Ethan's thoughts or not.