Creativity: Pushing Beyond the Predictable

Please, Surprise Me

I’m tired of guessing the plot. Like really tired.

You know that moment, 10 minutes into a movie, where you pause, look at whoever’s watching with you, and say, “Okay, so she’s secretly the villain, he’s going to betray her, and they’ll reconcile during a slow-motion rain scene”? And then… you’re exactly right. Every time.

Where did the surprise go?

Somewhere along the way, storytelling started playing it safe. Studios want formulas. Algorithms want patterns. Audiences get handed the same story wrapped in slightly different packaging. And creativity? It gets stuffed into a box labeled “marketable.”

But true creativity doesn’t come from the formula. It comes from breaking it. From asking, What haven’t we seen before? What would happen if this character didn’t do the thing they always do in Act 2? What if the love interest didn’t show up at the airport? What if the villain… actually made a good point?

We’re craving stories that make us lean in, not sit back. That make us feel something new, not just remember five other movies with the same arc. We want to be challenged, surprised, maybe even confused—for a minute. We want creators who trust us to follow them into weird, unexpected territory.

Writing something unpredictable doesn’t mean chaos—it means boldness. It means reaching for ideas that haven’t been done to death. It means making choices that don’t check all the expected boxes, but still make sense within the world you’ve built. It’s not about twists for shock value—it’s about honesty and risk.

So if you're writing something—a film, a show, a story—don’t worry about what’s “worked before.” Worry about what you haven’t seen yet. What would blow your mind? What would make you sit up and go, “Whoa, didn’t see that coming”?

Because honestly? The world doesn’t need another remake, reboot, or spiritual sequel. It needs something weird. Something brave. Something we can’t predict.

Give us that. Surprise us. Make us feel like we’re discovering something new again. That’s where the magic is.

A great example is Severance, will keep you guessing the whole time, and the direction, camera work and acting is all amazing.

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