What Is Foreshadowing — Examples in Film and Literature

Have you ever watched a movie or read a book where a plot twist completely shocked you, but when you went back through it, you realized all the now-obvious clues had been there, quietly undermining the story all along? You’re not alone. These clues are a form of foreshadowing, a powerful storytelling technique that helps make the ending—no matter how wild—feel deserved. Using foreshadowing in your story can create anticipation and keep your audience hooked until the very end.

Foreshadowing

When used well, foreshadowing can be extremely effective at engaging an audience. If it’s too obvious, the audience may lose interest. If it’s too subtle, they might miss it entirely.

Before we look at examples of foreshadowing in film, we first need to define it and understand what it does. What exactly is foreshadowing? How does it help you tell your story?

What Is Foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing is a literary device used to hint at or suggest future events in a story. It can be a very effective tool for building curiosity, intrigue, suspense, or even a sense of narrative harmony by the time a movie or novel ends. Writers often use foreshadowing early in a story to set up later events. “Hinting” and “foretelling” are both synonyms for foreshadowing. Although you can categorize types of foreshadowing based on how subtle or direct they are, its primary function is to capture the audience’s attention.

• Create suspense
• Build dramatic tension
• Cultivate anticipation

Two Types of Foreshadowing

Now that you know the definition of foreshadowing, you might already be thinking of examples from books or movies that come instantly to mind. All of these fall into one of two types of foreshadowing.

Direct foreshadowing is when an element in the story clearly and explicitly suggests an upcoming event. This can be done through dialogue, a narrator, or a prophecy within the story.

An example of direct foreshadowing can be found in Macbeth.

In the opening, Shakespeare has the three witches plainly declare Macbeth’s fate—that he “shalt be king hereafter”—but that Banquo will be the father of future kings.

This is a clever use of direct foreshadowing because it gives us information while also making both us and the characters want to know more. Why will Macbeth become king, only for Banquo’s line to eventually take over the throne?

Indirect foreshadowing is when elements of the story hint at future events by leaving subtle clues about what is going to happen. These hints are not so obvious; they can only be fully understood once the events they anticipate have occurred.

Of Mice and Men is a great example.

Throughout the book, there are repeated references to Lennie accidentally killing things when he pets them. This sets up the climactic moment between Lennie and Curley’s wife.

Although there may be two main ways to define foreshadowing, both can be equally effective when used properly. Grabbing the audience’s attention lies at the heart of this technique.

Foreshadowing and Related Devices

Foreshadowing is often confused with, or used to refer to, several other literary devices. Let’s look at some terms commonly associated with foreshadowing.

Chekhov’s gun is a very famous form of foreshadowing. The device comes from the work of Anton Chekhov, and simply put, if a gun appears at the beginning of a story, it must be fired by the end.

The essence of the rule is that details emphasized early in a story should pay off later. Sound familiar? That’s foreshadowing.

A red herring makes use of the audience’s familiarity with foreshadowing and turns it against them. Suppose we see a gun hidden under a pillow in the first act—we’ll assume this is foreshadowing that the gun will be used later. If the gun turns out to be fake, or is never used at all, that’s a red herring. A red herring is a story element designed to mislead us so we’ll be surprised later.

Foreshadowing hints at the future; a flashforward shows it to us. But a flashforward can be vague enough that it functions as a hint. For example, we see a close-up of someone pulling a gun out from under a pillow, but we don’t know who it is or why they’re doing it, and then we cut back to events before that reveal. That’s foreshadowing.

Examples of Foreshadowing in Literature

Foreshadowing appeared in books long before it became common in movies. Writers in any genre can learn from the following examples.

In William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, there are several instances of foreshadowing. Romeo says, “Then love-devouring death do what he dare; It is enough I may but call her mine.” This (rather obviously) hints at Romeo’s and his lover’s fate.

Juliet also dreams of Romeo lying dead in a tomb. This likewise foreshadows that something very bad is going to happen.

The ending of The Monkey’s Paw is also quite grim—and by no means without warning. The previous owner of the magic talisman warns Mr. White: “I threw it on the fire. If you keep it, don’t blame me for what happens. Like a sensible man, throw it back in the fire again.”

After reading this, most readers become alert and anxious that things are about to go terribly wrong.

Here’s another bleak story. In his famous work, John Steinbeck foreshadows (spoiler alert) Lennie’s fate. In the book, one character explains in detail how animals too weak to survive in this harsh world should be killed for their own good. As the story progresses, George begins to believe that Lennie may fit this description as well.

Examples of Foreshadowing in Film

Although there are mainly two types of foreshadowing, filmmakers have found ways to use almost every tool in filmmaking to hint at story events—from the movie’s title to a character’s wardrobe. Analyzing and breaking down some of these examples can help you spot foreshadowing opportunities in your own stories that you might otherwise overlook.

Sometimes, the very title of a movie hints at its plot. This kind of foreshadowing has to be vague enough to spark curiosity before the audience watches the film, yet clear enough to make sense once the credits roll. The Coen brothers did this perfectly with their 2007 film No Country for Old Men.

The title, taken from writer and screenwriter Cormac McCarthy, suggests that Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) no longer belongs in the new generation of crime he encounters.

“When you can’t sleep, nothing seems real.”

Fight Club is one of the most famous modern examples of a plot twist in film. On a second or third viewing, you may notice subtle clues throughout the movie that foreshadow the fact that Tyler Durden (played by Brad Pitt) is not real, including this line of voice-over.

If you’ve seen The Departed, you know it’s full of twists and almost every main character ends up dead—but did you know director Martin Scorsese left very clear clues about which characters would die? Drawing from the 1932 screenplay for Scarface, Scorsese places an “X” somewhere in the frame in shots of characters who will die.

This classic “whodunit” keeps the audience curious and engrossed until the very final moment. How? The Usual Suspects cleverly balances subtle, indirect foreshadowing with quick, direct foreshadowing beats throughout, tying all the plot threads together. The result is a twist ending that remains one of the most highly regarded more than twenty years later.

The incredible final scene has been copied and parodied countless times since its release, largely because of how effectively it pulls together all the foreshadowing clues to bring the story to a close.

The Prestige is another strong example, packing in enough foreshadowing to hook the audience without giving away its major twists. One of the film’s best scenes is Alfred performing the birdcage trick, in which he kills a bird and then brings it “back to life.”

Foreshadowing is one of the most effective tools filmmakers have to spark the audience’s curiosity and hold their attention. However, it’s crucial to know how much foreshadowing your story needs, and what kind. Too much can make a story predictable and cause the audience to lose interest. Too little may make it dull or confusing, with the same result.

Try looking for moments in your own story where you can apply some foreshadowing techniques and see which approaches work best for you.