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 revisited it, you realized all the now-obvious clues that had been undermining the story all along? You’re not alone. These clues are a form of foreshadowing, a powerful storytelling technique that helps make an ending — no matter how wild — feel earned. Using foreshadowing in your story can create anticipation and keep your audience engaged right up to the end.

Foreshadowing

When used well, foreshadowing can be extremely effective at hooking an audience. If it’s too obvious, the audience may lose interest. If it’s too subtle, they may 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 signal future events in a story. It can be a highly effective tool for building curiosity, intrigue, suspense, or even a sense of narrative harmony by the time a film or novel reaches its ending. Writers often use foreshadowing early in the story to set up later events. “Hinting” and “foretelling” are both synonyms for foreshadowing. While you can categorize foreshadowing based on how subtle or direct it is, its main function is to capture the audience’s attention.

• Creating suspense
• Dramatic build-up
• Cultivating anticipation

Two Types of Foreshadowing

Now that you understand the definition of foreshadowing, you might immediately recall examples from books or films you know. All of these examples 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.

Shakespeare has the three witches plainly state Macbeth’s fate in the opening: he “shalt be king hereafter,” but Banquo will be the father of future kings.

This is a clever use of direct foreshadowing because it gives us information while also making us — along with the characters — want to know more. Why will Macbeth become king, yet Banquo’s line ultimately take the throne?

Indirect foreshadowing is when elements of the story hint at future events by leaving subtle clues about what will happen. These hints aren’t obvious; they can only be fully understood once the events they foreshadow actually occur.

Of Mice and Men is a great example.

Throughout the book, Lennie is repeatedly described as accidentally killing things when he pets them. This sets up the climactic moment between Lennie and Curley’s wife.

Although there may be two ways to define foreshadowing, both can effectively serve the same purpose when used well. Grabbing the audience’s attention is 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, states that if a gun appears at the beginning of a story, it must be fired by the end.

The point of the rule is that any detail you emphasize early on should come back into play later. Sound familiar? That’s foreshadowing.

A red herring uses the audience’s familiarity with foreshadowing against them. Suppose we see a gun hidden under a pillow in the first act — we’ll assume it’s foreshadowing that the gun will be used later. If the gun turns out to be fake, or never gets used at all, that’s a red herring. A red herring is an element in the story designed to lead us in one direction so that we’re surprised later.

Foreshadowing hints at the future; a flashforward shows it to us. But a flashforward can be vague enough that it also 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 did in films. Writers in any genre can learn from some of the following examples.

Shakespeare’s famous tragedies contain 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 clearly) hints at the fate of Romeo and his beloved.

Juliet also dreams of Romeo dead in a tomb. This likewise foreshadows that things are not going to end well.

The ending of The Monkey’s Paw is also quite grim and is heavily foreshadowed. The previous owner of the magical talisman warns Mr. White: “I threw it on the fire. If you keep it, don’t blame me for what happens. Throw it on the fire like a sensible man.”

After reading this, most readers are on edge, worried that things are going to get much worse.

Here’s another bleak story. John Steinbeck hints at (spoiler alert) Lennie’s fate in his famous work. In the book, a character describes in detail how animals that are too weak to survive in this harsh world should be killed for their own good. As the story progresses, George comes to believe that Lennie may fall into this category as well.

Examples of Foreshadowing in Film

Although there are mainly two types of foreshadowing, filmmakers have found ways to use nearly every tool in cinema to foreshadow story events, from the movie’s title to the characters’ costumes. Analyzing and breaking down some of these examples can help you discover foreshadowing opportunities in your own stories that you might never have noticed before.

Sometimes, a film’s title itself hints at its story. This kind of foreshadowing has to be vague enough to spark curiosity before the audience watches, yet specific enough to make sense once the end credits roll. The Coen Brothers do this perfectly in their 2007 film No Country for Old Men.

The title, from writer-screenwriter Cormac McCarthy, suggests that Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is not suited to the new generation of crime he encounters.

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

Fight Club is one of the clearest examples of a plot-twist film in recent years. If you’ve watched it a second or even third time, you’ve probably noticed various subtle clues throughout that foreshadow the fact that Tyler Durden (played by Brad Pitt) isn’t real — including this line of voice-over.

If you’ve seen The Departed, you know it’s filled with twists and that nearly every main character dies. But did you know director Martin Scorsese left very explicit clues about which characters would die? Drawing inspiration from the 1932 film Scarface, Scorsese places an “X” somewhere in the frame for characters who are going to die.

This classic whodunit keeps audiences curious and engrossed until the very last moment. How? The Usual Suspects skillfully balances subtle, indirect foreshadowing throughout with quick, direct foreshadowing scenes that tie everything together. The result is a plot twist that still ranks among the best more than twenty years later.

The film’s incredible final scene has been copied and parodied for years after its release, largely because of how effectively it brings all the foreshadowing clues together to end the story.

The Prestige is a great example of including just enough foreshadowing to keep the audience engaged without giving away the major twists. One of the film’s best scenes shows 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. But it’s important to know how much foreshadowing your story needs and what kind. Too much foreshadowing can make a story predictable and cause your audience to lose interest. Too little can make it boring or confusing, which also causes them to lose interest.

Try identifying a few moments in your story where you can use foreshadowing techniques and see which approaches work best for you.