Guess the Movie From the Timeline: Ultimate 20-Question Film Trivia Quiz

Answers at the bottom — no peeking!

Put your cinephile knowledge to the ultimate test! Can you identify these 20 iconic films from their precise plot timelines? From Hitchcock classics to modern blockbusters, only true film fans will score a perfect 20/20.

Questions

Question 1: Which film features this timeline? 1. A woman steals $40,000 and drives to the Bates Motel. 2. She is murdered in the shower. 3. Investigators uncover Norman Bates’ secret in the cellar.

A. The Birds
B. Psycho
C. Rear Window
D. Vertigo

Question 2: Which film features this timeline? 1. A shark attacks a swimmer on the Fourth of July. 2. The mayor keeps beaches open. 3. Three men hunt the great white shark at sea.

A. Deep Blue Sea
B. The Shallows
C. Jaws
D. Open Water

Question 3: Which film features this timeline? 1. A princess hides secret plans in droids. 2. Luke Skywalker joins the Rebellion. 3. They destroy the Death Star in a trench run.

A. The Empire Strikes Back
B. Rogue One
C. Star Wars: A New Hope
D. Return of the Jedi

Question 4: Which film features this timeline? 1. A commercial starship crew investigates a distress signal. 2. A facehugger attaches to Kane. 3. Ripley battles the xenomorph in the escape shuttle.

A. Prometheus
B. Predator
C. Aliens
D. Alien

Question 5: Which film features this timeline? 1. A family drives to the Overlook Hotel for winter caretaking. 2. Jack types “All work and no play.” 3. Danny escapes via hedge maze as Jack freezes.

A. The Shining
B. Doctor Sleep
C. 1408
D. Misery

Question 6: Which film features this timeline? 1. Marty McFly travels to 1955 in a DeLorean. 2. He interferes with his parents’ meeting. 3. He races the clock to hit 88 mph for 1985.

A. Back to the Future Part II
B. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
C. Peggy Sue Got Married
D. Back to the Future

Question 7: Which film features this timeline? 1. Indiana Jones seeks the Ark of the Covenant. 2. He melts Nazi faces with the opened Ark. 3. Marion survives the desert truck chase.

A. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
B. Raiders of the Lost Ark
C. The Last Crusade
D. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Question 8: Which film features this timeline? 1. A boy finds an alien in his backyard shed. 2. They fly bikes to evade government agents. 3. E.T. “phones home” and says goodbye.

A. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
B. Explorers
C. Super 8
D. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Question 9: Which film features this timeline? 1. Rose and Jack meet on the Titanic. 2. The ship hits an iceberg. 3. Jack dies in the freezing water as Rose floats on debris.

A. Ghost
B. A Night to Remember
C. The Poseidon Adventure
D. Titanic

Question 10: Which film features this timeline? 1. Lawyers visit Isla Nublar park. 2. T-Rex attacks a Jeep. 3. They escape on a helicopter as raptors chase.

A. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
B. Jurassic World
C. Jurassic Park
D. Congo

Question 11: Which film features this timeline? 1. A mobster’s daughter weds at the start. 2. A horse head scares a rival. 3. Michael avenges his family during a baptism montage.

A. The Godfather Part II
B. Goodfellas
C. Casino
D. The Godfather

Question 12: Which film features this timeline? 1. Clarice recruits Hannibal Lecter. 2. He provides clues on Buffalo Bill. 3. She shoots Bill in the dark basement.

A. Red Dragon
B. Hannibal
C. Manhunter
D. The Silence of the Lambs

Question 13: Which film features this timeline? 1. Neo takes the red pill. 2. He learns of the Matrix simulation. 3. Trinity revives him with a kiss in the real world.

A. The Animatrix
B. Reloaded
C. The Matrix
D. Revolutions

Question 14: Which film features this timeline? 1. Forrest enlists in the Army. 2. He runs across America repeatedly. 3. Jenny dies as he reveals their son.

A. Big Fish
B. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
C. Forrest Gump
D. Cast Away

Question 15: Which film features this timeline? 1. Henry Hill enters the mob life. 2. He deals cocaine against Paulie’s orders. 3. He enters witness protection after betrayals.

A. Donnie Brasco
B. The Irishman
C. Goodfellas
D. American Gangster

Question 16: Which film features this timeline? 1. A heist crew pulls off a diner robbery. 2. Vincent accidentally shoots Marvin. 3. Jules has a revelation after a “miracle” bullet dodge.

A. Reservoir Dogs
B. True Romance
C. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
D. Pulp Fiction

Question 17: Which film features this timeline? 1. A boy meets a wise-cracking penguin emperor. 2. They journey to Antarctica. 3. Happy Feet dances to save his colony.

A. Madagascar
B. Surf’s Up
C. Happy Feet
D. March of the Penguins

Question 18: Which film features this timeline? 1. Dom Cobb infiltrates dreams for inception. 2. They plant an idea in Fischer’s mind. 3. The top spins ambiguously at the end.

A. Shutter Island
B. The Prestige
C. Inception
D. Source Code

Question 19: Which film features this timeline? 1. A virus devastates crops on distant planets. 2. Cooper pilots Endurance through a wormhole. 3. He falls into the tesseract to send data to Murph.

A. Gravity
B. Ad Astra
C. Arrival
D. Interstellar

Question 20: Which film features this timeline? 1. Tyler Durden starts Fight Club. 2. Project Mayhem targets credit card companies. 3. The Narrator realises he is Tyler and shoots himself.

A. Se7en
B. The Machinist
C. Fight Club
D. American Psycho

Answers

  1. B. Psycho — Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic; Marion Crane is murdered at the Bates Motel and Norman’s secret is revealed in the cellar.
  2. C. Jaws — Spielberg’s 1975 thriller; Chief Brody, Hooper and Quint hunt the shark after the mayor ignores beach closures.
  3. C. Star Wars: A New Hope — Lucas’s 1977 film; Luke destroys the Death Star in the trench run after joining the Rebellion.
  4. D. Alien — Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror; the Nostromo crew faces the xenomorph after Kane’s facehugger encounter.
  5. A. The Shining — Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation; Jack Torrance descends into madness at the Overlook and Danny escapes the hedge maze.
  6. D. Back to the Future — Zemeckis’s 1985 hit; Marty interferes with his parents’ meeting in 1955 and returns to 1985 at 88 mph.
  7. B. Raiders of the Lost Ark — Spielberg’s 1981 adventure; Indy recovers the Ark, which melts Nazi faces, and survives the truck chase.
  8. D. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial — Spielberg’s 1982 classic; Elliott hides E.T., they escape on bikes, and E.T. phones home.
  9. D. Titanic — Cameron’s 1997 epic; Rose and Jack meet aboard the doomed liner and Jack dies in the freezing Atlantic.
  10. C. Jurassic Park — Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster; visitors witness the T-Rex attack and escape as raptors close in.
  11. D. The Godfather — Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece; opens at Connie’s wedding, features the horse-head scene, and ends with Michael’s baptism montage.
  12. D. The Silence of the Lambs — Demme’s 1991 Oscar winner; Clarice consults Lecter to catch Buffalo Bill.
  13. C. The Matrix — Wachowskis’ 1999 sci-fi; Neo takes the red pill, learns the truth, and Trinity revives him with a kiss.
  14. C. Forrest Gump — Zemeckis’s 1994 drama; Forrest’s life includes army service, cross-country runs, and Jenny’s death.
  15. C. Goodfellas — Scorsese’s 1990 biopic; Henry Hill rises in the mob, deals cocaine, and enters witness protection.
  16. D. Pulp Fiction — Tarantino’s 1994 nonlinear classic; the diner heist, Marvin shooting, and Jules’s “miracle” revelation are all featured.
  17. C. Happy Feet — Miller’s 2006 animated film; Mumble journeys to Antarctica and dances to save his colony.
  18. C. Inception — Nolan’s 2010 dream-heist thriller; Cobb plants an idea in Fischer’s mind and the top spins at the ambiguous ending.
  19. D. Interstellar — Nolan’s 2014 epic; Cooper pilots through a wormhole and enters the tesseract to save humanity.
  20. C. Fight Club — Fincher’s 1999 satire; the Narrator realises he is Tyler Durden and ends the film with a gunshot.

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