History MortonsFork / Film

* In ''Film/NationalTreasure'', when Ben Gates is being interrogated by a federal agent, the agent offers him an ultimatum: "Door number one, you go to prison for a very long time. Door number two, we're going to get back the Declaration of Independence. You help us find it...and you still go to prison for a very long time. But you'll feel better inside." Gates asks if there's a door that doesn't land him in jail and is told "Someone's got to go to prison."
* ''Film/NotOkay'': What turns out to be the choice as Danni is confronted by Harper about her multitude of lies. She could either confess that she made up her whole story of survivorship, or Harper would tell the world herself that she did. Danni chooses to do the former, but in doing so, she still receives worldwide backlash for her major fabrication, even if she did decide to keep quiet otherwise.

* In ''Film/NationalTreasure'', when the main character (Nicholas Cage) is being interrogated by a federal agent (Harvey Keitel), the agent responds with "Door number one, you go to prison for a very long time. Door number two, we're going to get back the Declaration of Independence. You help us find it...and you still go to prison for a very long time. But you'll feel better inside." The main character asks if there's a door that doesn't land him in jail and gets the response "Someone's got to go to prison."

** In ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeOfTheSith'', it's speculated that the Jedi's plan to apprehend [[BigBad Chancellor Palpatine]] was this. If they failed to do so (which happened due to Anakin's interference), Palpatine would then execute [[ThePurge Order 66]] and wipe out the Jedi Order. If the Jedi succeeded in apprehending Palpatine, it would have been seen by the Senate as an attempt by the Jedi to take control, Palpatine would've gotten off easy (as Mace Windu put it, "[Palpatine] has control of the Senate and the courts!"), and with the pretense of the Jedi's attack on him, executed Order 66 anyway. As a third tine to the fork, Palpatine knew that the Jedi would predict this, and that they would likely come to kill him outright instead of take him prisoner, which would horrify Anakin and prompt the young jedi to come to Palpatine's defense, and thus cement his turn to the dark side.

* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'': While Jigsaw's twisted philosophy ensures that every death trap must have a chance, however gruesome or slim, of escaping it, the ones prepared by his BastardUnderstudy Amanda are all designed to be truly inescapable, leaving victims with the choice of simply dying horribly from the trap or suffering while trying to escape the trap with no option to survive.

[[MortonsFork Morton's Forks]] that have appeared in Live-Action Films.

* The ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' series: While Jigsaw's twisted philosophy ensures that every trap of his has a chance, however gruesome or slim, of escaping it, the traps prepared by his BastardUnderstudy [[spoiler:Amanda]] were all designed to be truly inescapable, leaving victims with the choice of dying horribly from the trap or killing themselves horribly while trying to escape the trap with no option to survive.

** In ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeOfTheSith'', it's speculated that the Jedi's plan to apprehend [[BigBad Chancellor Palpatine]] was this. If they failed to do so (which happened due to Anakin's interference), Palpatine would then execute [[ThePurge Order 66]] and wipe out the Jedi Order. If the Jedi succeeded in apprehending Palpatine, it would have been seen by the Senate as an attempt by the Jedi to take control, Palpatine would've gotten off easy (as Mace Windu put it, "[Palpatine] has control of the Senate and the courts!"), and with the pretense of the Jedi's attack on him, executed Order 66 anyway.

* Evelyn's final choice in ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''. She can either surrender to the police and try to explain the truth, which won't work because [[spoiler:her father, who also raped her, has already made her look insane to everyone and like she probably killed her husband [[IfICantHaveYou in a jealous rage]] ([[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney and he has the money to pay off the right people]]), which will result in him probably taking custody of Evelyn's daughter from the rape, Katherine, or she can make herself look exactly like the violent murderer Noah has made her seem to be by pulling a gun and driving off, in the vague hope she and Katherine might make it out of Chinatown alive. She picks the latter, and as she's surrounded by armed police, her last try fails, she's killed, and Noah takes Katherine.]]
* In ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'', Brian doesn't want to be the Messiah. Unfortunately:
-->'''Brian''': I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!\\
'''Girl''': Only the true Messiah denies His divinity. \\
'''Brian''': What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!\\
'''Followers''': He is! He is the Messiah!
* In ''Film/MysticRiver'', [[spoiler:Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn) confronts Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins) about the murder of Markum's daughter. Markum is wrongfully convinced that Boyle killed her, so he tells him, "Admit it and I'll let you live." Boyle confesses to save his life, so Markum kills him]].
* The ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' series: While Jigsaw's twisted philosophy ensures that every trap of his has a chance, however gruesome or slim, of escaping it, the traps prepared by his BastardUnderstudy [[spoiler:Amanda]] were all designed to be truly inescapable, leaving victims with the choice of dying horribly from the trap or killing themselves horribly while trying to escape the trap with no option to survive.

* According to the adult film version of ''Caligula'', the tyrant leader of Rome would often use this tactic to brand someone he didn't like a traitor, no matter what they said to defend themselves from the accusation, or even if there was evidence to prove their innocence. Pretty much, if Emperor Crazypants didn't like you, or if he just felt like it, you were as good as dead.
* In TheFilmOfTheBook ''Film/{{Timeline}}'', a group of 1999 History students travel to UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar France and are captured by English soldiers. A BloodKnight singles out the only French student and accuses him of being a spy; his pals claim that they are English pilgrims and he is their interpreter. The knight, who speaks French and English, gives the student the choice to prove this right by translating sentences of the knight's choosing aloud. If the student refuses, or translates wrongly, the knight warns, he will be proven to be a French spy and executed immediately. The last sentence the knight says is ''I am a spy''. When the student painfully complies, the other English soldiers take it as a [[DeliberateValuesDissonance valid confession]] and kill him. [[spoiler: It is later discovered that the knight is a time traveler himself and he knew from the beginning [[ForTheEvulz who the "pilgrims" were]].]]
* The Hong Kong film ''Film/FatalMove'' ends with the last two survivors of a gang war, realizing they're surrounded by the police, deciding to engage each other to a fight to the death. The survivor will then commit SuicideByCop.
* ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'':
** Elle Brody ends up trapped on a road with a group of other people with Franchise/{{Godzilla}} on one side and the winged [=MUTO=] on the other.
** When Ford Brody asks the MONARCH folks why they didn't just kill the [=MUTO=] while it was dormant in the ruins of Janjira, Drs. Serizawa and Graham explain that the MUTO was absorbing the radiation that would have flooded the city otherwise. They ultimately concluded that having a {{Kaiju}} getting nutrition and possibly becoming a physical threat to people years later was a lesser threat than having millions die from radiation poisoning.
* In ''Film/WouldYouRather'', a horror movie based on being forced to make bad choices, it should come as no surprise that there are a few of these in the movie. For example, [[spoiler: when one character is given the option of sticking her head in a barrel for two minutes or following the instructions on a printed card in a sealed envelope, she chooses the envelope. When she refuses the barrel, she reads the card, which says she is to stick her head in the barrel for four minutes]].

* And the sequel, ''Fast Lane to Vegas'', continued in the same vein:

* {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. The Operative attempts to appeal to Mal's morality to get him to hand over River, to which Mal demands money. The Operative says Mal's just being difficult.
-->'''Operative:''' That is a trap. If I offer you money, you'll play the man of honor and take umbrage. I ask you to do the right thing, you'll play the brigand.
* In ''Film/MuppetsFromSpace'', Rizzo ends up becoming a lab rat. One of the tests he's subjected to is that he's given a choice of a wedge of cheese and a container of rat poison with a straw; when he goes for the cheese, he gets hit by an ExtendoBoxingGlove, and when he goes for the poison later he gets hit by it again.
* In ''Film/NationalTreasure'', when the main character (Nicholas Cage) is being interrogated by a federal agent (Harvey Keitel), the agent responds with "Door number one, you go to prison for a very long time. Door number two, we're going to get back the Declaration of Independence. You help us find it...and you still go to prison for a very long time. But you'll feel better inside." The main character asks if there's a door that doesn't land him in jail and gets the response "Someone's got to go to prison."
* ''Film/TheMummyTrilogy''
** In ''Film/TheMummy1999'', [[spoiler: after fully regenerating]], Imhotep tells Evelyn that if she takes his hand, he'll spare her friends. Evelyn decides to go with him to save the others, telling Rick that Imhotep still needs to perform the ritual and thus they can still stop him. However, as Imhotep is leaving with Evelyn, he tells the mind-controlled townspeople to "Kill them all!".
** In the backstory of ''Film/TheMummyTombOfTheDragonEmperor'', the [[BigBad titular emperor]] presents Zi Yuan with General Ming prepared to be quartered by horses. He tells her "Become my queen, and I'll let [General Ming] live." Zi Yuan responds with that it's this trope, as he'll kill Ming anyway. The Dragon Emperor tells her she's right and has Ming quartered.
* ''Film/TellMeHowIDie'': One of the characters gives himself a dose of the drug tested at the remote facility so he will have the same future visions as his friends and can anticipate the next move of the (equally prescient, though far more advanced) killer stalking the premises. At one point he has two alternatives on what to do next: he can either try to hide in a parked car but then sees the killer [[DangerTakesABackseat attacking him from behind]], or try to hide in [[NothingGoodEverHappensInAParkingGarage a nearby garage]] where he sees the killer also attacking him. There's no third option: he can't re-enter the rest of the building because the doors are all mechanically locked, and if he tries to flee on foot then the snow storm will undoubtedly kill him. [[spoiler:It turns out both visions were true: the first attack at the garage causes him to flee to the car instead, but he forgot about the rear door he left open to grab a blanket previously so the killer can sneak up behind him and stab him to death.]]
* ''Film/{{Deewaar}}'': When Sumitra falls ill, Vijay is faced with a decision: If he ''doesn't'' go to the hospital, he won't get to see his mother. If he ''does'' go to the hospital, he'll be arrested by the police waiting for him there, and won't get to see his mother ([[TakeAThirdOption he decides to go to the temple to have a chat with Shiva]]). Ravi notes that since he surrounded the hospital with police officers, he has left Vijay with no good options.
* ''Film/OfficialSecrets'': The eponymous Official Secrets Act causes problems for Katharine Gun even after her original charge for leaking the NSA memo: she's informed by a Scotland Yard detective that discussing the details of her potential charges with an attorney counts as an additional OSA violation in its own right, even though she has a right to legal representation under British law. In other words, if she gets an attorney she takes ''two'' OSA counts instead of one, [[AFoolForAClient but if she doesn't, she almost certainly goes to prison.]] Katharine turns it back on him by promising that she won't discuss the memo with anyone else ''unless'' she's charged, and her lawyer Ben Emmerson is able to get the gag order lifted before the trial.

* Said by Billy the Kid in ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure'' before a poker match.
-->'''Billy the Kid:''' What I win, I keep; what ''you'' win, ''I'' keep.\\
'''Bill and Ted:''' Sounds good, Mr. The Kid!
* ''Franchise/StarWars''
** In ''Film/StarWarsANewHope'', when Leia refuses to tell Grand Moff Tarkin the location of the Rebels, he decides to have Alderaan destroyed by the Death Star. When Leia expresses horror over his decision, Tarkin tells her that if she were to prefer a military target instead, then tell him where the Rebels are. Leia says they are on Dantooine. However, Tarkin decides to have Alderaan blown up anyway, citing Leia as being far to trusting and that Dantooine is too remote for a proper demonstration.
** In ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeOfTheSith'', it's speculated that the Jedi's plan to apprehend [[BigBad Chancellor Palpatine]] was this. If they failed to do so (which happened due to Anakin's interference), Palpatine would then execute [[ThePurge Order 66]] and wipe out the Jedi Order. If the Jedi succeeded in apprehending Palpatine, it would have been seen by the Senate as an attempt by the Jedi to take control, Palpatine would've gotten off easy (as Mace Windu put it, "[Palpatine] has control of the Senate and the courts!"), and with the pretense of the Jedi's attack on him, executed Order 66 anyway.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'', it's revealed by WordOfGod that the "trials" the Quintessons conduct are like this: being declared guilty results in you being fed to the Sharkticons. Being declared innocent also results in you being fed to the Sharkticons. The Quintessons are jerks like that.

** The [[KangarooCourt "sentencing hearing"]] that Jonathan Crane (the Scarecrow) gives to prisoners allows prisoners to take one of two options: [[TheWindowOrTheStairs death or exile]]. Exile means being forced to walk at gunpoint onto the thinly frozen river away from Gotham island, which meant almost certainly falling through the ice and drowning long before reaching the opposite shore. When Commissioner Gordon refuses the theatrics of such an obvious death sentence, Crane obligingly sentences him to death... by exile.

* In the backstory of ''Film/TheMummyTombOfTheDragonEmperor'', the [[BigBad titular emperor]] presents Zi Yuan with General Ming prepared to be quartered by horses. He tells her "Become my queen, and I'll let [General Ming] live." Zi Yuan responds with that it's this trope, as he'll kill Ming anyway. The Dragon Emperor tells her she's right and has Ming quartered.

* Evelyn's final choice in ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''. She can either surrender to the police and try to explain the truth, which won't work because [[spoiler:her father, who also raped her, has already made her look insane to everyone and like she probably killed her husband [[IfICantHaveYou in a jealous rage (and he has the money to pay off the right people)]], which will result in him probably taking custody of Evelyn's daughter from the rape, Katherine, or she can make herself look exactly like the violent murderer Noah has made her seem to be by pulling a gun and driving off, in the vague hope she and Katherine might make it out of Chinatown alive. She picks the latter, and as she's surrounded by armed police, her last try fails, she's killed, and Noah takes Katherine.]]

* In ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeOfTheSith'', it's speculated that the Jedi's plan to apprehend [[BigBad Chancellor Palpatine]] was this. If they failed to do so (which happened due to Anakin's interference), Palpatine would then execute [[ThePurge Order 66]] and wipe out the Jedi Order. If the Jedi succeeded in apprehending Palpatine, it would have been seen by the Senate as an attempt by the Jedi to take control, Palpatine would've gotten off easy (as Mace Windu put it, "[Palpatine] has control of the Senate and the courts!"), and with the pretense of the Jedi's attack on him, executed Order 66 anyway.

* ''Film/OfficialSecrets'': The eponymous Official Secrets Act continues to cause problems for Katharine Gun even after her original charge for leaking the NSA memo: she's informed by a Scotland Yard detective after she consults Ben Emmerson at Liberty that discussing the details of her potential charges with an attorney counts as an additional OSA violation in its own right, even though she has a right to legal representation under British law. In other words, if she gets an attorney she takes ''two'' OSA counts instead of one, [[AFoolForAClient but if she doesn't, she almost certainly goes to prison.]] Katharine turns it back on him by promising that she won't discuss the memo with anyone else ''unless'' she's charged, and her lawyer Ben Emmerson is able to get the gag order lifted before the trial.

* ''Film/{{Deewaar}}'': When Sumitra falls ill, Vijay is faced with a decision: If he ''doesn't'' go to the hospital, he won't get to see his mother. If he ''does'' go to the hospital, he'll be arrested by the police waiting for him there, and won't get to see his mother ([[TakeAThirdOption he decides to go to the temple to have a chat with Shiva]]). Ravi notes that since he surrounded the hospital with police officers, he has left Vijay with no good options.

* While in the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' series, most of the traps essentially did this, traps set by Amanda were inescapable. This left victims the choice of dying horribly from the trap or killing themselves horribly while trying to escape the trap with no option to survive.

* In ''Film/NationalTreasure'', when the main character (Nicholas Cage) is being interrogated by a federal agent (Harvey Keitel), the agent responds with "Door number one, you go to prison for a very long time. Door number two, we're going to get back the Declaration of Independence. you help us find it...and you still go to prison for a very long time. But you'll feel better inside." The main character asks if there's a door that doesn't land him in jail and gets the response "Someone's got to go to prison."

* In ''Film/NationalTreasure'', when the main character (Nicholas Cage) is being interrogated by a federal agent (Harvey Keitel), the agent responds with "Refuse to cooperate with us, and you go to jail for a very long time. Cooperate with us, and you still go to jail for a very long time, but you feel better about yourself." The main character asks if there's any option that doesn't land him in jail and gets the response "Somebody's got to go to jail."

-->'''Operative:''' That is a trap. If I offer you money, you'll play the man of honor and take umbrage.