This blog post takes an in-depth look at how the film “The Usual Suspects” is regarded as the gold standard of twist thrillers through its structure, direction, and character design.
Why I Love “The Usual Suspects”
When watching movies, I tend to immerse myself deeply in the work. In other words, rather than dissecting scenes from every angle, I follow the story’s flow faithfully, ultimately accepting the film at a very common-sense level. For someone like me, a film with a twist provides a kind of catharsis, surprising me at the very end after faithfully following the development up to that point.
“The Sixth Sense,” “Identity,” “The Others,” “The Butterfly Effect,” “Crime Reconstruction,” “Oldboy.” The common thread among these films is that they all feature a powerful twist in the latter half. Especially in crime thrillers, twists encourage audiences to deduce the culprit themselves, deepening immersion while delivering shock through unexpected revelations or endings that prompt reevaluation of the work. I dare say “The Usual Suspects” is a textbook example of this twist-driven crime thriller genre.
I first saw “The Usual Suspects” around the summer of 2004. At the time, having just watched “The Reckoning” and begun to appreciate the art of twists in films, my younger brother handed me the DVD of this film, urging me to watch it because the twist was exceptional. The twist in the final five minutes of its slightly over 100-minute runtime made me clearly understand what kind of twist is possible only in film. Had this story been a novel instead of a film, any reader could have relatively easily deduced the culprit. I believe director Bryan Singer’s true skill lies precisely here. The film’s crowning achievement was its technique of deliberately concealing suspicious facts, utilizing the intricate visual storytelling only possible in film, not text. This work deserves to be considered a textbook example of a twist thriller, not because of a shocking ending no one saw coming, but because it created a massive twist in the final moments using only the information given to the audience within the film itself (admittedly, not 100% of the information was provided, but I believe enough was presented through certain lines of dialogue).
Honestly, when I first saw this film, regardless of its overall quality, I judged it scene by scene and thought it was “about as polished as a low-budget film could be.” However, upon watching it a second and third time, I realized that even elements that initially seemed somewhat crude were actually devices designed to prevent the prediction of the final twist.
“The Usual Suspects” Narrative Summary
A cargo ship explosion at the Port of San Pedro, California, kills 27 people. The only survivors are Hungarian Akos Kovacs, severely burned and hospitalized, and Verbal Kint, a limping con artist from New York. Verbal, granted immunity in exchange for testimony, is interrogated by Customs agent Kujan. Kujan is convinced former detective Dean Keaton orchestrated the incident and likely survived the blast. Meanwhile, at the hospital, FBI agent Bear interrogates Kovacs through an interpreter.
Verbal unravels the case starting from his arrest six weeks prior on truck hijacking charges, where he encountered Keaton during suspect identification. Others framed as suspects include McManus, his friend Fenster, and explosives expert Hawkeye. After spending a night in a cell together, McManus proposes raiding a New York taxi company used by corrupt NYPD officers for backroom deals to get revenge on the police. Kitten, who wanted to live honestly to please his girlfriend, lawyer Eddie, initially refuses, but eventually joins after Verbal’s persuasion.
The taxi heist succeeds, throwing the NYPD into chaos. McManus proposes selling the loot to Redfoot, a fence in LA. Distrustful of him, the entire crew travels together. Redfoot then commissions them to rob Saul, a Texas jeweler. However, Saul is not a jeweler but a drug dealer, and he ends up dead after a shootout. Meanwhile, Kitten’s crew learns through lawyer Kobayashi that they were unwittingly used in someone else’s scheme. That person is the legendary villain Kaiser Soze, whom Kobashi mentioned in fear at the hospital.
Kobayashi explains that Kitten’s crew had previously crossed into Soze’s territory without realizing it, and that Soze deliberately brought them together through the truck incident. To compensate Soje for their losses, they must raid and disrupt a drug deal involving Soje’s rival organization, scheduled to take place at San Pedro Harbor. Initially, Kitten’s group refuses, and Fenster flees. However, he is soon killed by Soje’s henchmen. Kitten even plans to kill Kobayashi, but upon learning Eddie is being held by Soje’s men, he ultimately carries out the port raid. Kitten leaves Verbal outside the port to protect Eddie in case of emergencies.
However, there were no drugs on the ship; only Marquez, an Argentine who recognized Soje’s face, was present. As Verbal watches, Hawkeye, McManus, and Kitten are killed one after another by Soje. After finishing the job, Soje sets the ship on fire and calmly departs.
Cuyan remains convinced Verbal is still lying, concluding that Kitten is actually Soje and used Verbal to fake his own death. But Verbal leaves the police station without retracting his testimony. Simultaneously, Jack Bear completes a composite sketch based on Kobashi’s testimony and faxes it to Kuyan. The moment the fax arrives, Kuyan realizes Soje’s true identity. Leaving Kuyan rushing out of the police station behind, Verbal stops pretending to limp, gets into the car Kobayashi has driven up, and disappears somewhere. Ultimately, Kaiser Soje was Verbal Kint.
General Evaluation of the Work
A crime thriller depicting the battle of wits between investigators and a mastermind over the true culprit behind a major bloodbath and a large-scale heist. The title “The Usual Suspects” originates from police jargon referring to the suspects summoned first upon a crime occurring. Made on a low budget of $6 million and shot in just 35 days, this film achieved both critical and commercial success, winning two Academy Awards. It also garnered attention as the winner of the Young Cinema Award at the 1995 Tokyo International Film Festival and as an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival.
Director Bryan Singer, then 27 and making his debut after winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, skillfully orchestrated the story like a puzzle, directing seasoned actors significantly older than himself. The cast included Gabriel Byrne, a producer and well-known gangster from “Miller’s Crossing,” Kevin Spacey (famous for his chilling portrayal of a serial killer in ‘Seven’) as Verbal, who holds the key to the case, and Pete Postlethwaite, nominated for an Academy Award for “In the Name of the Father.” These actors, who could have been the director’s father, participated in large numbers.
Director Bryan Singer particularly emphasized a “unique and lengthy narration” that transcends the surface story. While most films use narration as an auxiliary device to explain the story’s flow, this work adopts a completely different approach. Audiences feel they are discovering something new at every moment the film unfolds, maintaining tension as new facts emerge like pieces of a puzzle. This style of long, intricate dialogue is a signature of writer Christopher McQuarrie. His screenplay faithfully captures the psychological depth and tension characteristic of 60s and 70s crime films, while also perfectly recreating the rapid-fire dialogue rhythm of 40s and 50s film noir. Despite the sheer volume of dialogue, which could easily become tedious, director Bryan Singer’s skill shines through in maintaining dramatic tension throughout every scene.
An interesting anecdote surrounds this film. During its domestic release, someone who had already seen the movie reportedly played a nasty prank by drawing a red circle around the criminal’s face on a poster near the theater box office. Knowing the criminal obviously halves the film’s enjoyment. Similarly, if you haven’t seen this film yet, it’s recommended to watch it without reading the plot beforehand.
Character Analysis of “The Usual Suspects”
While the narrative from the beginning to the midpoint of The Usual Suspects demonstrates solid pacing, some critiques suggest it feels monotonous due to its heavy focus on the plot progression. Consequently, some viewers found the mid-section somewhat tedious. However, the element that overcomes this narrative monotony and maximizes the impact of the final twist is none other than Verbal Kint, or rather, the unique character of Kaiser Soze.
Verbal Kint serves as the central figure, the participant, and the narrator throughout the film. In the flashback sequences, he directly experiences all the events as one of the five accomplices, persuading the ringleader, Keaton, or covering his colleagues at the port. Simultaneously, at the police station, he acts as the informant, responding to Kujan’s interrogation and recounting the events in a flashback format. However, as revealed in the final twist, it becomes clear that the events he recounted were either false or constructed narratives with altered key figures and locations. The shocking revelation that the film’s protagonist and informant was actually Kaiser Soze, the core of extreme danger and cruelty, perfectly aligns with the ‘false protagonist’ archetype described in Propp’s folktale structure.
The fact that Verbal is the sole survivor among the five criminals was already mentioned in the opening. Therefore, anyone could have deduced that Verbal was Soze. Yet most viewers naturally exclude Verbal from the list of criminal suspects. The reason lies in his characterization as disabled, limping and unable to use one hand properly. The director strongly emphasizes this disability, making Verbal appear physically weak within the story, a burden among the five criminals, and someone who only uses his brain. Furthermore, his rambling during Kuyan’s interrogation about completely unrelated topics like Guatemalan coffee or his hometown’s quartet reinforces the impression that he is mentally unstable. Meanwhile, the scene explaining why Kaiser Soze became a legend shows him brutally executing not only the gang that attacked him but also his own family and their associates. This contrast makes it extremely difficult to connect the fragile Verbal with the ruthless Soze. It effectively hides the obvious criminal behind a unique character design. Kevin Spacey’s performance, which fully brought this character to life, is also indispensable. In the final scene, as the limping Verbal Kint walks with a limp, he gradually straightens his leg and walks. The moment the camera, sweeping upward from below, stops, his expression reveals the pure evil of absolute villainy. The figure standing there is no longer the limping Verbal Kint, but the villain, Kaiser Soze.
Concluding the Analysis of “The Usual Suspects”
If judged solely on its twist, there are films that surpass this work. However, this film presented a twist that was not merely flashy and shocking with weak connections, but one naturally woven based on the information the director provided to the audience. This allowed the final twist to connect smoothly with the preceding content while still delivering a powerful shock that didn’t feel forced. Above all, what I felt most keenly while watching and analyzing this film multiple times was not the cruelty of the thriller or the shock of the twist, but the sheer power of its original characters. Through this analysis, I deeply realized once again that a single, well-constructed character can elevate every aspect of a work to a higher level.
