🕵️‍♂️🃏 The Usual Suspects - why do we enjoy being fooled?

VIFF movie outing - public screening, optional short chat after.
Short summary
Some thrillers are built on suspense.
The Usual Suspects is built on the pleasure of being manipulated.
Five criminals. One story. One name everyone remembers: Keyser Söze.
This is the kind of movie that depends on performance, timing, misdirection, and the dangerous little thrill of realizing the story has been training you to trust the wrong things.
That is why it still makes a good room.
Not just “what really happened?”
Not plot-summary sludge.
A conversation about unreliable storytelling, charisma, crime-movie mythology, and why audiences like being lied to when the lie has style.
A few questions already sitting in my head

• “Why is it fun to be fooled by a movie?”
• “At what point did you start trusting the wrong person?”
• “Is Keyser Söze a character, a myth, or a storytelling trick?”
• “Does the twist deepen the film, or mostly dominate how people remember it?”
• “What makes an unreliable story satisfying instead of cheap?”
• “Are we drawn to mystery, or to the person confident enough to control the room?”

How the evening will go
We’ll meet at VIFF Centre before the screening, watch the film together, and whoever wants can stay for a short post-film chat.
This is a public VIFF screening, not a private Meetup event.
Please buy your own VIFF ticket while available.
Ticket note
Buy your VIFF ticket here:
https://viff.org/whats-on/the-usual-suspects/book/h81YCUKM6i
When and where
🗓️ Date: Friday, July 24th, 2026
🕒 Time: 5:00 PM
📍 Location: VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC
Runtime: 106 min
VIFF series: 90s, Baby!