10 Best Movies Where We Meet The Villain First

There are a lot of moving pieces in The Departed, a lot of double crosses, hidden allegiances, and character turns you would never see coming. The one constant throughout the movie however, is that Jack Nicholson’s Costello always stayed on the wrong side of the law. No hidden agenda, just a criminal empire to run.

While Billy and Colin both pretended to be someone else, and Dignam felt like he could kill anyone at any time, regardless of which side they were on, fans could rely on Costello to be a straightforward bad guy. This was made obvious from the very beginning of the movie.

Against a background of the rough streets of Boston, Costello spoke of his city before showing up to collect protection money. This also gave him the chance to meet with Colin, the man he would ultimately insert into the Boston Police Department as his inside man.

There was a lot to take in throughout The Departed, but starting here and setting up two key antagonist players was key. You could easily get lost in a story like this, but Costello gave you a true north that was needed right from the very start.