20 More So-Called Happy Movie Endings That Absolutely Aren't
12. The Usual Suspects
This entry is something of an oddity on this list, as it focuses on a happy ending for the villain of the film. Kevin Spacey may well have played the protagonist, in that the story was centered around him, but he was unequivocally the villain in The Usual Suspects.
The debate can be had over whether Keyser Söze truly ever existed, but Verbal Kint spun such a story to the police using the character, as well as some of the things he saw in the background, that he got away scot-free.
The moment where the camera focused on Kint's limp as it melted away into a normal walk is iconic, and signified that he had been lying the entire time. He was the almost mythical crime lord who operated from within the shadows, and just perfectly convinced the police that the man they were looking for was someone else entirely.
However, what also happened at the end is that Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) put everything together, only just as Kint left the station. So Spacey's character wasn't exactly walking to freedom, was he? Kujan then knew who and what Kint was, and it was surely only a matter of time before he was caught out and put behind bars.