The Usual Suspects ending explained

What happens

Kujan realizes that Verbal built his story from objects on the office bulletin board. As Verbal walks out, his limp vanishes, a police sketch matches his face, and he drives away. Verbal is Keyser Söze.

The last image

Verbal, no longer limping, steps into a waiting car and disappears into the traffic.

What it says

The ending shows that a confident story can stand in for evidence. Kujan believed what he was handed because it fit his certainty, and so did you. The film ends this way to make you feel how easily a narrator controls the room.