The Usual Suspects - How Can We Tell That It's A Thriller?

There are various clues that indicate that "The Usual Suspects" as a thriller, in particular, a gangster thriller.  

From the poster, we can deduct that the group of men have committed crimes, due to the line-up wall, text ("five criminals. one line up. no coincidence"), and the general appearance of the characters.  The large suits connote the "mob style", while the stances of the characters show their place within the gang.  The character in the middle, surrounded by the others (black suit) is physically the largest/tallest, insinuating that he is the leader of the gang.  His confident expression and red shirt also connote that he is a womaniser.  The character to his left, in the long, black leather coat is in an aggressive and confident stance. This implies that he is the supplier of the weapons, the muscle of the group.  The man on the far left, dressed in garage work clothes is most likely the one who supplies the vehicles or the transport to the gang.  The man on the right of the middle man, dressed in a tan suit and tie looks uncomfortable in the situation.  His work-attire conveys him to be intelligent, probably the "brains" of the operation.  The last man, on the far right, is contrastingly unintelligent-looking, by his slouched stance, strange haircut and vest.  The line-up may be described as the life-cycle of a mobster, starting out in the garage, rising to the top and then eventually wanting to break out of the lifestyle.  

The impact of this group together manifests that they are a gang, each having something different to contribute to the operations.  

The opening scene of "The Usual Suspects" can classify the entire film as a gangster thriller through the mise-en-scène, camera, sound and editing.

The mise-en-scène most obviously insinuates the film to be a gangster thriller.  The setting, a ship in a shipyard, is a very classical setting for mob "goings-on" to happen.

The matches and fire in the scene signify danger. The fact that the man is smoking represents him to be a stereotypical mobster.  He used the rest of the pack of matches to light his one cigarette, insinuating that he is the victim or knows that it may be his last.  The next character to come on screen is in a long black coat, his face hidden in the shadows, representing him to be evil.  He puts out the trail of fire that the victim man lights, by urinating on it. This action shows him to be dominant in the situation, further enforced when he stands above the victim, patronising him, "How you doin', kitten?"

The diegetic sounds of water dripping and the fire crackling are enhanced, making them louder.  This creates a more tense atmosphere due to the speed and the use of fire to represent danger or escape.  The non-diegetic soundtrack (instrumental, slow) added an element of mystery.  At the same time, it increased in volume when as the fire was being started, leading up to being loudest at the point of the explosion.

The use of slow motion editing, as the man jumps of the boat after shooting the victim, emphasises his plan coming together.  He was able to kill his target and be rid of the evidence by blowing up the ship. The eyeline match between victim and antagonist helped establish their relationship.

The camera angles showed each characters status, a high angle on the victim and a low angle on the antagonist (shadowy face).  The establishing shots, showing them to be on a ship, were shown in synch with the gunshots, creating rhythm.

All in all, "The Usual Suspects" opening scene creates an expectation of a gangster thriller, using mystery (who is the man in the black coat? why are there now two dead bodies on the ship? how did he escape the ship without dying?) fear (of the antagonist) and paranoia (when will he strike next?).  The non-diegetic music, editing and camera features enforce these expectations set by the mise-en-scène.