Overview
A stormy night at a remote motel turns deadly as secrets unravel and lives are at stake.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Brutal
- foreboding
- claustrophobic
- paranoid
- late night thriller viewing
- rainy day viewing
What critics said
Critics generally found the film an entertaining and inventive mystery thriller, though its audacious third-act twists divide audiences over whether they are ingenious or implausible.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The stranded motel narrative is intercut with Malcolm Rivers's legal and psychiatric proceedings, ultimately reframing the apparent events.
The film initially presents an Agatha Christie-style locked-location murder mystery before radically recontextualizing its clues and characters.
Torrential rain, washed-out roads, a closed desert landscape, and failed communications trap the motel guests together.
The motel guests' connections to Malcolm's psychiatric case make identity, personality, and culpability central mysteries.
Films like Identity, and why
And Then There Were None
isolated strangers, serial killings, clue-based suspense, and a twist-driven mystery structure
Shutter Island
psychological identity puzzles, unreliable reality, and disorienting twist revelations
The Hateful Eight
claustrophobic survival thriller, serial killer investigation, and escalating paranoia
Se7en
rain-soaked neo-noir atmosphere, serial murder investigation, and psychologically unstable characters
Movie Details
- Director
- James Mangold
- Release Date
- 2003-04-25
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (4555)
Cast
- John Cusack
- Ray Liotta
- Amanda Peet
- John Hawkes
- Alfred Molina
- Clea DuVall
- John C. McGinley
- William Lee Scott
- Jake Busey
- Pruitt Taylor Vince
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Identity about?
- A storm-trapped motel becomes the stage for a countdown of murders whose clues reach into a condemned man's fractured mind.
- What is Identity like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Identity as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Identity violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Identity as brutal.
- What did critics think of Identity?
- Critics generally found the film an entertaining and inventive mystery thriller, though its audacious third-act twists divide audiences over whether they are ingenious or implausible.
- Which films are like Identity?
- Films with a similar feel include And Then There Were None, Shutter Island, The Hateful Eight, and Se7en.
- How long is Identity?
- Identity runs 90 minutes.
- Where can I watch Identity?
- In United States, Identity is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
