Identity is a 2003 American psychological slasher film directed by James Mangold, written by Michael Cooney, and featuring an ensemble cast including John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina, Clea DuVall, William Lee Scott, Rebecca De Mornay, Jake Busey, John C. McGinley, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. The film follows ten strangers stranded at an isolated motel in the Nevada desert during a rainstorm, who are mysteriously murdered one by one by an unknown assailant. Several events that take place in the hours before the characters' arrival are introduced at key moments in the film using reverse chronology structure and, in a parallel story, a serial killer awaits a verdict at a crucial trial that will determine whether he will be executed for his crimes. Cooney's screenplay for Identity was inspired by Agatha Christie's 1939 whodunit And Then There Were None. Principal photography took place largely on studio sets in Culver City, California in 2002, with location photography occurring in Palmdale. Identity was released by Sony Pictures Releasing on April 25, 2003. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $90.3 million against a $28 million budget.
Plot In early May 2002, a last-minute midnight hearing is held before serial killer Malcolm Rivers' scheduled execution the next day. A tape of Malcolm reciting the poem "Antigonish" is played. Journals belonging to Malcolm are discovered having been misfiled in the case evidence, which were not introduced during his trial. Malcolm's psychiatrist, Dr. Malick, and his defense attorney argue for a stay of execution, asserting that the journals prove his insanity. Meanwhile, during a torrential rainstorm, ten strangers become stranded at a remote Nevada motel run by Larry Washington. The group consists of limousine driver and former police officer Ed Dakota, who is transporting washed-up actress Caroline Suzanne; Samuel Rhodes, a correctional officer transporting convicted murderer Robert Maine; prostitute Paris Nevada; newlyweds Lou and Ginny Isiana; and another couple, George York, his nine-year-old stepson Timmy, and wife Alice, the latter of whom was severely injured when Ed accidentally struck her on the highway. Suzanne is murdered by an unknown assailant. Ed discovers her severed head in a dryer, along with her motel key, numbered 10. The escaped Maine is suspected to be the killer. Ginny locks herself in the bathroom during a fight with Lou while an unknown assailant murders him in their room. While photographing Lou's body, Ed finds the number 9 key in his hand. Ed deduces the killer is counting down and targeting them by room order. Maine attempts to escape but is captured by Rhodes. When Maine is discovered dead with the number 8 key under Larry's supervision, Ed and Rhodes accuse Larry of being the killer. In a panic, Larry attempts to flee in his truck, fatally striking George in the process. Rhodes subdues Larry, tying him to a chair, and orders the others to stay together until dawn. Larry convinces Paris and Ed that he is not the perpetrator. The bedridden Alice is subsequently found dead, presumably from her injuries; Rhodes finds the number 6 key near her. When George's body is recovered, the number 7 key is in his pocket. The superstitious Ginny theorizes the deaths are supernatural in origin, caused by Native American burial grounds on the hotel property. Ed urges Ginny and Timmy to flee in a car, but it explodes upon their arrival, seemingly killing them both. The remaining four discover that all the victims' bodies have disappeared, before learning all of them share the same birthday, May 10th. Ed also observes that each are named after a U.S. state. Meanwhile, at the hearing, Malick indicates that Malcolm suffers from dissociative identity disorder, harboring ten distinct alternate personalities, and is thus unaware of his crimes. Malcolm arrives at the hearing, bound to a chair. It is revealed that each of the individuals at the motel are abstractions of Malcolm's personalities, which Malick is, through an experimental psychiatric treatment, attempting to bring together, triggering the homicidal personality to kill off the others and reveal itself. At the motel, Paris finds convict-transportation files for both Maine and Rhodes in the police car, revealing that Rhodes is a criminal who has disguised himself as an officer after murdering one. When Paris attempts to warn Larry, Rhodes attacks. Larry intervenes, but is shot to death by Rhodes. Ed subsequently opens fire, and the two kill each other in the process. With all of Malcolm's personalities seemingly destroyed, Malick's psychological experiment successfully results in Malcolm's execution being stayed. Malcolm mysteriously tells Malick and the officials, "I saw you in an orange grove." En route to the psychiatric hospital, Malcolm envisions Paris as she settles down in her hometown of Frostproof, Florida, tending her orange grove. In the grove, she uncovers key number 1 in the dirt, and is approached by Timmy; Timmy was in fact the murderous personality who orchestrated all of the motel deaths and faked his own. Malcolm begs Timmy to spare Paris, but Timmy completely takes over, killing her with a hand rake. When Malick notices something is awry, he opens the safety grate inside the patrol car. Malcolm attacks, strangling Malick and the driver before the van swerves off the road and comes to a stop. Timmy's voice repeats "Antigonish" once more.
Cast
Production
Development Producer Cathy Konrad brought the screenplay for Identity to her then-husband, James Mangold, who had been wanting to direct a thriller film. The screenplay, written by British playwright Michael Cooney, was inspired by Agatha Christie's 1939 whodunit novel And Then There Were None. Mangold stated in an interview prior to the film's release that he was attracted to a claustrophobic thriller because "I don't see this as a genre that's tapped out at this point. You can make it sound dead end but these remain some of the most cinematic films ever made, whether you're talking about Rear Window, The Others, Polanski's Knife in the Water, Dead Calm, Carpenter's The Thing, Alien, huge piles of great films that buck conventional wisdom that a movie should be cinematically broad like a Lawrence of Arabia."
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