Non-linear storytelling (SPOILERS!)

Rating: Null/10 (29 January 2004)

** Spoilers ** Spoilers ** Spoilers ** Spoilers **
(First, since some seem to have problems with this part: Ginny and the boy disappears at the moment when all the bodies are disappearing. They are assumed to have been killed and the bodies vaporized, just as all the other corpses have been.)
This movie is very much in the same school as Usual Suspects, in that it has a "waking up in the shower" (expression born with the "twist" in the Dallas soap) twist. But just as in Usual Suspects, it works!
If you expect a regular monster movie, you'll either be happily surprised or disappointed. In my own opinion, this was something far more interesting and sophisticated than I had expected. Like Usual Suspects, the story breaks the rules of conventional storytelling, but does it successfully. However, it _demands_ of you as a viewer that you go along with it.
It helps to have read some "surreal" writers, such as Philip K. Dick or William Burroughs. To have a mind that's conditioned to go with the flow and accept that a story can be relevant on a purely associative level, even if what it describes isn't consistent or "real" even in its own story universe. Even if it's not real, it can still be relevant. The story in Usual Suspects--which is a lie--is relevant because it's Keyser Soze's way of escaping the law and demonstrating his superiority over the smart police officer. In Identity the story--which is a figment of the protagonist's imagination--is relevant because he's fighting a battle with his multiple personalities and his life is at stake.
(I should add that the story is psychologically whole unbelievable, but that's not important. It's also hard to understand why we should root for the killer. If you're an opponent of the death penalty, it may be interesting to see that he's not executed.)
Anyone who's tried their hand at writing fiction knows how hard it is to follow the rules. Breaking them successfully is a whole different ballgame. Identity is skillfully written and adequately (and then some) executed. Personally I'm delighted that Hollywood has the guts to give us something more advanced than the usual formulaic thrills at times. I'd even go so far as to claim that it's these types of movies that advance the medium in the mainstream, even if Usual Suspects and, for example Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys, are superior movies and have been more important in that respect.