It doesn't stick the landing.

Rating: 6/10 (24 July 2019)

'Identity (2003)' sort of gets worse the longer you think about it, in a way, thanks mainly to its silly ending that tries to get in one last, somewhat 'edgy' shock but ends up feeling cheap, pretty nonsensical and, frankly, downright goofy. It's not just the ending itself that causes this retrospective souring, for the movie's true nature - revealed towards its final third - almost delegitimises the overall experience. In and of itself, this twist is a perfectly fine - though, very early-2000s - way to wrap up the plot, tying together the piece's otherwise apparently disparate halves in a relatively natural and, even, fairly clever way. The issue comes when you realise that this reveal actually makes the mainline 'whodunnit' stuff ever-so-slightly superfluous, especially when paired with the true ending that throws everything into question from a writing point of view. When taken as a whole, with everything on the table, the picture doesn't feel as though it knows what it really is or, even, what it's trying to do, I suppose - aside from take the audience on a 'guessing game', horror-themed roller-coaster. In the end, that's perfectly fine. That's all it is, though: fine. It could have been a lot more, a thriller that keeps your brain whirring long after its credits have rolled. In the moment, the movie is entertaining enough and it keeps you suitably engaged. Its puzzle pieces all fit together nicely and it doesn't cheat, per se - until it reaches its final reveal, which relies on, essentially, hidden information and, thus, feels cheap. I will say that I figured out its most major twist far before the piece ostensibly wanted me to, but that's not so much an issue as a testament to the fact that the jigsaw is solvable and, therefore, satisfying (until the final reveal, that is). It's also a testament to the fact that it's all quite generic. Ultimately, it's meant to be experienced and then forgotten, lapped up by an audience that love a good twist whether or not it makes absolute narrative sense or adds to its overall cohesion. It's well-made, enjoyable and almost entirely forgettable. 6/10