Identity

During a violent desert storm a group of strangers ends up at a shabby roadside motel. Each guest carries a different backstory, and tensions rise when someone starts killing people off one by one. Local police try to regain control, but every new murder tightens suspicion and forces passengers into quick, uneasy alliances. As secrets surface through terse exchanges and small clues, a few of the survivors try to piece together motives and opportunity before more are lost. A strong ensemble, led by John Cusack and Ray Liotta, heightens the tension as secrets start to spill and fear grows.

Directed by James Mangold, Identity was written by Michael Cooney and released in 2003. The screenplay borrows classic locked-room mystery techniques associated with Agatha Christie and refits them into a compact, modern thriller.

The movie performed well enough at the box office to be considered a commercial success, recouping its budget and drawing sizable audiences worldwide. That solid turnout boosted interest in the cast and helped cement Mangold's reputation for handling genre material with economy and suspense.

Identity's motel setting and late twist have kept it in discussions among mystery fans, and it regularly appears on curated lists of effective contemporary whodunits. Over time it developed a modest cult following, with online debates focusing on its storytelling choices, the reliability of narrators and the way the plot plays with memory and fractured selves.

Critics mostly gave positive responses, reflected in a roughly 7.2/10 vote average from viewers, and they highlighted strong performances from John Cusack, Ray Liotta and Alfred Molina along with tight pacing. The film looks at identity, guilt and memory, and it asks how past actions shape present trust between people who barely know one another.