Line #17 YMMV/Identity


1	!!For [[Film/{{Identity}} the film]]
2	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Every single one of the characters at the motel becomes subject to this following the revelation during the final act of the film: [[spoiler:they're all the split personalities of a man suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder.]]
3	* CaptainObviousReveal: [[spoiler:The reveal that Robert is not Malcolm Rivers had some viewers quickly figuring out that the main story took place in Rivers' MentalWorld way before the movie uncovers the twist since ConservationOfDetail meant that Rivers was an important character despite never interacting with the other characters, not to mention that the first scene hinted at Rivers' multiple personalities.]]
4	* CreepyAwesome: After discovering why everyone is trapped at the motel, [[spoiler:Ed]] becomes this. [[spoiler:He speaks in a soft whisper, loses all traces of emotion, and calmly walks forward to kill Rhodes even after Rhodes has already started shooting him.]]
5	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
6	** Paris Nevada, a HookerWithAHeartOfGold, NiceGirl and FinalGirl all in one. It helps that this is also one of Amanda Peet's best performances.
7	** The film also features a stand-out performance from John Hawkes as Larry, who starts off as an untrustworthy SmugSnake and {{Jerkass}} but ends up being a surprisingly nuanced character with a very human backstory.
8	* EpilepticTrees: The film encourages quite a bit of this before TheReveal.
9	* HilariousInHindsight:
10	** Or perhaps a CallForward - when Robert Maine has been tied up, he starts singing "I Got Stripes" by Music/JohnnyCash. Creator/JamesMangold's next movie was ''Film/WalkTheLine'', a biopic of Cash.
11	** ''Film/{{Adaptation}}'' includes a plotline where a character conceives of a mystery movie where everyone is just a personality of a single character, and it's implied to be a terrible idea.
12	* {{Narm}}:
13	** During the big montage at the end, there's a rather hilarious shot of [[spoiler:[[CreepyChild Timmy]] doing an UnflinchingWalk with a PsychoticSmirk on his face as the car explodes behind him and a storm rages all around. It's like they were trying as hard as they could to make a meme that would go viral.]]
14	** "Whores don't get a second chance!"
15	* NarmCharm: Jake Busey hamming it up as the creepy prisoner. "Come on, man, you can tell me. I'm good at keeping secrets. ''I've got a whopper myself!''"
16	* ParanoiaFuel: You're trapped in the middle of nowhere during a freak storm, surrounded by mysterious strangers, and people start dying in increasingly violent ways. What if the killer is some escaped lunatic? What if it's the person standing right next to you? [[spoiler:What if the killer is ''you'', and you don't even know it?]]
17	* RetroactiveRecognition: John Hawkes would become more recognizable after his turns in ''Series/{{Deadwood}}'' and ''Film/WintersBone''.
18	* {{Squick}}:
19	** The image of [[spoiler:a baseball bat shoved down Robert Maine's throat.]]
20	** [[spoiler:Don't also forget the fact that after Caroline was killed, her head was put into the washing machine and her body wasn't found. EEP!]]
21	* SpecialEffectsFailure: Rhodes stabs the cop, who supposedly looses control of the car as he dies, but you can easily see the supposedly dead cop expertly steer the car into the skid.
22	* StoicWoobie: Ed Dakota qualifies, given his DarkAndTroubledPast as a cop. Until [[spoiler:he discovers [[TomatoInTheMirror the truth]],]] in which case he is NotSoStoic.
23	* TearJerker: Ed's story about the woman whose suicide he failed to prevent, which caused him to quit the force.
24	** George York breaking down and distressing over his dying wife throughout the film.
25	** [[spoiler:Ed's last words to Paris as he dies in her arms.]]
26	--->'''Paris:''' (anguished) What happened to you? Where did you go? What did you see?\
27	'''Ed:''' I saw you... I saw you in an orange grove.
28	** The ending [[spoiler:where Paris, the last good part of Malcolm Rivers, is murdered by Timothy, the most evil part of him.]]
29	* TheWoobie: George, Ginny, Larry and Paris at various points in the film.

Context YMMV / Identity