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Starring John Cusack and Ray Liotta, Identity is a film which opened to little of the commercial fanfare associated with a blockbuster movie. But this is a film that packs all of the suspense and entertainment value of The Sixth Sense into an original screenplay about a serial killer on the loose. Haunting in its presentation, yet far from a traditional horror film, Identity follows the exploits of ten strangers who become stranded at a Nevada hotel in the midst of a massive rainstorm. One-by-one, they are being killed off, but no one knows the true identity of the killer.

A number of seemingly unrelated people gather at a small roadside motel in a Nevada desert location. Strangers to each other, the people descend from all different types of professions and lifestyles - a limousine driver and his movie star client, a policeman (Ray Liotta) transporting a convict, two parents with their young son, a prostitute (Amanda Peet), a young couple, and the motel's manager (John Hawkes). All of them are trapped on the grounds of the motel due to a record rainstorm that's made the roads impassable. Beset by darkness, each of the motel guests resigns to his fate and settles down to ride out the storm. The guests even make an attempt to socialize with one another.

But when one motel guest turns up dead, suspicions are raised. When it's revealed that an escaped convict, (Jake Busey), is on the loose, the guests become panicked. Ed (John Cusack) becomes de facto leader of the small group of strangers who begin suspect each other when the convict is captured and the killings continue. Is the true killer among them? Or is someone else (or something else) on the motel grounds with them? Far away, in an undisclosed location, a psychiatrist is feverishly attempting to prove the innocence of a man accused of murder, and the answer lies right before him.

Although it's a decent film, Identity falls into the teenage horror film device of having each character wander off alone - despite the fact that people who wander off alone continually turn up dead. However, I'm usually willing to overlook such things if the rest of the film is decent because a movie's objective is to entertain, and Identity does that.

The darkness of the setting, coupled with intermittent thunder and the pattering of rain, create an all-encompassing sense of suspense bordering on fear. Rain muffles sound, so how can you hear if someone's sneaking up behind you? Identity is a unique and original film most movie lovers will enjoy. The plot device is employed with the utmost efficiency, keeping the audience guessing until the very end. Who is the real killer? You'll have to watch Identity to find out.

Presenting a knockout performance by John Cusack, Identity is one of the surprise films of 2003. The dialogue is fresh, not stiff, and the characters are well-rounded considering many of them do not live through most of the scenes. With a surprise ending reminiscent of 1990s smash hits, The Sixth Sense and The Usual Suspects, Identity (although nowhere near as good as those films) is a film you won't want to miss. Due to its well-written storyline and crescendo of suspense, Identity is a definite must-see movie.