In this blog post, I’ll examine how the film “Identity” combines the theme of multiple personalities with the conventions of the crime thriller genre, and how it depicts the process of liberation from one’s own repression through the interaction between reality and fiction.
A Genres Analysis of ‘Identity’
In a broad sense, the thriller is a type of suspense drama that frequently appears in horror and supernatural films, as well as crime and detective stories; it combines elements from various genres that evoke a sense of fear. It can be described as a genre that focuses less on inducing fear and more on depicting the process by which the viewer becomes immersed in that fear.
‘Identity’ is a film about multiple personalities cloaked in the genre of the crime thriller. As seen in films such as ‘The Red Shoes’, ‘Hide and Seek’, and ‘Fight Club’, the theme of multiple personalities is primarily used in horror and thriller films. Throughout their lives, people are constantly curious about new aspects of themselves that lie dormant in their unconscious. By depicting encounters with the myriad selves within—entities that even we ourselves are unaware of but that constantly exist within us—these films allow viewers to experience vicarious satisfaction of their curiosity through the multiple personalities, who embody the concept of “me meeting myself.”
This film exemplifies the typical conventions of both crime thrillers and multiple-personality films; in this text, however, I will focus primarily on the multiple-personality film genre. This is because the film maintains the typical structure of a crime thriller—namely, a narrative that plunges the audience into fear, a setting with torrential rain, dim lighting, and mise-en-scène featuring blood-soaked corpses—leading viewers to believe it is merely a crime thriller. Furthermore, since the film maximizes the impact of the plot twist in the latter half, I believe analyzing the crime thriller genre itself is not essential.
A representative narrative structure of films about multiple personalities is the construction of a dual worldview. This dual worldview can be divided into two axes: the real world and the virtual world. In the early part of the film, the real-world axis is almost entirely ignored, and the story unfolds based on the virtual axis—which is supernatural and indeterminate, making it all the more appealing to the audience. Since the plausibility linking these two axes is not revealed at first, reality and the virtual space are not presented as opposing forces but rather as being in a state of equilibrium—or even as a series of unrelated events.
While the overall plot unfolds in the virtual space, the audience is led to believe it is reality, thereby drawing them in. It possesses the characteristics of a classic twist film, delivering a thrilling yet chilling experience to the deeply immersed audience by revealing that the world shown so far is a fabrication, and that the real-world space—which had only been partially depicted in the film—is actually the core of the story. Since the twist is the lifeblood of this genre, how it is presented is crucial. Maximizing the impact of the twist depends on how plausibly and meticulously the relationship between the two dimensions is established.
‘Identity’ employs a classic plot twist structure similar to ‘The Sixth Sense’. It devotes a brief moment early on to briefly show the real-world setting, laying the groundwork for a key revelation. However, for the remainder of the film, it primarily utilizes conventions of the thriller and horror genres to draw the audience in, causing them to momentarily forget this foreshadowing—only to reveal all the narrative elements that tie back to it in the finale. In this film, before the twist is revealed, it follows the conventions of a typical crime thriller set in an isolated space.
Crime thrillers set in isolated spaces follow certain conventions. First, there is an encounter. Eleven people gather at a motel. A diverse group of people comes together, and the inclusion of a prisoner heightens the dramatic tension.
Next, an incident—specifically, a murder—occurs. One of the 11 women is found brutally murdered. Furthermore, the revelation that the murderer has escaped hints to the audience that the convict might be the killer.
Afterward, the case descends into a mystery. As victims continue to appear one after another—including the prisoner whom they had believed to be the culprit—the case becomes an unsolvable enigma. Then, a new figure emerges as the source of the incidents. It is believed that the victims’ deaths were not caused by humans, but rather resulted from the destruction of a tribal burial ground to build the motel, which provoked the vengeful spirits.
The finale features a series of confrontations and resolutions. The story takes a dramatic turn when it is revealed that the detective leading the investigation is not a detective at all, but another prisoner. As the root cause of the incident is uncovered, extreme conflict among the characters leads to the deaths of everyone except a single woman.
This trope is also a recurring element in the comic series ‘Kim Jeon-il, the Boy Detective’. Although it is a crime thriller set in an all-too-predictable, isolated situation, this film masterfully combines the theme of multiple personalities with the conventions of the crime thriller genre, making the overall story stand out through the intricate interplay of these two elements.
Although it appears that a single survivor emerges from the isolated situation and everything is resolved, just as the film’s tagline states—“When the movie ends, a new horror begins”—the plot devices that have been building up throughout the film explode all at once, revealing an unexpected conclusion: that the entire process was a battle within the mind of the person with multiple personalities—a struggle between his various selves. This ending delivers an experience that maximizes the audience’s sense of horror.
The Intrinsic Nature of ‘Identity’
As mentioned earlier, the reason this film is regarded as unique and entertaining—despite following typical thriller conventions—is that it builds upon the theme of multiple personalities with a solid screenplay. Thus, films about multiple personalities must skillfully construct the relationship between reality and the virtual space. This is because the audience’s ability to empathize depends on how convincing the narrative established up to that point is during the final phase of the virtual world’s destruction.
This film features a seamless interplay between reality and the virtual space through overall allusions and symbolism, which amplified the shock caused by the destruction of the virtual space. Furthermore, unlike in previous multiple-personality films—where the personalities typically manifest as two or three distinct entities, each functioning as an independent being—this film depicts an encounter with “another self.” At the same time, the conflict between the benevolent and malevolent selves, the fact that the childhood self kills the self embodying the mother, and the eventual elimination of all other selves by the childhood self represent distinctive elements that set this film apart from previous works.
The reason this film is considered a masterpiece of both the twist genre and the multiple-personality genre is the strong connection between the real world and the virtual world. Throughout the film, the real and virtual worlds constantly interact, leaving meaningful foreshadowing for the audience. Even if viewers do not recognize these clues while watching the film, the moment everything is revealed, they experience a new sense of horror as they retrace their steps and piece together the foreshadowing.
Furthermore, these interactions are seamlessly woven into the narrative, and by revealing them bit by bit—much like solving a puzzle—they gradually heighten the suspense felt by the audience.
The interaction between reality and the virtual world is manifested through various symbols and narrative devices.
First, the motel can be described as a fantastical space that mirrors the protagonist’s inner world. Born the son of a prostitute, the protagonist endured an oppressive childhood. Because he was confined to a motel during his childhood, those memories remain embedded in his subconscious. The 11 characters find themselves in a situation where they cannot escape the motel, no matter how hard they try; thus, the motel can be seen as a fantastical space that mirrors the protagonist’s inner world.
All 11 characters share the same birthday and are named after places in the United States, a sign suggesting they derive from a single self.
Timothy is the self that embodies the protagonist’s childhood; ultimately, he can be considered the protagonist’s most intrinsic attribute. Suppressed by his mother—who was a prostitute—and the world’s oppression during his childhood, he is a character who, like Peter Pan, never grew up and whose hatred only grew.
The personality the protagonist mistakenly believes to be his own is “Ed.” Consequently, he believes that “Ed” once worked as a detective and is now taking a leave of absence due to guilt over failing to prevent a suicide. In his imagination, “Ed” is the most righteous and works tirelessly to protect others. He is the protagonist’s ideal role model—the embodiment of goodness within the protagonist.
“Rose” is an evil presence that stands in opposition to “Ed,” and the psychiatrist identifies her as the cause of the protagonist’s homicidal tendencies. Although it seems that good ultimately triumphs in the battle between good and evil, she is eliminated by a newly emerging evil. Ultimately, this implies that the deep-rooted evil born from childhood trauma is the root of all evil.
Reflections on Films About Multiple Personalities
‘The Three Faces of Eve’ (1957) was the first film to explore the theme of multiple personalities. One interesting fact is that, although it is considered the pioneer of this genre, watching it again today reveals how different it is from the multiple-personality films we are familiar with today.
‘The Three Faces of Eve’ follows a woman named Eve, who possesses three distinct personalities, as she undergoes treatment with a doctor and strives to recover from her condition and find happiness as a whole person. Since multiple personality disorder was not widely known to the public in the early days, simply addressing the subject was enough to capture the audience’s interest.
Later, with the emergence of Hitchcock, the new genre of the thriller was born, and the concept of multiple personalities was adapted to suit the thriller genre. In fact, the concept of multiple personalities itself is exceptionally well-suited to thrillers and horror. Films about multiple personalities released since the 1990s have largely settled into a fixed style of presentation, using the concept primarily as a device to create dramatic scenes.
So where does the difference in how this theme is utilized come from? If we list famous multiple-personality films from the 1990s onward—such as ‘Fight Club’, ‘Extension’, ‘Primal Fear’, and ‘Red Shoes’—it appears that a significant number of such films have emerged in the past decade or so. The fact that so many of these films have been produced recently clearly demonstrates that there is a demand for them among audiences.
If we ask why audiences enjoy these films, the answer is closely related to the question of why people enjoy horror. Robin Wood, borrowing from Freud, described why people watch horror movies as a “return from the repressed.”
Since humans live in society, they cannot unconditionally express their desires in order to coexist with others. Desires suppressed by the self do not disappear but lie dormant in the unconscious, and people seek to release these repressed impulses in some form. Within the limits where it is guaranteed to remain a fantasy, the eruption of taboo desires can provide catharsis.
As we have entered modern society, the world has become increasingly diverse and is changing at a rapid pace, making it necessary for individuals to constantly adapt in order to survive. Furthermore, in such a highly diversified society, people present different facades depending on their social position, and they may also exhibit different behaviors depending on who they are interacting with and the specific situation.
In this rapidly changing and pluralistic world, people are confused and wonder which of their many personas is their true self. This is why, when watching a movie about multiple personalities, I ask myself if I, too, might have multiple personalities; I identify with the protagonist suffering from multiple personalities, and I find myself pondering my true self—that is the reason I watch such films.
And an even more distinct reason is the sense of liberation it provides. In horror films, the object of repressed emotions is often portrayed as a monster; a monster with an abnormal appearance and immense destructive power sets out to destroy the society that has oppressed the protagonist. While we may feel fear in the face of the monster’s appearance and destructive power, we also experience catharsis in witnessing it destroy the very society that oppresses us.
The form of the monster varies depending on the era and society. In early American films, monsters were depicted as coming from the unknown world of outer space to destroy the Earth. However, after the Vietnam War, when fathers who had returned from the war—having committed acts of slaughter—became the most terrifying figures, a paradigm shift took place: the monster was no longer from outer space but was being bred right within the home.
The realization that the monster is not from outer space but rather within one’s own home—the place where one feels most at ease—and within one’s own family, with whom one shares the air, was truly shocking. Films about multiple personalities can also be said to expand upon this context.
In films about multiple personalities, the monster of this era does not come from outer space or the home; it is ultimately the self contained within oneself. Ultimately, one’s own self is the most terrifying entity, and this reality—where one cannot even trust oneself—instills a sense of dread. The premise that a person ultimately commits the very act of a horrific murder—a crime originally perpetrated by a serial killer—is more than enough to provide both catharsis and a chilling sense of dread to modern people who are unconsciously developing multiple personalities.
To quote Freud, just as the conscious mind is merely a thin surface of the entire mind and most of an iceberg lies beneath the water’s surface, he viewed the majority of the mind as existing in the unconscious beneath the surface of consciousness.
Furthermore, Freud divided the structure of human personality into the id, the ego, and the superego: the id represents instinctual drives; the ego, the effort to resolve those instinctual drives in a realistic and logical manner; and the superego, conscience, guilt, and morality.
Throughout life, humans are taught to be governed by the superego. However, even if the superego dominates the entire psyche, the id and ego do not disappear but remain repressed within this structure. People show interest in multiple personality films because they can sense the unconscious part of themselves—which, like an iceberg, constitutes the majority of their psyche.
It can be said that the reason multiple personality films are made is to express dissatisfaction with the superego that represses the self, as well as dissatisfaction with the society that shapes the superego. Therefore, multiple personality films can be described as a form of liberation from the self.
Are Multiple Personality Films Pioneering a New Genre?
While analyzing these films, I found that categorizing the multiple personality genre solely as a crime thriller or a twist film had its limitations. This is because they depict a world that does not exist in reality in a way that feels intimately connected to reality.
Although they possess elements of fantasy—since they devote most of their runtime to depicting the invisible realm—even when multiple-personality films subvert the boundaries between reality and unreality, the disconnect between the two is smaller than in any other fantasy genre.
While fantasy worlds often depict realms that truly do not exist in reality—thereby lacking a close connection to reality—multiple-personality films demonstrate a strong connection between reality and the virtual by effortlessly traversing between the two through the concept of multiple personalities.
Furthermore, in the moments when audiences—through the “fantastical”—hesitate, feeling both surprise and fear as they weigh the events against their own reality and supernatural explanations, this closeness to reality lends the film its overall persuasiveness. For example, when a virtual space is destroyed, a conclusion stating, “It was all in the mind of the person with multiple personalities,” is far closer to reality than an ending where the character “wakes up to find it was all a dream.”
It can be said that multiple personalities have a stronger sense of reality than the medium of dreams. Therefore, I believe films about multiple personalities can secure an appropriate middle ground between fantasy and reality.
However, it is true that since the 1990s, movies about multiple personalities have followed an overwhelmingly similar narrative structure. There is a need to break away from this clichéd formula: “A terrifying, immersive event occurs, but later, upon looking in the mirror, the protagonist realizes they were the one who caused it.”
The survival of movies about multiple personalities hinges on how diversely this structure—much like the clichéd structure of romantic stories—can be expressed.
