Taking life

St. Jovit, Canada, 1983. Two guys meet on the bus. Having decided to continue their trip together, they buy a car and embark on a journey that obscures the breakdown of the car. While one of them is engaged in repairs, the other, for unknown reasons, suddenly pushes him under the wheels of a passing car. After making sure that no one sees him, he breaks the guy's face, appropriates his belongings and continues his journey alone.

Montreal, Canada, 20 years later. At the construction site they find the corpse of an unknown young man. The police have no clues, and therefore the investigation is entrusted to special FBI agent Illyana Scott ( Angelina Jolie ). The girl manages to discover a connection between the murder at the construction site and other unsolved murders in a few years. The unusual serial killer that they are looking for is different in that it kills its victims in order to live their lives later. He not only lives in their apartments and uses money, but also pays taxes. The newly found corpse of an unknown man leads an investigation to a certain James Costa ( Ethan Hawke ), who becomes a witness to the crime. Using it, one can get a description of the killer. After talking with the witness and finding out some features of his life, Illyana manages to understand that Costa is the next victim of an unknown killer. They decide to use it as bait to catch a maniac.

Meanwhile, the police receives information about calls from the phones of murdered men. This allows you to go to a certain Rebecca Asher ( Gina Rowlands ), who recently announced that she saw her dead son on a ferry, where one of the victims of the maniac worked. After talking with the woman, Illyana learns about her son, Martin Escher, who died as a teenager in unclear circumstances and whom her mother saw on the ferry safe and sound. Also, the special agent found out that Martin had a twin brother, whom his mother clearly loved more. As a child, he, saving Martin, died. After that, Martin closed himself, ran away from home and soon, as was believed, died.

As it becomes clear that the perpetrator chose James Costa as the next victim, the police decided to protect him. Soon the criminal himself appears, who cannot be caught, so they decide to send James, as a valuable witness and future victim, to Toronto. But during the training camp, the killer manages to abduct him, while killing a policeman. During the chase, it is possible to kill the killer himself. Case is closed.

James Costa, who has shown attention to Illyana throughout the investigation, to whom he is likable, arrives at the hotel after all that has happened to see her. They spend the night together. In the morning, Illyana and James set off together to identify the perpetrator. Rebecca Escher must come and identify the corpse. During identification, the woman, having examined the body and without saying anything, leaves. Illyana follows her, but she has time to get into the elevator. Illyana descends the stairs to speak with her. Approaching the elevator, Illyana sees in him the tortured body of an unhappy woman and James Costa bent over her with her hands in blood. She understands that she was mistaken, and in fact, James Costa is Martin Escher, who skillfully drove everyone by the nose all this time. He killed his mother, whom he considered guilty of everything that happened to him. The doors close, and Illyana, who is in shock, does not have time to do anything.

In the end, it turns out that the culprit who followed Costa / Escher and kidnapped him is Christopher Hart ( Kiefer Sutherland ), an ordinary thief who owed money to Escher. But in fact, everything that happened before was invented by Escher to confuse the investigation. Everyone is in shock and are trying to quickly figure out Escher, but he is already far away and found a new victim. Most shocked by Illyana. How could she not understand who Costa really was and not see the killer? A shock to her is also the call of Escher from an unknown phone. He tells her that they are similar, and that there is also something abnormal in her. The call manages to determine its location, but in vain. The maniac disappears again. Illyana is fired from the FBI for her mistakes.

7 months later. Illyana lives in her homeland in Pennsylvania and is expecting a baby. She occasionally gets out to the city to buy children's things or something for the house, which is on the outskirts. At home, she is already getting ready for the birth of twin children, as there are two beds in the nursery. And then one day, having returned from the city, she finds Martin at home, who has been watching her all this time and knows that she is waiting for the twins and that these are his children. He offers her to start all over again and become a family. Illyana refuses him, saying also that these children are not him, but James Costa, whom she knew. This pisses him off. He beats her. In a fit of rage, Martin grabs the scissors and sticks them in Illyana’s stomach, saying that he will not allow these children to be born. At this moment, Illyana in response thrusts the scissors into his chest, and before the dying maniac removes the invoice belly, thereby showing him that the whole story of her dismissal and pregnancy is just a trap in order to finally catch him. Martin is dying. Illyana calls the FBI to report that the mission is complete.

• Director: DJ Caruso
• Producer: Mark Canton , Barney Goldman
• Screenwriter: Michael Pye (novel), John Bockenkamp
• Operator: Amir Mokri
• Composer: Philip Glass

• Kinoman magazine
• Cinema Frame
• Official site
• Taking Lives on the Internet Movie Database
• Taking Lives on the allmovie website