A mysterious American man (Matt Damon, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Good Will Hunting) is discovered, adrift and heavily wounded, in the Mediterranean Sea, with no memory of who he is or what has happened to him. As he sets out to discover the increasingly complex truth about his identity, he finds himself pursued by sinister forces from his past who are determined on silencing him for good.
Based on Robert Ludlum’s series of bestselling spy novels, Doug Liman’s The Bourne Identity and Paul Greengrass’s 2004 sequel The Bourne Supremacy distinguish themselves from the relatively crowded arena of action-thrillers with a focus on real stunt work rather than CGI, with series protagonist Damon performing a significant number of stunts himself.
Though initially developed as a standalone feature, the success of The Bourne Identity spawned numerous sequels and spinoffs, with the franchise being likened to a darker, grittier Bond.