Sifting

"In the traditional detective genre, the protagonist must sift through competing narratives to uncover the truth. In these ontoteleological films, the protagonist must sift through the multitude of subjective states to realize the self. Chris Nolan's Memento, Steven Spielberg's Minority Report, and John Woo's Paycheck all feature protagonists who must discover their identities through the course of the narrative (although each director approaches this in different ways and with different levels of cinematic success)."
~ Davin Heckman, "Unraveling Identity: Watching the Posthuman Bildungsroman"