Enemy (2013)
Another day, another psychological thriller. The setup: a man, Adam Bell, discovers, what he perceives to be, an exact doppelganger of himself living in his own city. What follows is a back-and-forth cat and mouse involving each man, their families and livelihoods. One cannot be sure whether all of what is happening is even real or not, especially when it takes place in a city (my own city of Toronto), which seems to be horrifyingly consumed by spiders.
Based upon a Spanish novel, Enemy is an expertly made and thought-provoking film by the great Denis Villeneuve. Interestingly, Villeneuve filmed Enemy rather quickly in-between the also-great Incendies and Prisoners (which also starred Gyllenhaal). At only 90 minutes, Enemy is a taught thriller that never lets off the accelerator. The film is also a showcase for the true talent that is Jake Gyllenhaa,l who plays Bell and his mirror image, Anthony Claire, and it is evident by the film's end that Gyllenhaal really is one of the most talented actors working today. Just observe the slight but very important nuances he instills into the two characters creating vital differences for the audience to catch on. Villeneuve, as always, along with cinematographer, Nicolas Bolduc, are both fantastic, casting the film in an eerie and unsettling palette of yellows, greens and oranges.
This is a film that you will want to watch more than once. Most likely, you will be left with a number of questions that will have you pondering over want you have just seen. They are the good kinds of questions though, that stem from a smart film and not the kind that simply have you shaking your head and asking 'what the fuck did I just watch'. The story of the double is as old as literature, but here, set out like a classic, intimate Hitchcockian thriller, it becomes something new and exciting, and well worth your time to see.
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