Enemy (2013)

“Did you have a good day at school?”

A melancholic professor falls into obsession when he stumbles upon his doppelganger. That’s the plot, but what’s the story? Enemy is a moody, minimalist exploration of abuse cycles starring Jake Gyllenhaal as two versions of himself, or maybe two seperate people, shot against the Toronto skyline. Mélanie Laurent and Isabelle Rossellini both make appearances. And there are spiders. Maybe.

After getting international attention for Incendie, Denis Villeneuve started developing this loose adaptation of Jose Saramango’s novel The Double, almost simultaneously with his next film Prisoners. Anything that explores dualities really appeals to me, and Gyllenhaal gets to show off his skills by creating the two sets of mannerisms. I think the key to understanding this movie is to follow how women interact with his character(s). They are always able to differentiate between the two, and though they call him out, he doubles down on his lies and deceit. “You’re lying to me” says his pregnant wife, to which he immediately responds “you’re acting crazy”. Her fear is the key to understanding the cruelty of his objectification.
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