Currently streaming on Netflix, Enemy, the glorious head-scratcher from Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Incendies, Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049), is a twisted mystery with all sorts of philosophically loaded implications.
Is it a sly version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Is it a metaphysical exploration of divided souls hovering in a unique state of otherworldly stasis? Is it the simple yet complex story of one many having a nervous breakdown? Or is it none of those things and something completely different?
That’s the brilliance of this tricky, multi-layered, and extra-creepy piece of work, which features an on-fire Jake Gyllenhaal in dual performances.
One version of Jake is a regular office dweller, repressed and atypical, going about his daily routine without much in the way of surprise, and the other Jake is the ultimate version of himself, what we project ourselves to be: Commanding, sexy, dangerous, and strong.
When the two of these entities “meet,” the film becomes a mind-twisting exploration of identity and fate, all filtered through the always intriguing notion of the doppelganger.
Based on Jose Saramago’s novel The Double, Villeneuve and cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc shot in Fincher-esque, pea-soup-green and piss-stained-yellow, giving the film an ominous visual sheen that’s both highly sketchy and ugly-slick.
Each shot is perfectly designed, and I’m sure a frame-by-frame analysis of this motion picture would be immensely rewarding. And then there’s the film’s final shot, which is a true show-stopper, and a legit candidate for the most WTF moment of any cinematic year.
It’ll create the impulse to hit the rewind button on your Blu-ray remote, as the stunned look on your face quickly gives way to nervous laughter, and then full on dread.
Review by Nick Clement
Summary
This is a hot-blooded mental-mind-fuck that plays twister with your brain.
