Mubi Monday: Enemy (2013)

Sitting in between the less mainstream, but no less interesting, films from director Denis Villeneuve, Enemy is a dark and strange film that boasts a fantastic dual performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, some interesting themes being explored, and a head-scratching ending that feels much more surreal and nonsensical than it actually is.

Gyllenhaal plays Adam, a teacher who seems to enjoy his quiet life. His weekdays are taken up with work and he usually sees his girlfriend (Mélanie Laurent) at weekends. His world changes, however, with the discovery that he has an exact double in the form of an actor, Anthony, and he decides that they should meet. But that may just makes things stranger, and may lead to a spiralling chain of events that include mistrust, anger, and arachnid-infused nightmares.

Based on a novel by José Saramago, Enemy is a dark and compelling psychological drama that rewards multiple viewings, and also retains enough ambiguity to allow viewers to have their own interpretation of events. There are clues, probably even pointers, generously sprinkled throughout the first half of the film, but they still don't point to any one, definitive, conclusion. Well, not in my mind.

Villeneuve knows exactly how far to push things, working with a fine script by Javier Gullón that takes time to observe the main character in between a number of defining moments. Everything has an air of menace and foreboding about it, emphasised by the dark visual style (not murky, but this feels like a film with a hell of a lot of dark brown used in the colour palette), and that doesn't disappear as you realise that a number of the external cues may just be representing the state of mind of the main character.

Although he has many performances that could contend for the title, Gyllenhaal once again proves why he's one of the most watchable actors of his generation as he portrays Adam and Anthony here, two men who may be physically identical but certainly seem poles apart when it comes to personalities. Laurent and Sarah Gadon (playing Anthony's partner, Helen) both do great work in roles that could have easily been further sidelined in favour of more screentime for Gyllenhaal. They're not big roles, or handled as well as they could be, but both actresses do excellent work, reminding you at all times that these are very important characters in the story, even when they're not onscreen. There's also a cameo from Isabella Rossellini, who provides more information that could help sway you towards one definite conclusion, yet once again proves far from definitive.

Enemy is a film I have thought about often, since I first saw it a couple of years ago. It's not one I will revisit often, but I WILL revisit it. And I doubt I will ever stop appreciating the little touches throughout - the character beats, the dialogue, the design work, etc. I recommend others seek it out, if you haven't seen it already.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.