Enemy

Adapted from author José Saramago’s novel The Double, director Denis Villeneuve’s enigmatic drama Enemy stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a detached college professor whose life becomes hopelessly intertwined with that of his doppelganger — a sexually insatiable actor. Adam Bell (Gyllenhaal) is a socially isolated man who’s more comfortable lecturing to college students than he is making love to his lustful girlfriend Mary (Mélanie Laurent). One day, on the advice of a colleague, Adam sits down to watch a romantic comedy and what he sees on the screen leaves him deeply disturbed: A supporting player in the film credited as Anthony Clair (also Gyllenhaal), is Adam’s spitting image — right down to the distinctive scar on both of their chests. Compelled to track down his onscreen look-a-like, Adam soon locates Anthony in Mississauga, and begins obsessively tracking his every move. Later, Adam’s ongoing search for answers prompts him to pay a visit to his own eccentric mother (Isabella Rossellini), as well as and Anthony’s pregnant wife (Sarah Gadon). But it isn’t until Adam and Anthony finally come face-to-face that the details connecting them become truly uncanny.

This film is part of our program Down The Rabbit Hole.