In 2013, under the direction of Denis Villeneuve, Jake Gyllenhaal (one of my all time favourite actors) released ‘Prisoners’, a movie I would go on to adore and encourage anyone and everyone to see. A year later, under the same direction, Enemy was created and its safe to say it evoked the same reaction as it’s predecessor, if not a little more.
This movie centres around history professor Adam Bell. A rather refined character, he appears to lead a very routine orientated life. He goes to work, comes home, sleeps with his girlfriend and repeats. One night whilst watching a film recommended to him by a co-worker, Adam is shocked to find out that an extra in the movie looks exactly like him. Intrigued by this, he decides to rent any movie he can get his hands on that stars this alluring doppelgänger. He soon finds out that the man in question is Anthony Claire, a married actor of limited previous roles, who resides within the same city. After eventually meeting, it becomes clear that the two are identical. This sets off a dark, downward spiral, where their lives become entwined, a path Adam may of wished he had never originally crawled down.
I loved this movie. From it’s opening scene to the very last, I was completely captivated by this Hitchcockian nightmare. Enemy roamed around my subconscious for days, I saw it again twice and spent countless hours online scrolling through other peoples’ interpretations of the story. Jake Gyllenhaal delivers yet another outstanding performance as both Adam and Anthony. Despite being the same actor, in the scenes when they’re together you truly feel like there is two different people in the room. This movie is also shot to perfection and it’s score creates an air of tension, which complements the visuals and plot perfectly. Much like previous work by David Lynch, Enemy doesn’t follow your stereotypical film structure and it uses different methods and ways to get the plot across, something I personally really enjoy from a cinematic experience.
From it’s metaphorical use of spiders, to it’s intricate placing of B-movie horror posters, Enemy is a smart film. Denis Villeneuve really understands how to grip an audience and through the medium of Jake Gyllenhaal, has created a dark, brooding and continuously tense drama that I’ll be no doubt talking about for many moons to come.
If you enjoyed this film check out: Lost Highway, Prisoners, Synecdoche, New York
My Rating: 9 out of 10.
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