Enemy Review

SPOILERS:

One of two Denis Villeneuve films to premiere at TIFF last year, psychological thriller Enemy didn’t get as much attention as the more mainstream Prisoners and took a lot longer to actually get a theatrical release. Surprising considering the fact that it’s headlined by an Oscar-nominated A-list star, but once you actually see the movie, you’ll understand why. For those acquainted with the Dostoyevsky novella “The Double” or perhaps even the 2013 Jesse Eisenberg adaptation of the same name, the terrifying concept of finding an exact copy of yourself out there somewhere in the world is an old one. But although that concept is the core premise of Enemy as well, what’s new here is the ambitious execution and presentation. Enemy is a serious and bleak affair that pulls no punches and gives nothing easy for the audience to work with. For those who love to debate and scrutinze films ad nauseum, look no further. 

Enemy begins with a quote that is as beguiling as the film itself: “Chaos is order yet undeciphered.” And while you’re still comprehending what that means exactly, you are immediately flung into an exclusive underground night club of sorts, where shady men enjoy a performance involving spiders and exotic women. Not exactly a straightforward opening, but the premise is pretty simple once things start getting going. Caught in an almost irresistible loop, Adam Bell (Gyllenhaal) is a history professor who leads a very repetitive and unremarkable life and is involved in a frosty relationship with an emotionally distant girlfriend. Tormented by surreal and hellish dreams, you immediately get a sense that there’s something not quite right about Adam’s state of mind. He dreams of himself starring as an extra in some movie he watched earlier that night, but something feels too vividly real about it. And to his shock and horror, when he watches the film again, he sees the impossible and realizes that his dream has become a waking nightmare. Thus begins an intriguing conundrum as Adam plays the part of detective and attempts to put together the pieces of this almost hypnotically entrancing mystery. 

It should be apparent at this point that you’re not going to see anything like Enemy in theaters any time soon. To say the least, Enemy is a challenging visual experience, mainly because it sticks to very few cinematic conventions; chronology and the characters’ experiences themselves are all suspect. Filled with visual cues and potential hints, this isn’t a movie that can be watched casually. It grips you from the very first scene and demands your close attention for the rest of the brief 90 minute runtime; Villeneuve divulges information, through visuals and dialogue, in a careful and deliberate manner. There’s plenty of subtle (and unsubtle) symbolism and everything you see and hear is there for a specific and explicit reason, even if that reason isn’t clear at first. It almost works like a puzzle that you have to solve along with the protagonist; the film invites you to look for all the pieces and try and put them together. What it all means or adds up to is open to interpretation, however. While this is usually part of the fun of this kind of film experience, Enemy might also leave audience members frustrated or annoyed. Anyone who likes nice and clear cut beginnings, middles, and ends with obvious conflicts, climaxes, and resolutions will not have a fun time. 

Even if this film’s more ambitious aspects could leave people divided, what should be universal is the praise for the great job both Villeneuve and Jake Gyllenhaal have done here. The filmmaking is simply superlative: the mood and tone of the film is dark and brooding and the visuals are adventurous and unconventional. The hauntingly unsettling score immediately places you within the eerie confines of Adam’s world and the setting of Toronto is a character in of itself. Some of the most memorable imagery can be found in Adam’s dreams, dreams that might just be glimpses into the character’s torn psyche. As for Gyllenhaal, he effortlessly creates distinctive personalities and mannerisms for the two men he plays, two men who may just be two sides of the same coin. Adam is an introverted and perennially hunched over man who seems to be constantly unsure of himself, while his double exhibits more adventurous, confident and aggressive qualities.

While it could be classified as horror and there are are some genuinely terrifying and unnerving moments, Enemy is chiefly a psychological examination of the inner workings of one’s mind. Villeneuve tends to have a fascination with fractured or distorted family dynamics, and while elements of that surface here, Enemy deals more with themes of identity and free will. What does it mean to be a person? Is it your memories, is it your innermost unavoidable impulses, or are you simply the sum of your atoms? The film that Adam finds his doppelganger starring in is entitled “Where There’s a Will There’s a Way”, and that’s no accident. Enemy asks if there truly is such a thing as free will, or if we just unwittingly carry out the will of our subconscious desires? If we got a do-over, would we be doomed to make the same mistakes? The concept of history inevitably repeating itself is briefly touched upon by Adam in his lectures and crops up again throughout. Eventually, you get the feeling that Adam is a man who cannot change his inner nature and is doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again, that he’s just another tiger who can’t change his stripes, even if he’s willingly (or unknowingly) avoiding that fact.

Verdict: Ambitious to a fault, Enemy is a disturbing and engaging psychological thriller that will definitely leave audiences polarized. An intense and thought-provoking film, repeat viewings will be most rewarding for those willing to partake in the journey.

B

Trailer:

Movie info:

Runtime: 90 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Sarah Gadon, Mélanie

Laurient

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Screenplay: Javier Gullón

Cinematography: Nicolas Bolduc