Arrival, Sicario and Dune director Denis Villeneuve delivers an atmospheric gem with his take on José Saramago’s provocative thriller The Double.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Adam, a glum university lecturer nearing the end of his relationship with girlfriend Mary (Mélanie Laurent). One night, when watching a film, Adam spots a minor actor who looks just like him. Consumed by the desire to meet his double, he obsessively tracks down the actor and engages him in a complex and dangerous struggle. Especially when all is not what it seems.
Villeneuve films Toronto like an alien world as Adam becomes increasingly detached from reality. And Gyllenhaal perfectly captures the character’s growing state of unease, his detachment exacerbated by his suspicion that the world he once knew has irrevocably changed.
