Review: Enemy

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Adam and Anthony), Mélanie Laurent (Mary), and Sarah Gadon (Helen)

Written by Javier Gullón adapting the novel by José Saramago

Cinematography by Nicolas Bolduc

Edited by Matthew Hannam

Released in 2014

Due to the ambiguous nature of Enemy, much of the discussion surrounding it has been focused on determining what happens on a plot level. What is real and what isn’t? Is it all a dream? What do the spiders mean? This has led to some readings of the film being far too literal. Because film is a visual medium, and we are inclined to think of anything we see as “real”, we sometimes wrongly expect all films to obey the rules of our own world. This expectation can lead to frustration when films create their own heavily-stylized reality or forego regular logic and work instead in the realm of dreams, nightmares, memories, and emotions. When discussion of such films shifts towards determining what is real, I get bored quickly. I much prefer analyzing themes or symbols or picking apart how a strong mood is created.

With that in mind, I would like to offer my own interpretation of Enemy. Nothing is real in Villeneuve’s film. Everything on screen is a fever dream/hallucination reflecting the emotional reality of main character Adam. His conflicting desires between staying a history professor and becoming an actor are represented by the appearance of his doppelgänger Anthony. Adam’s fear of marriage and having children, his worries about committing infidelity and his general sense of being trapped by the women in his life are shown in various ways throughout. The most immediate way the movie accomplishes this is through its color palette, desaturated with a sickly yellow hue poking through every now and then. The architecture of Toronto also comes into play, with Adam prominently displayed in front of ugly, minimalist buildings. There are also frequent references to spiders. The cable car lines of the city evoke spider webs. A window breaks in just the right way to create the same effect. All the women in the film are dressed in black, except for Helen (indicating she is the wife of some version of Adam). Mary even wears snakeskin heels, showing that in Adam’s mind she is a predator or temptress. Finally, Adam has a recurring dream of a giant spider and the film ends with him confronting a similar beast.

Overall, Enemy is a strange film that I am not quite sure how to feel about. From its start, it has some interesting mystery elements, and eventually morphs into a psychological horror film. The events of the film unfold very slowly in an unnerving manner. The use of smash cuts, a heightened sound design (every movement is followed by a long creek), and a discordant score help contribute to this feeling. Gyllenhaal is adequate in the dual role. His portrayal of Adam has shades of the nerdy obsessiveness he brought to Zodiac. However, there’s not much separating Adam and Anthony. Except that Anthony’s hair is a little floppier and their characteristics boil down to Adam = depressed and Anthony = overconfident and macho.

I’m typically a fan of movies that leave conventional narrative filmmaking behind in pursuit of exploring some idea or feeling in a weird way, and Enemy attempts to do that. However, that puts it in line with other doppelgänger films like Persona, The Double Life of Veronique, and Mulholland Drive, all films that have much stronger moods. Enemy also attempts to use a heightened setting to explore a common fear, in this case fear of settling down. Again, this leads to associations with better films. Primarily David Lynch’s Eraserhead, which takes place in a noir-tinged post-apocalypse and uses nightmarish practical effects to tackle the fear of fatherhood. Ultimately, Enemy suffers in comparison to its influences.