My quick rating – 6.5/10. This one sat on my watchlist for far too long, but I finally decided it was time to see what all the quiet confusion was about. Enemy, directed by Denis Villeneuve (long before he took us to Arrakis with Dune), is an eerie, slow-burning psychological mystery that’s as fascinating as it is frustrating.
Jake Gyllenhaal takes on double duty as Adam, a mild-mannered college professor, and Anthony, a confident, womanizing actor. The discovery of his exact double sends Adam spiraling into a surreal obsession that blurs the line between reality and delusion. Gyllenhaal nails both performances—subtle and haunted as Adam, arrogant and unpredictable as Anthony. He’s the kind of actor who thrives on internal chaos, and Villeneuve gives him the perfect playground here.
Unfortunately, it takes forever to get to that playground. The first act feels like watching beige paint dry. The only problem is that some of the pieces of the puzzle are in this first act. We get it—Adam’s life is monotonous, colorless, and void of meaning. But we didn’t need fifteen minutes of that point being hammered home. Once the movie finally starts unraveling its weirdness, though, it’s hypnotic. Villeneuve builds a sense of paranoia that makes even the most mundane cityscape feel alien. The brutal architecture, the dusty lighting, and the ever-present haze of yellow-gray tint all work to keep you off balance.
The film’s atmosphere is dreamlike, or maybe more accurately, nightmare-like. Every choice feels intentional: the claustrophobic apartment buildings, the unsettling music, the way conversations never quite sound natural. It all suggests a world on the edge of reality. And then there’s the recurring spider motif—creeping through dreams, symbolism, and maybe Adam’s own subconscious. I have my theory about what it means, but that’s a spoiler rabbit hole best left un-dug. Let’s just say it’s not here to make you feel cozy.
Based on the novel The Double by Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, Enemy is loaded with metaphor. But Villeneuve doesn’t hand you the answers. It’s one of those films that wants you to do the homework. If you pay full attention and allow yourself to interpret it, you’ll find plenty to chew on. If you half-watch it while scrolling your phone, you’ll probably wonder why you wasted your evening.
It’s not a film that invites you in. The characters are cold, detached, and often unlikeable. The tone is grim and unyielding. But that’s also part of its power—it makes you uncomfortable and forces you to look for meaning in the unease. Enemy isn’t easy to like, but it sticks with you long after the credits (and that final, infamous shot) roll.
