Richard Ayoade's new film The Double has been dubbed a "black comedy", which might be a mistake. I found it more nightmarish than funny - although it certainly has its moments. Adapted from a Fyodor Dostoyevsky novella, it centres around nebbish office worker Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg) who, having gone unnoticed by his office colleagues for seven years, encounters his doppelgänger James Simon (Eisenberg again). James is identical to Simon in appearance but the complete opposite in personality - where Simon is timid and apprehensive, James is extroverted and assertive. While the two initially get along, James soon begins to take over Simon's life, even going behind his back to start a relationship with Hannah (Mia Wasikowska), the object of Simon's romantic intentions. The two are inevitably dragged into a conflict with one another, which escalates into violence and madness.
I found the first thirty minutes of this film difficult to watch. The world Ayoade has created is effectively atmospheric and claustrophobic - the bureaucratic nightmare of endless cubicles and whirring 1980s computers reminded me, in the best possible way, of Terry Gilliam's Brazil - but I found it frustratingly Kafkaesque without the absurd and amusingly sincere prose, more downwardly depressing than satirical. But the film picks up when the promised "double" appears. Eisenberg joins the ranks of Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive) and Jeremy Irons (Dead Ringers) in giving two great performances in one film, somehow maintaining excellent chemistry with, ah, himself. He's perfectly cast, too, since throughout his career he's alternated between playing shy and socially awkward characters (Adventureland, Zombieland) and cocky and brash characters (Now You See Me, The Social Network). And as the film hurtled towards its final frames, each character's lives disintegrating in some way, I found it interesting how the two Eisenberg personalities began to meld, our perception of character becoming unhinged as Simon became darker and more confident, lending an element of mystery to the memorable final shot.
The problem I had was that I didn't engage with the film on an emotional level. I was a fan of Ayoade's previous film, Submarine, which not only was a funnier film but much warmer, too. I suppose I can't fault The Double for not being like Submarine enough; it's a different film, and actually demonstrates a surer understanding of directing on a technical level (the use of a subway train as an aural motif is genius). And Ayoade once again sides with the underdog, which is something I will always love about British cinema. Yet I ultimately found the film depressing, which may be an inevitable by-product of adapting a psychologically complex Russian novella written in the 1800s but, aside from a few touches - Paddy Constantine's cameo in a parody of 80s sci-fi shows is a hilarious highlight - seems distinctly more cynical than I expected.
★★★
