The contentious Blade Runner sequel is set to be directed by Denis Villeneuve, and while it'd be better to leave LA 2019 alone, based on his work thus far he's probably the best man for the job. Prisoners and the upcoming Sicario (Cannes review here) showed he could find distinct character nuance within well-worn narratives, although it's really Enemy, which finally made its way to a UK release in 2015, that shows he might actually be able to deliver a film metaphysically worthy of the original. Far more off-kilter than his other English-language releases, Enemy is a doppelgänger drama that goes even more abstract than the sub-genre's weirdest entries. Jake Gyllenhaal is both meek teacher Adam and cocky actor Anthony, whose meeting causes unease that slowly makes way for psychological horror. From early on it's clear something a little off-kilter, with Adam only realising his lookalike was in a film he just watched through an intense dream sequence, and the confusion only deepens as things go on. Not only are there clear signposts - Adam's mother refers to him as an actor, Anthony's professions - but there's a underlying sense that the whole thing is unreal (aside from giant spiders stalking through the skyline, this Toronto feels purposely fake). The most logical reading of the film is that the entire movie is figurative, showing an internal conflict between two personality fragments of a fractured brain, but rather than providing an answer to all the film's weirdness, that's really only the beginning to understanding the web it weaves.
