What Does The Ending Of Enemy Really Mean?

3. Spiders Represent Fear Of Commitment

Adam is terrified of commitment, and this is visually represented throughout the film by the thing many people fear most: spiders, most horrifyingly and potently realised in the final scene, where "Anthony" returns home to Helen and she now resembles a gigantic tarantula.

This symbolically suggests that his attachment to Helen, now permanent through the impending arrival of their child, is what repulses him the most. It links back perfectly to the movie's opening sex club scene, where a woman crushes a tarantula with a high-heeled shoe while Anthony and a host of other men look on in near-orgasmic intrigue.

The men, away from their wives and partners, can feel the weight of responsibility and fidelity being stamped on, no matter how brief it might be (hence why Anthony is accosted by a man desperate to get a key to the next show).

On a broader level the spiders also relate almost entirely to women, be it the shot of the giant spider in the middle of the city occurring straight after Adam's mother chides him, or the spider-web appearing on the remnants of Anthony's crashed car mere moments after Mary insults his masculinity.

The spider as a fear object and the spider-web as a tool typically used to trap prey amount to Adam/Anthony's terror at being caught in a relationship with no means of escape.

So, with the root of Adam's condition revealed, it's time to consider the resolution of his conflicting personalities...