What Does The Ending Of Enemy Really Mean?

1. The Ending AKA "Events Happen Twice, The Second Time's A Farce"

Though at first Anthony's demise seems to imply a somewhat happy ending for Adam, the final moments sadly ensure that's probably not the case.

Adam finds Anthony's key for the sex club and declares to Helen that he's going to go out, presumably to the club. The fact that Helen is transformed into a spider mere moments after he makes this decision is the aforementioned manifestation of Adam's fear of commitment, which he has clearly failed to conquer.

Adam is simply succumbing to the same pattern of behaviour as "Anthony", which ties back to an early scene where Adam talks to his class about Hegel, who said "all the greatest world events happen twice", and that Karl Marx added, "the first time it was a tragedy, and the second time it was a farce."

If Adam/Anthony's fear of commitment was at least relatable on a basic human level the first time around, seeing him intent on repeating this behaviour is now pathetic, even laughable, especially with him having purged Anthony from his mind.

As for Adam's much-discussed final facial expression? It's telling that Adam merely sighs at the sight of the spider, as though exasperated by the presence of this burden in his life, resentful of his pregnant wife as he heads out into the night to seek carnal freedom elsewhere.

It's entirely possible that Adam takes a beat and decides not to head to the club, but given the pointedness of that prior Marx quote, he probably can't help himself.

What do you make of this interpretation of Enemy's ending? Got any ideas of your own? Shout them out in the comments!