The Double
The Twin Dilemma
Release Date: OUT NOW! 2014 | 15 | 89 minutes | £ 22.99 ( Blu- ray)/£ 17.99 ( DVD) Distributor: StudioCanal Director: Richard Ayoade Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor, Yasmin Paige
If Richard Ayoade’s debut coming of age comedy Submarine had him pegged as the British Wes Anderson, The Double – with its Gilliam- esque bureaucratic dystopia, omnipotent Orwellian oppression and Kafkaesque themes of alienation – proves he’s a filmmaker with a much broader range of influences.
Crucially, he combines the familiar in a way that feels fresh in this nightmarish black comedy, loosely adapted from Dostoyevsky’s 1846 novella. Jesse Eisenberg stars as Simon James, a lowly desk monkey who’s all but invisible to his colleagues. One day, inexplicably, his enigmatic doppelganger James Simon ( also Eisenberg) shows up, causing Simon’s life to unravel.
Set in a world where all hope has disappeared, alongside natural light, The Double’s bleak subject matter should overwhelm but is undercut by expertly judged dry humour. Its meticulously constructed universe comes with a pay- off, however – a chilly emotional detachment that keeps you at arm’s length from the heart of the story. Despite this, Ayoade’s captivating style and keen comedic sensibilities confirm him as a filmmaker to keep a close eye on.
Extras: Extended scenes from hilarious spoof sci- fi show The Replicator, seen in snippets throughout the film; ten minutes of deleted scenes; a 13- minute Making Of; trailers. Jordan Farley Roman Polanski almost adapted the same novel with John Travolta in 1996, but the film fell apart days before shooting.