It was a good watch, it's interesting but that's about it. I'm familiar with these kind of movies the likes of Enemy, Nocturnal Animals, and Donnie Darko. The thing is these movies immerses you into a bizarre world and it's really hard to make sense of anything and that's the drawback. The message is hidden in a subtle way for you to decipher, you need time to understand, you need time to research. It is bad because it is mentally demanding but that is also what makes it beautiful.

I find Dostoevsky's plot so visionary, yet anchored to a very real issue of all times. Still, something's missing in this movie. I really care about the topic of people being depersonalized nowadays, but I would have built a different context, since the one chosen here is clearly not easy to understand for everyone. That's why I guess too many people didn't give a chance to this movie. And this is a shame, considering how depersonalization is a pressing problem!

Richard Ayoade is a very talented man. He's a funny comic and a good director. His first feature, 'Submarine' was a lovely tale about handling the harsh realities of being young. 'The double', however is basically a retelling of Dostoyevsky's novel. It's also a bit of a homage to a mixture of inspirations such as Gilliam, Fincher, Lynch and Wes Anderson. Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska deliver nice performances here, but I'm afraid I'll have to resort to the cliche of "I didn't find myself caring about them much" to ram home the flaws in the Direction. Perhaps we're not supposed to care about them but then that leaves little else to engage with. This film came out the same year as Denis Villeneuve's 'Enemy'. But that film (though not based on Dostoyevsky) was so much more engaging because it lured you into the mystery and made you want to find out why things were the way they were. The Double is a bit of a let down as it is just so unoriginal. Have we seen these bubbling up in a plot before? Dystopian corporate culture - check Themes of dopplegangers - check Old striking faces to instill dread and claustrophobia - check Odd Dream sequences - check Lead character scorned by parents - check Overbearing soundtrack - check Very fast paced witty dialogue - check Social misfit trying to fit in - check It all melds into a huge crockpot of unoriginality that however nice it is to look at, never gets off the ground because of the forced nature of the storylines. That means that every 5 minutes, something in the back of your brain is twitching, saying, "oh that reminds me of Fight Club", or "that was similar to Brazil". It eventually distracts the viewer from the action which is a shame. I still like Ayoade and the lighting in this film is used masterfully though. Some of the photography is a joy to look at. Yellows, greys and white lights are used very well in almost every scene with some luminous blues and reds chucked in for good measure to add to the dystopian feel/ It's about time Ayoade directed something else, I'm convinced he has at least 1 great film in him. This wasn't it though

A confounding and overly stylized psychological thriller, The Double is an enigma wrapped in a riddle. Using a 1950’s steampunk aesthetic, the film follows a filing clerk (played by Jesse Eisenberg) who slowly loses his identity when a doppelganger that looks just like him shows up and starts taking over his life. Eisenberg does a decent job at portraying the two characters and at giving them unique personalities. But the storytelling’s rather poor, and makes it hard to follow what’s going on and whether the story is literal or metaphoric. Additionally, the tone is quite cold and bleak. The Double is a confusing and overly ambiguous film, and isn’t worth the trouble of figuring out.