Enemy

🕷️93% Journey to My Top 25: Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy is a convoluted, metaphorical, nearly inaccessible mind-bend of a film, and I love it. This is absolutely a showcase in directing. Lots of symbolic imagery, repeated dialogue, specific timing choices— just lots of subtle decisions that add both to the confusion and clarity of the story. The cinematography is really good here, great shots and nice dark colors as well as some of the transitions. We also have a haunting score that adds to the allure of the film. Did I already mention how great the dialogue is here? Nothing is spelled out for us at all, but the clues are all in the dialogue, even lines that aren’t repeated. For example, the man at the talent agency said they haven’t seen him in 6 months… the same length of time his wife has been pregnant. Which leads me to… Jake’s dual performance is incredible, the way he clearly separates the two characters with slight changes in mannerisms and line delivery. I love that so much of this film is up for interpretation, but I obviously have my own now having watched this a couple of times. Anthony and Adam are one in the same person. All the clues in the dialogue lead us there. I could dissect the dialogue in this movie for hours and turn this into an entire theory essay, but I think I’ll stop here—I already have to mark for spoilers lol. I will talk about the spider symbolism though. The spiders represent your fears; in the night club men are watching their “fears” be crushed. Adam’s fear is commitment, as is referenced several times throughout the film, and that’s why his wife turns into the spider at the end. She cowers in fear bc in the final scene we realize he is caught in a cycle or “web” of deceit and infidelity… and when the spider appears he realizes it too. I really could go on and on about this film and all the specific moments, but I think that’s for another time. I don’t think Enemy is a perfect film; you definitely won’t get it after one watch and the ambiguity can be a little too much at times, but it really works for me in all capacities. **All 2023 Viewings List **