Spoiler Warning: This discussion has very few spoilers: some set up from the first act, a general idea of the narrative at hand.
















Rating: 4 out of 5.

"Chaos is order yet undeciphered."

After witnessing Denis Villeneuve's Dune, it reminded me of all the things I love about his artistic form as a filmmaker and how each of his films has impressed me. Whilst I am desperate to see Sicario, it was always Enemy that was on top of the to-see list. Its menacing aura and wildly polarising impression on audiences was too inviting, too mysterious not to seek out.

I guess I can immediately see why people might hate this - it's ambiguous at best and vague in every other sense. However, I pretty much loved it. Villeneuve has never been the director to see for traditionally satisfying narratives, and Enemy is no different. The final few shots of this film had me on my haunches - almost animalistic if it weren't for my hands glued to the top of my head. That's about as much as I want to say about the narrative because it's so much better going into this cold, experiencing the truly bizarre headspace that this film transports you to.

The visuals, as always, are fantastic. Villeneuve's trademark yellow-beige undertones are almost as present as they are in Dune. The vast majority of shots are drenched in this sickly, pungent, burnt yellow that I personally find to do a great deal for the tone and atmosphere of the film overall. Jake Gyllenhaal puts in one of his best performances, ranking alongside Nightcrawler, Prisoners, and Brokeback Mountain, which are all flawless outings.

Enemy is a psychologically loaded text, one with images and shots you will be attempting to decipher for hours and hours. I don't know that I have got very far with my own analysis, with so many ideas floating around in my mind; I love not knowing everything. Villeneuve is one of the best out there, and this is one of his best films. A frighteningly great thriller for the ages; a film that asks so many questions and provides almost no answers. It's the kind of cinema I signed up for.

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