In his follow up to the critically acclaimed Prisoners, Denis Villeneuve offers an intense and enigmatic mood piece in the hallucinatory thriller Enemy, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal – twice over. Set in a version of Toronto doused in an almost putrid, acidic yellow light and mysteriously devoid of human presence, a timid college professor named Adam (Gyllenhaal) suddenly has his world turned upside down when he spots his exact double working as an extra in the background of a film. This startling discovery prompts Adam to track down the bit-part actor called Anthony (Gyllenhall again) in order to confront this terrifying mirror image of himself. Similarly confused by his counterpart’s sudden appearance, Anthony initially refuses to let Adam into his life, fearing the potential threat he may pose to his pregnant wife Helen (Sarah Gadon). But then Anthony catches a glimpse of Adam’s girlfriend Mary (Mélanie Laurent) and, enticed, forms a quick fire plan to take advantage of this peculiar situation.

Enemy’s themes of fractured and duplicitous identity are nothing new, and elements of the film are very predictable. In fact, Richard Ayoade’s The Double, which was released last year, features a very similar narrative (that film being an adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novella, whereas Villeneuve’s film is adapted from another novel called The Double by José Saramago). Both films also share a stylistically dark and dreamlike aesthetic, although Ayoade’s film is more of a black comedy in the tradition of Terry Gilliam’s work. Enemy‘s symbolic rendering of the fear of intimacy and manipulation in relationships between men and women also feels a bit on the nose. But, taken as a tongue-in-cheek, B-movie thrill ride, Enemy will no doubt entertain movie fans in need of a fix as unsettling and as intriguing as last year’s Under the Skin, with which Villeneuve’s film appears to share a lot of genetic material, even if it comes across in parts as the bratty enfant terrible to Glazer’s more authoritative and controlled use of the cinematic medium. Gyllenhaal’s performance is compelling, although nowhere near the heights of his recent work in Nightcrawler. That said, his performance in Enemy is more nuanced and concerned with smaller details, right down to the night and day contrast between how Adam and Anthony carry themselves, talk and interact with the world around them. At just under 90 minutes, this is fast food rather than fine dining, but the occasional binge on an exploitation flick like this, even if it doesn’t make a resounding impression, can offer a satisfying experience in the moment.