The Double

Eine Schizophrenie-Angelegenheit, die zwar verständlich ist, aber wegen einem zu sehr stilisierten Surrealismus auch reserviert. Man baut zu dem Film keine Beziehung auf und genießt ihn nicht. Er hat eine interessante Form mit einem düsteren Noir-Milieu, hochwertige Schauspieler*innen, aber keinen Inhalt. Entscheiden Sie sich lieber für Lost Highway, der nicht so verständlich ist, aber er nimmt Sie gefangen und lässt Sie nicht los. (11.04.2014)

Richard Ayoade took darkness and skepticism from Dostoevsky, from Franz Kafka he took existential uncertainty, a sense of absurdity, and black humor, from Jeunet camera filters, from Terry Gilliam a touch of dystopia, and I could go on about his inspirations. Nevertheless, the film is unique and in my opinion truly good. It's definitely infinitely better than Submarine from the same director, which I had the opportunity to see a few days ago. The presence of Mia Wasikowska adds female charm to it and Jesse Eisenberg convincingly and confidently plays his split hero. I would probably give it only 4 stars, but the film seems unnecessarily underrated to me on FilmBooster. There aren't many successful Kafkaesque films, and I think this doppelganger belongs among them. The atmosphere cannot be denied, and actually, I haven't felt for a long time that I was rooting for a protagonist to get out of a mess in one piece. Overall impression: 90%. (13.11.2016)

Richard Ayoade filmed a strange adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s “The Double”. He put it in a very strange pseudo world where the only truly interesting thing is work (or drinking). Jesse Eisenberg plays a bit of a loser who can’t do anything at all. But as soon as his double appears, it’s all beginning to clear up. By the way, Jesse showcases his acting abilities perfectly when he plays two completely different characters. It’s just a shame that the line with the amazing Mia Wasikowska didn’t have more dialogues. She plays a coy girl who manages to surprise the audience out of the blue, but she doesn’t say anything essential. In the second half of the movie, her behavior even annoyed me a little bit. And I was even more annoyed by Jesse who wasn’t able to have any sort of an important moment. That is until the very end that was handled absolutely differently than you’d like. But whatever, an end is an end. It’s just that it’s exactly why I can’t rate it with more than three stars. However, because of the actors and the interesting environment, the movie is still worth it. But don’t expect a comedy. (01.03.2015)

I'm admittedly disgusted with the first 40 minutes because I considered switching it off, I was really dying and couldn't stand the sight of the unlikeable Jesse Eisenberg, and then I saw him twice. Fortunately, after his doppelganger arrived on the scene, the film took a completely different turn and the entertainment was taken care of until the end. I would have imagined a different ending, but mild satisfaction nonetheless. The creativity cannot be denied. 65%. (26.06.2014)

After Borgman, we have another excellent weird thing this year. Jesse Eisenberg delivers a convincing double performance and Richard Ayoade convincingly portrays the nightmare of a quiet, shy and replaceable person who can make his best effort without that having any meaning, because his antagonist alter-ego manages to use everything against him. The story takes place in a beautifully atmospheric, dreamy industrial world that has no room for jokes or humour, and yet it is shot with humour, or rather, with detachment. Very satisfied, I really dug this film, both in style and contents. (04.05.2014)