Review: Enemy by Denis Villeneuve

The movie “Enemy” directed by Denis Villeneuve is a suspenseful psychological thriller that explores themes of masculinity and infidelity in marriage.

In this film, we follow Adam Bell, a college professor who is a slave to his mundane life. This in turn does not make make him the most interesting person. (He doesn’t even like movies!) One day, in an effort to spice up his life a little, Adam decides to watch a movie recommended by his friend from work titled “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”. In this movie, he sees a background extra that looks just like him. He finds out that this actor is Anthony Claire, and becomes obsessed with finding who exactly this person is. He is determined in his quest and refuses to quit searching.

My first observation of this movie was that it is an A24 film. A24 has brought the world many influential films such as “Moonlight”, “Lady Bird”, “Hereditary”, and recently, Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade”. So, I immediately had high expectations for this film. I was not disappointed. The cryptic and perplexing nature of this movies leaves its viewers not only questioning what they just watched, but also its meaning. 

This movie is no stranger to symbolism. It’s through this movie’s symbolism in which it explores the idea of masculinity, and its role in marriage. Both Adam and Anthony find themselves questioning what it means to be a man. Yet neither one of them seems to find their answer…or do they? Villeneuve is not new to letting an audience determine the answers for themselves.

Viewers can expect this movie to be one of those that can be easily revisited. No matter how many times one may watch this film, there always seems to be something to discover or a new way to look at things. Why is this movie so vague? Are Adam and Anthony actually the same person? What’s with all the spiders? Who knows. But with a movie like this, it’s always fun to speculate.

Regina Ivy can be reached at [email protected].