These days, Denis Villeneuve is pretty much a household name among movie lovers everywhere. After years of honing his craft in smaller films, he broke out in a big way with Prisoners, which many hold up as one of the best movies of the 2010s and grossed over $120 million worldwide. For the most part, his projects kept getting bigger, as he helmed the incredibly intense Sicario and fantastic sci-fi movies like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049.
However, what truly made Villeneuve a name that everyone knows was his work on Dune. He turned the legendary book into two spectacular, epic films that have received critical and commercial acclaim, with a third on the way. With so many great movies under his belt, it’s understandable that one of his best works is actually something that has been overlooked by many. Enemy is a smaller film that premiered in 2013 but had a wider release in 2014.
Despite its wider release, Enemy wasn’t seen by all that many people, especially when compared to the bigger budget movies from Denis Villeneuve, yet it now finds itself trending among HBO Max’s top performing movies, over a decade after it initially came out. It has a smaller scale, yet manages to incorporate a lot of what makes Villeneuve’s projects so special, has a great lead actor, and has one of the director’s most memorable twists.
Enemy Is Denis Villeneuve’s Hidden Gem
As noted, when you’re a filmmaker with the consistent kind of high quality movies like Denis Villeneuve, it’s easy for something like Enemy to go mostly unnoticed. The likes of Incendies and Polytechnique, which also came before his star started to rise, are also underrated. Enemy stands out, though, as it has an intriguing premise and features Jake Gyllenhaal, who also worked with Villeneuve on Prisoners, which was released in the same year.
Enemy follows Gyllenhaal’s Adam Bell, a college professor who discovers an actor who is identical to him and begins to look into the personal affairs of the lookalike. The more involved Adam gets in the life of Anthony Claire, including interactions with Anthony’s wife Helen, the more dangerous things get as stranger things start to happen. Despite not being a hit that a ton of people have seen, Enemy was a success with film critics.
The movie holds a strong 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being that Jake Gyllenhaal and Denis Villeneuve are both major reasons why it works as well as it does. The audience score is a bit lower, at 64%, though that could likely be due to the somewhat confusing nature of various plot elements. They make Enemy a better overall film and a more memorable experience, but it can also be tough to fully take in.
Jake Gyllenhaal Gives One Of His Best Performances In Enemy
As noted, the lead performance of Jake Gyllenhaal is a highlight of Enemy. In fact, the combination of Gyllenhaal and Villeneuve is a recipe for success. Gyllenhaal delivered a tremendous performance for Villeneuve as Detective Loki in the critically acclaimed Prisoners, but he’s even better in Enemy. Playing two completely different characters is a lot to ask of an actor. In some cases, the end result is messy but in others, it’s incredible.
For example, Michael B. Jordan just won an Oscar for dual roles, while Lupita Nyong’o, Elle Fanning, Nicolas Cage, and Lindsay Lohan have all succeeded with it. Gyllenhaal’s work in Enemy should be up there with those, though it’s far less famous. As Adam, he’s withdrawn, anxious, quiet, and closed off. As Anthony, he’s confident, clearly outgoing, and has something of a dark edge to him. They’re identical physically, but very different otherwise and Gyllenhaal nails both sides.
Enemy’s Ending Is Extremely Memorable
The ending of Enemy is likely what throws some people off, because it’s so unexpected. Eventually, the film hits a point where Adam and Anthony step into each other’s lives and think they can convincingly pull off playing each other. Alas, women in their lives are able to tell that something’s off. Helen seems to accept the idea of Adam replacing her husband since he treats her so much better. However, Adam makes a decision that throws it all off and in a shocking moment, Helen transforms into a giant spider.
It ultimately comes from out of nowhere and is a bold directorial choice. The spider harkens back to an early scene where Anthony attends a private sex club and sees a woman crushing a large spider. Helen transforms after Adam chooses to attend that same club, making the transformation a physical representation of the disregard for Helen. It shows that once Adam made his decision, Helen was just an object to him, much like she was at times to Anthony.
There are other meanings related to the giant spider and aspects of the Enemy ending, but whether you understand it all or not, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s memorable. Villenueve has delivered great twists before, as in Arrival, and left things in the air, as in Prisoners, but Enemy does something so unique that it stands out from the pack.
Where Enemy Ranks Among Villeneuve’s Best Films
Denis Villeneuve is one of the best directors in Hollywood. That makes it incredibly difficult to figure out where each of them ranks when placed against the others. If you’re looking at Rotten Tomatoes scores, then Enemy sits in last place, despite its strong 73% rating. That said, the film is more polished than some of his earlier work, like Maelstrom and Polytechnique, so an argument could be made to place it above those projects.
As good as Enemy is, it’s hard to place it above the best work that Villeneuve has done, simply because of the high bar he has set. Incendies is another great, underrated movie from the director that most would still put above Enemy, at least by a little bit. Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, Prisoners, and the Dune duology are widely viewed as some of the best modern movies and some even earned Best Picture nominations at the Oscars.
Those are tough films to be considered better than, meaning Enemy has a lot to live up to. However, anyone who likes those movies should check out Enemy because it’s pure Villeneuve and showcases his creativity and bold choices in such a good way.
- Release Date
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March 14, 2014
- Runtime
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91 minutes