Enemy (2013) Explained: Plot, Themes & Ending | What would you do if you met a double of yourself? I don’t mean somebody who wears the same clothes or shares your taste in movies. I mean a literal double, like in the film Enemy. This is an early film by director Denis Villenueve. Before he was adapting the greatest sci-fi novel ever written, he started off smaller with loosely adapting Jose Saramago’s 2002 novel, The Double. Even though Enemy is not as much a futuristic sci-fi film as Blade Runner 2049 or Dune, you can see the director’s central themes of introspection being out and proud, while still being eerie and weird.


ADAM’S DULL WORLD
The film follows Adam Bell (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), a college history teacher with a life as boring as his lectures. The monotony of Adam’s life threatens to crumble the relationship with his girlfriend, Mary, played by Melanie Laurent looking too good for a loser teacher.
The boredom for Adam leads to daydreams in the breakrooms, preserving his statue-like stoicism. His daily meditation is interrupted by a coworker who recommends that if Adam is going to stare off into space his whole life, he might as well watch a movie. The movie recommendation is “Where There's a Will There's a Way,” which Adam proceeds to rent from the video store - something you could still do in 2013.
While watching the movie, Adam discovers someone who looks exactly like him playing bellhop. Intrigued by this discovery, and with the possibility of unclaimed royalty checks, he seeks out this mysterious doppelganger.


HE’S JUST LIKE ME
Through his IMDB investigation, he learns that the actor is called Daniel Saint Claire. Fascinated by this man, Adam decides to hold a Daniel Saint Claire movie marathon for more information. But since there are only two more movies and Daniel never appeared on Inside the Actor’s Studio, Adam seeks out this mysterious actor. By visiting the talent agency Daniel associates with, Adam becomes an accidental infiltrator and is mistaken for Daniel. Through this interaction, Adam learns that Daniel is just a stage name and the actor goes by the real name Anthony Claire.
Adam also receives some of Anthony’s mail and locates his apartment address. Taking this stalking one step further, Adam calls Anthony’s apartment. Instead of speaking with the actor, he ends up speaking with Anthony’s pregnant wife, Helen. She mistakes Adam for Anthony and assumes her husband is pulling a prank call on her. While this would be the perfect time to pull a prank, Adam declines this identity and hangs up, severing his audition for Crank Yankers.
Eventually, Adam does speak with Anthony and another prank is assumed. But since AI voice replication wasn’t as robust in 2013, the idea of a doppelganger becomes extra creepy for Anthony. He warns Adam to quit being a stalker, but the two seem to share a stalker gene. Soon after this exchange, Anthony grows curious about Adam and tracks down this mysterious guy who sounds just like him.


CRISS-CROSSED RELATIONSHIPS
Adam and Anthony also seem to have a bad-relationship gene. Helen finds herself intrigued by the mysterious caller and believes it might be a jealous husband from one of Anthony’s affairs. A bitter Anthony denies this and leaves to blow off some steam with his new favorite activity: Stalking Adam to find out he works at a university.
Helen also takes an interest in this hobby as well. She takes note of Anthony’s…notes and tracks down Adam. She is naturally shocked to discover another man that looks like her husband, thus making for a series of very awkward conversations with Anthony. Later on, Anthony and Adam will meet in person at a hotel, where they confirm similar physical traits like scars. The meeting becomes too real and Adam returns the talent agency letter to Anthony before bolting out of the room, declaring this meeting was a bad idea. It’s not the worst idea two identical people could do in a hotel room, but it’s still creepy.
Speaking of creepy, Anthony takes his stalking game to the next level by following Adam’s girlfriend, Mary. The actor uses his acting skills to woo Mary as Adam, but also accuses Adam of sleeping with Helen. Anthony uses this power of accusation to get a hold of Adam’s car and clothes, making it way easier for him to seduce Mary.

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