Written by Avi Korine and Richard Ayoade, based on the novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn and Paddy Considine
A clerk in a government agency finds his unenviable life takes a turn for the horrific with the arrival of a new co-worker who is both his exact physical double and his emotional opposite - confident, charismatic and seductive with women.
From the opening scene, this film shows it's unique voice that seems to be inspired in equal parts by Terry Gilliam, The Coen Brothers and Martin Scorsese. With the futuristic, yet technologically stagnate setting that Gilliam has been known for, the dark and often depressing humor of The Coen Brothers, and the psychologically draining conflict that made Scorsese a household name is all apparent within this film.
Within the first five minutes, it drives home a point that they could have easily spent the entire first act covering. This character has literally nothing going for him. Jesse Eisenberg is phenomenal as both the protagonist and antagonist, differentiating the two using only the subtlety of body language. While this does create some confusion as to which character a particular scene is focusing on, it remains only momentarily before it is clarified.
With inspiring direction from the incredibly talented Richard Ayoade, this is certainly a film that has a voice like very few others. Every aspect of this movie is on point, from the writing and directing to the acting and cinematography. It's a shame that smaller, more creative films like this get pushed aside from the overrated and over publicized blockbusters that plague thousands of screens all of the world. It is the smaller, higher quality films like this that make movies worth while.
8/10
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