Enemy - The Frontier of Style I REVIEW

Enemy - The Frontier of Style I REVIEW

31/07/2024

The misce in scene was pretty fantastic. 

Trough some heavily stylized photography, and clever, deliberate withdrawal of information, Enemy does not entirely throw away the outline of modern-day reality in favor of a fully alternative dystopian version of our world, yet still presents its own unique take on reality for purposes just as unique. It is a take clearly conceived from and complementary to the psychological turmoil of the main character(s). 

Informed by films like Blade Runner (Curious, considering how this director would actually go on to direct Blade Runner 2049), the filmmakers clearly had fun exploring the frontier of stylization where our world ends and a new one begins and you begin to question sanity itself as the frontier begins to blur. A most befitting approach to the psychological odyssey they aspired to portray and certainly achieved. Kudos to Jake Gyllenhal for being talented enough that such a premise can rest upon his shoulders and be pulled off. 

Right away you are in for something surreal, dark, intriguing and highly atmospheric that does not hold your hand and will give you only thematic snippets to figure it out for yourself: a formidable task in consideration of that ending, which i still haven’t figured out and either consolidates the film as a most enigmatic conundrum, or as pretentious gibberish (im betting on the first option). 

Enemy is not the film to watch with the brain turned off yet its tone will bore hardly anyone. Despite its exploration of repetition it doesnt stagnate and the story only gets more grabbing by the moment with rich character and a wide array of adult themes such as control dynamics, monotony, sexuality, contrast between success and lack there of. This is a film perfect to be subject to multiple watches and hours of interpretation. 

By the way, this what happens when you have a screenwriter that knows what they are doing. Writer, Composer, actors, cinematographer, director, im happy that everyone felt like they were giving their A game. The end result certainly feels like it, except maybe for the CGI quality at the utmost clímax of the story. Otherwise, i enjoyed myself a lot. 

Never has a psychological decay been so interesting to watch yet without receding to the juvenile or the Netflix-like. Actual grown ups can find some perfect entertainment in Enemy. 

8.0/10

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