Exclusive ‘Enemy’ Trailer: ‘What if you could meet your exact double?’

What if you discovered that somewhere out in the world you had an exact double? Same face, same voice, different person, different life. Would you want to meet them? What would you do when you did? How would they react?

That’s precisely the unlikely situation that Toronto man Adam Bell finds himself in “Enemy,” a mind-bending psychological thriller from “Prisoners” director Denis Villeneuve.

After spotting an actor in a rented movie who appears to be his exact double, meek college professor Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal) becomes obsessed with finding his lookalike. Adam’s double is Anthony Clair (also played by Gyllenhaal), a fiery Mississauga-based actor who, save for their appearance, is the professor’s opposite in almost every way. The pair’s eventual meeting ultimately sends both them and their loved ones down a very dark and dangerous path.

The best way to categorize “Enemy” would be to call it a mash-up of David Fincher, David Lynch, and David Cronenberg movies. It has the intensity of a Fincher film like "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" or "The Social Network," the weirdness of a Lynch movie like "Blue Velvet" or "Lost Highway," and the deeply disturbing psychological elements of a Cronenberg movie like "Dead Ringers" or "Crash." If you’re a fan of any of those filmmakers, then you’ll definitely get something out of Villeneuve’s latest creation.

“Enemy” premiered to rave reviews at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Variety praised the film, saying it’s “mysterious enough that many viewers will insist on seeing it twice,” while The Hollywood Reporter called it “hauntingly strange.”

Despite being shot before Villeneuve’s “Prisoners” (the director’s other recent Gyllenhaal collaboration) and premiering alongside it at TIFF, “Enemy” is only now being released in Canada, the United States, and elsewhere. “Enemy” hits theatres on March 14.