The Double, Cinemas across London

Richard Ayoade’s second feature, The Double, a loose modern adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s novel of the same name, is the story of a shy, hapless worker so unable to make an impression that his double has to do it for him. Jesse Eisenberg, the go-to man for repressed nerviness bordering on arrogance, plays both roles: a superb piece of casting. Where one has to show a suspicious security guard an ID card every single day at the office he has been drudging at for years, the other has the boss (Wallace Shawn) eating out of his hand within minutes of his arrival. The trope of the double is one of the oldest tricks in the book and Ayode has produced the black comedy version that will surely be cited in the conceit’s cinematic history. 

This film is much darker than Ayoade’s heart-warming debut Submarine. It stars Ayoade alumni Sally Hawkins and Chris O’Dowd, pandering to cult fans, and many of the same traits are apparent here: the ability to make comedy out of the most banal details, a carefully chosen colour palette and soundtrack. But The Double is a more taught, if at times heavy-handed, venture. It casually reference Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and the director has cited Akira Kaurismaki, Orson Welles’ The Trial and David Lynch’s Eraserhead as inspirations. Certainly, the twisted psychological drama and expressionist cinematography of these movie greats comes across. Long-standing fans will see this film as a maturation of Ayoade’s work and newbies will be taken in by his understated but intricately wrought style. 

The Double is released in the UK on April 4th.