Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- bleak
- surreal
- witty
- arthouse movie night
- psychological thriller night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a hauntingly bleak, ambitious literary thriller anchored by Jesse Eisenberg's dual performance and Richard Ayoade's distinctive visual imagination.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Simon is overlooked at work within an indifferent office hierarchy, while the surrounding world operates through opaque rules and humiliating procedures.
The film presents sickly fluorescent interiors, impossible architecture, and nonsensical interactions as the everyday environment surrounding Simon and James.
Jesse Eisenberg plays both timid Simon and his charismatic physical double James, whose arrival destabilizes Simon's sense of self and place.
Fast-paced dialogue and flashes of humor punctuate a deliberately oppressive story of powerlessness, paranoia, and social cruelty.
Films like The Double, and why
Brazil
shared absurdist bureaucracy, alienated protagonists, paranoid atmosphere, and surreal institutional world
Enemy
shared identity fracture, oppressive systems, dark comedy, and Kafkaesque psychological tension
Being John Malkovich
shared literary surrealism, bleak humor, unstable identity, and dreamlike urban alienation
The Trial
shared bureaucratic nightmare, existential dread, and expressionistic production design
Movie Details
- Director
- Richard Ayoade
- Release Date
- 2014-04-03
- Runtime
- 93 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (1122)
Cast
- Jesse Eisenberg
- Mia Wasikowska
- Wallace Shawn
- Yasmin Paige
- Noah Taylor
- James Fox
- Cathy Moriarty
- Phyllis Somerville
- Gabrielle Downey
- Jon Korkes
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Netflix Standard with Ads, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Double about?
- A timid office worker is psychologically and socially eclipsed when his charismatic exact double arrives to claim the life he cannot control.
- What is The Double like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Double as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Double violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Double as mild.
- What did critics think of The Double?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a hauntingly bleak, ambitious literary thriller anchored by Jesse Eisenberg's dual performance and Richard Ayoade's distinctive visual imagination.
- Which films are like The Double?
- Films with a similar feel include Brazil, Enemy, Being John Malkovich, and The Trial.
- How long is The Double?
- The Double runs 93 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Double?
- In United States, The Double streams on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Netflix Standard with Ads, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel.
