Synopsis & Film Details
Filmworks presents the black comedy “The Double,” featuring young stars Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska. Based on the novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the movie follows an underappreciated young man who comes face-to-face with his doppelganger and watches helplessly as that man steals his life without anyone else noticing. In a dual role, Eisenberg stars as Simon James, a timid office clerk who is overlooked by his boss and colleagues, scorned by his mother, and ignored by Hannah, the copy room woman he adores. Undermined and undervalued everywhere he turns, his directionless life couldn’t get any worse — until the arrival of James Simon, his new co-worker. James is both Simon’s exact physical double and his opposite — confident, charismatic, and seductive with women. To Simon’s horror, James slowly starts taking over his life. British filmmaker and music video maker Richard Ayoade, who directed “Submarine,” returns with this darkly comic Dostoevsky interpretation. Co-written by Ayoade and Avi Korine, and co-starring Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor, and Cathy Moriarty. Indiewire says the movie “evokes ’50s noir with lots of smoke, shadows, [and] grit,” and calls it one of the best films of 2014 so far.
Director: Richard Ayoade
UK (2013) • 93 minutes • Rated R
Filmworks thanks Jewel FM 99.3, The Fresno Bee, Granville Homes, Vida en el Valle, and Stella Artois for their ongoing support.