The Double

Simon is an introverted and not particularly interesting office worker who quietly admires his co-worker Hanna from afar. But the arrival of a new colleague, James, shakes Simon’s existence to its very core. He looks exactly like Simon, but he is charismatic, extroverted, and popular. As James slowly takes over Simon’s life, the socially weaker of the two sinks deeper into a crisis of identity. In his adaptation of the novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky, director Richard Ayoade creates a captivating world that blends dark humor, psychological thriller, and an almost Kafkaesque nightmare. Precisely because of this connection to European cultural tradition, Jesse Eisenberg, who plays a dual role in the film, has chosen to personally present The Double at this year’s festival.