In my opinion, the movie is shot and constructed in a way that one may find more than one story in it; that’s the beauty of the film.
I will offer y’all two theories, one simple linear story which can be enjoyed by viewers who want a dark uncomplicated tale about duplicated existence, and another a complex non-linear story which can be enjoyed by movie-lovers who love twisted surrealistic psychological thrillers.
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THE SIMPLE LINEAR DYSTOPIAN THRILLER VERSION
Theme – Some controlling authority (The Government, or some other highly intelligent group) is curbing individual expression by duplicating each and every person in the city.
From start to end, all the scenes are in order. We see History Teacher Adam listen to his mother’s voicemail in the car, and Actor Anthony in a sex club (with his building’s lobby guy).
The story starts with Adam who is a history teacher. We get glimpses of his life, through his classes, his apartment, his girlfriend. His monotonous life is disrupted when he randomly watches a movie recommended by his friend, and comes across a side-actor who looks exactly like him.
“Every dictatorship… they censor any means of self expression.”
He can never be an individual again.
The web imagery throughout the film (few of them shown below) are metaphors for the intricate and treacherous web lain across the city, and the spiders represent authority and control. Though Saramago’s book ‘The Double’ doesn’t have any reference of spiders, his book ‘The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis’ has a passage which compares the fascist police and their allies to spiders.
Even the fascist salute on the wall represents authority and dictatorship.
The central irony of the subject is that Adam, who is a History Teacher and an expert on totalitarian governments, doesn’t see the web that’s overtaken the city until he finds himself stuck in it. When he searches for his lookalike Anthony and finally meets him at the hotel room, he discovers that both of them share the same scar on their chest; a doppelganger can have same physical attributes, but something like a scar has a personal relevance (and can’t be by coincidence). He is extremely shocked, panics and leaves the room.
If you’re confused by what Adam’s mother tells him, “You have a respectable job, a nice apartment…” and think it’s in contrast to what she says in the voicemail, you are looking to much into it; in the voicemail, she says, “How can you live like that?”, referring to the empty and boxed state of the apartment, and not the apartment itself. She also says, “I think you should quit that fantasy of being a third rate movie actor.”; it means, his mom doesn’t believe whatever lookalike incident Adam mentioned to her. She thinks it’s a story he made up to fulfill some deep-rooted fantasy of being an actor (since that’s the lookalike’s profession). “You have enough trouble sticking with one woman”; this suggests Adam also has commitment issues like his counterpart Anthony (we see Helen being suspicious of Anthony in their introduction scene).
Later, Anthony, who is tempted by Adam’s girlfriend, tries to make a deal with him; he says he’ll disappear forever after a date with his girlfriend. Adam complies, but later seems pissed, and goes over to Anthony’s house.He meets the building’s lobby guy on the way who mentions about the sex club and the new keys being sent out.
When Adam looks around the apartment, and comes across a framed picture which is exactly similar to the one he has at home (the torn one). This is when he realises the extent of the web of deceit; the controlling authority has even gone to the extent of replicating memories in the two individuals’ lives.
When he meets Anthony’s wife, he behaves a little different. We don’t know whether the wife realises it’s Adam or not. She asks, ‘How was your day at school?’, and Adam panics. Actor Anthony might have been in acting school (we don’t know for sure) because all his acting gigs were quite menial (side-roles), or maybe she realises it’s her husband’s lookalike Adam and is okay with it because she is tired of her real husband’s adulterous ways.
Later, Adam feels guilty for taking advantage of the situation and starts crying. Helen starts comforting him. Meanwhile, Adam’s girlfriend, Mary, notices the ring mark on Anthony’s finger and stops having sex. While they’re going back, they get into an accident, and both of them die. We have to assume that Adam discovers this in the morning (we see the channel being changed, but it might not have been the first announcement of it), and is ready to take over Anthony’s life as well.
After finding the sex club’s key in the envelope, he plans to visit it and lets Helen know he’ll be busy at night.
When Adam enters the room, we see a giant spider backed up against the wall in complete fear; it’s a metaphor for the controlling authority’s fear of Adam since he has eliminated his lookalike (he is an individual now) and has an idea of what’s on in the city. So he’s capable of anything now. Adam exhales in relief, on finally having come out of the web.
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THE COMPLEX (BUT MORE FASCINATING) NON-LINEAR SURREALIST PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER VERSION
Theme – A man with identity disorder (split personality) trying to cope with commitment and control issues.
Anthony and Adam are alter-egos of each other; they’re the same person. The actual person is Anthony Claire (aka Daniel Saint Claire); we know this because of his various small acting roles from years 2000 to 2006. His mother never mentions the son’s name; always calls him ‘honey’ or ‘darling’. The name ‘Anthony’ is used by various characters in the movie, while the name ‘Adam’ is only used by Adam himself and no one else.
Anthony’s profile (acc. to me):
Anthony is from a well-to-do family (notice his mother’s apartment).
He is a History Major, but has a passion for acting. He hasn’t had much luck with it though; his filmography includes 3 menial roles in films and few ads (2000-2006), so we know, he’s not a successful actor.
He’s married to Helen. He has always been struggling with commitment issues, and feels quite subjugated by the rules of monogamy.He likes blueberries.
“Chaos is order yet undeciphered.” (a line from José Saramago’s novel, ‘The Double’, on which the movie is based)
The entire movie gives us a glimpse into Anthony’s subconscious, showing us bits and pieces of memory from here and there; it’s not in chronological order. The story begins with a one-night stand with a girl named Mary (this is the actual first scene). They drive till the ‘Breezeway Inn’ and hook up in Room No. 221. While they’re having sex, Mary notices the tan-less mark on the ring finger and feels bad when she realises that he’s married. On their way back, they get into a fight, and eventually, into an accident; this is where he gets a mark on his chest.
After the accident, his wife Helen comes to find out about the affair and throws him out of the house. Anthony moves into a new apartment. He even tries again with Mary. They meet at his new apartment; she comes in and asks, ‘How are you?’ (which a girlfriend wouldn’t ask). But at night, when she’s sleeping, he tries to tease her into sex and almost rapes her. She gets irritated by his aggression and leaves in the middle of the night. He tries to mend his ways , starts a decent job (as a History Teacher) under the pseudonym ‘Adam Bell’ because he might be embarrassed to use his real name. He even invites his mother over to his new apartment once (we can tell that by the voicemail we hear in the first scene).
He has a monotonous and boring life at his new apartment, and badly craves to go back to his wife.
All this lasts only for a few days, or only a week or two (his apartment’s unpacked and boxed condition is evidence of that), until his wife comes back to him and tells him that she’s pregnant. They decide to give their marriage another shot.
He moves back to his old apartment, everything goes well and good for a few days, Then suddenly, he realises the burden of his committed life, wife, children, monogamy… and it takes a toll on him; he’s not able to bear the pressure. He keeps replaying the days he spent at the other apartment (as History Teacher Adam Bell). Though in reality, it was quite monotonous and uneventful, he keeps replaying those memories in his mind again and again, slowly reconstructing it into a period of time where he was happy and free (essentially), had a girlfriend, and everything… This is where the split in his psyche occurs.
Notice the two classroom scenes where he talks about control, dictatorships and Rome; the student arrangement is different in both.
All the scenes showing Mary at Adam’s apartment, she’s wearing the same black top with a skirt.
“…dictatorships use strategies to control ideas, knowledge.” – Adam Bell says in the movie.
“Sometimes you have compulsions that you can’t control coming from the subconscious… they are the dictator inside ourselves.” – Denis Villeneuve, the director.
Here, the subconscious is the dictator, limiting knowledge between both the alter-egos. From this point on, Anthony and Adam are two different personalities who are unaware of each other’s existence. He goes to work as Adam Bell, and when he reaches home, he is struggling actor Anthony (Daniel Saint) Claire.
This is where his internal struggle between the two identities begin. We see glimpses of memories and reconstructed memories from here and there.
Adam is recommended a movie by his colleague at work. He stumbles across a side-actor who looks exactly like him.
Anthony’s wife Helen comes across the note in Anthony’s pocket. She goes to see who Adam is, and comes across her own husband. She wasn’t aware of her husband’s new job and his other name. She’s completely shocked when she sees him there. She goes and sits on a bench next to his, but he talks to her as a stranger. She goes back home completely frightened; she’s worried about her husband’s mental health, and feels guilty that she may have caused it somehow (with these new responsibilities). When they have a conversation, she’s immensely sad and worried, and says, “What’s happening?”, to which her husband responds, “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”. Then she says, “I think you know.” She doesn’t know what to do about the situation, and wonders deep down if her husband is really mentally ill or if he’s pretending.
Anthony suggests they meet at ‘Breezeway Inn‘. They meet in the room Anthony hooked up with Mary before the accident (Room No. 221). When they confront each other, and notice each other’s exact same scar, part of him is calm and curious, while the other part starts realising something fishy, begins to panic, and leaves the hotel room.
Adam goes and meets his mother. (Note: For both the personalities, the mother is the same. They might have gone and met their mother on several occasions, and she might not have noticed the differences much. She’s happy that he’s in a proper profession now.) Adam says, “I don’t like blueberries.”, to which her mother responds, “Ofcourse, you do.”, which further confirms that Anthony is the real self (who likes blueberries). She also says, “You have a respectable job. (She’s referring to the History Teacher wokr he’s been doing since 6 months) You have a nice apartment. (referring to the one he stays with Helen) And since we’re being frank here… I think you should quit that fantasy of being a third rate movie actor.”; she never liked her son’s stint in the acting business.
At the point, let me tell you that Spiders in the movie represent women and control in the protagonist’s mind.The next scene shows a giant spider on top of the city; there’s a monument in Toronto called ‘The Mother’ (picture below).
Notice the controlling way in which his mother talks to him.
His mind is finally aware of the dual existence (confirmed when Adam sees the complete version of the torn photograph at Anthony’s apartment), and plans to get rid of the negative part (i.e. Anthony). He hatches a subconscious plan; he tempts Anthony part of his mind with Mary, and makes Anthony hook up with her. He goes to Anthony’s apartment as Adam. Helen notices the change in behaviour, and understands it’s the other version of her husband. She takes his hand keeps it over her belly (indicating that it’s their baby). By mistake, she even asks, “How was your day at school?”. She’s anyway tired of her actual husband’s philandering ways, so she wants to see how this version of her husband is.
The subconscious plan is to kill off Anthony part of his mind by recreating the memory of the accident, but this time killing Anthony along with it. This is his way to fight his demons. He still feels quite guilty and sad about it, and sits there crying in the living room (or he might also be remembering the last time he cheated on her, and how badly it ended). Helen comes and tries to console him. She even says, “I want you to stay.” She likes this version of her husband, and by saying this, she means she wants this part of him to stay. Maybe, she realises he is going through some internal struggle.
The next morning, Adam wakes up all happy, after having sacrificed the negative part of himself. He discovers the key to the sex club in the envelope. He asks Helen if they already have any plans that night because he may be going out. At the first sign of temptation, even the new version of himself is easily seduced. Helen understands this as soon as he asks her that question. We see a giant spider backed up against the wall, in fear (of being squashed again) and on the offensive. She’s sure that he will cheat again; no matter how much tries to change, his basic instincts are still the same. Adam (Anthony) exhales in acceptive disappointment, realising that “history repeats itself”.
The scene in the beginning of the movie, the one at the sex club, is actually the last scene in this story. It’s Adam (in Anthony’s getup) followed by the lobby guy (since he didn’t get a separate key). It’s a place where people pleasure themselves by seeing things which give the control back to them (the spiders are being squashed here). His final reaction in this scene suggests that he realises, he is back to square one.
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Thanks for reading. Hope it helped. Let me know. (www.facebook.com/akash.sebastian) Do ask if yo have any doubts with my theories.
Last time I had this much fun solving a movie puzzle was ‘Mr. Nobody’, and before that, ‘Mulholland Drive’.
Akash Sebastian 