The Double

The Double is a 2013 British surrealist black comedy psychological thriller written and directed by Richard Ayoade and starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska. It is based on the 1846 novella The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, about a man driven to breakdown when he is usurped by a doppelgänger. It was produced by Alcove Entertainment, with Michael Caine, Graeme Cox (Attercop), Tessa Ross (Film4) and Nigel Williams as executive producers. Plot Downtrodden Simon James has worked at his office for seven years, but he is ignored by his boss, named The Colonel, and colleagues. From his apartment he spies on a beautiful co-worker he admires, Hannah, who lives in the apartment opposite him. He sees her throwing away art and secretly retrieves and admires it. One night, Simon sees a man jump to his death from the floor above Hannah's apartment. He talks to detectives, who explain that if the man had jumped a few feet to the right, he would have been badly hurt but would have survived. Simon's boss announces the arrival of a new employee, James Simon, who looks identical to Simon, which causes Simon to faint upon first glance. Assertive and charming, James is Simon's polar opposite. Much to Simon's annoyance, James not only gets respect from their co-workers but no one seems to notice that they are identical in appearance. James, on the other hand, does notice this and sees Simon's pain. Out of pity, he decides to buddy-up with Simon and give him advice about how to seduce Hannah. Hannah then asks James on a date through Simon. On the date, Simon pretends to be James, with the real James giving him instructions via earpiece. When Simon becomes nervous, the two swap places and James kisses Hannah, angering Simon. James asks Simon to take an aptitude test in his place and seduces their boss's surly, rebellious daughter, Melanie, whom Simon was instructed to tutor, something he is reluctant to do. Simon gets his revenge on James by revealing to Hannah that James is cheating on her with Melanie. Furious, James blackmails Simon for his apartment keys using explicit photos he took of himself with Melanie, knowing their boss will believe it is Simon in the photos. At work, Simon accuses James of being an imposter and is fired after going on a maniacal tirade. As he is about to kill himself, he sees Hannah lying unconscious in her apartment.