Will the real Jesse Eisenberg please stand up? Jesse Eisenberg stars alongside Jesse Eisenberg in ‘The Double’ Richard Ayoade‘s adaptation of the Dostoevsky story of the same name, following the protagonist’s descent in to insanity after discovering his real life doppelgänger.
The Double is Ayoade’s second directorial offering, following up the successful twee wet dream, Submarine, from 2010. From the trailer we can gather that The Double will be the modern man’s Parent Trap circa Lindsay Lohan, except with 100% less Lindsay Lohan, tenuous plot devices and DIY ear piercings. Actually, The Double will be nothing like The Parent Trap. Good.
Dostoevsky’s 1846 novella is notoriously dark and ambitious: it’s essentially a Gogolesque exploration of a schizophrenic melt down. While the trailer supports that sentiment wholly, especially with the soul soundtrack that oozes authentic swagger, the film has been labelled a ‘comedy’, which is perplexing, unless Richard Ayoade makes a Mighty Boosh style cameo in the film, the Arctic Monkeys intervene with unnervingly catchy musical pairings and everyone just has a laff about how literally crazy Jesse Eisenberg is. Oh, the hilarity.
The Double premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend. Watch the first teaser below:
