My favorite Film-Noir film, "The Double," directed by Richard Ayoade is a visual and modern adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s "The Double," originally written in 1846. It’s about a man who suffers from social anxiety and is driven to madness when his dopplegänger achieves everything he couldn’t.

The film takes place in an alternate reality where the government is controlled by one man named The Colonel. The protagonist, Simon James, works at an office where he seems to never be recognized for his hard work or as an employee in general. He lives in an apartment by himself and constantly spies on the girl who lives in the building across from him, Hannah. He goes through her garbage shoot to salvage the art she throws away and cherishes it. One day as he’s spying on her through his binoculars, he sees a man on the ledge of her building with binoculars, commit suicide.

The police arrive and say that if he had leapt just a few feet to the left he would've bounced off a canopy before falling to the ground, surviving with only a few severe injuries. Hannah comes out and wants Simon to join her for lunch. During their lunch she admits that the man from the building was her stalker and the same day he jumped off was the same day she confronted him about the stalking and told him to leave her alone. The next day at work he prints out one copy and goes to the copy room where Hannah works and asks her to make an extra copy for him, even though the copy room policy states that only large amounts of copies come through the room and an employee can’t ask for only a single copy.

The audience is clear on the fact that he does this often so he can see Hannah. She makes him the copy anyway but tells him he’s weird for only requesting a single copy every time. The same night The Colonel throws an annual ball where all employees must attend. As Simon tries to get in, the security says that his name isn’t on the list of employees and there has never been a Simon James in the system. This is when he starts to struggle with his identity. The next day at work his boss introduces a new worker, James Simon, who looks and dresses exactly like Simon. The site of his doppleganger makes him pass out. At first it worries him but eventually they become close friends.

James is clearly the exact opposite from Simon in the sense that he is unafraid to take risks and charismatic which makes him attractive to Hannah. Despite the fact that Simon loves Hannah, James betrays him and sleeps with her and starts to ruin his career by taking credit for everything Simon does. One day, Simon lashes out and tries to take back everything James took from him. His coworkers believe he’s insane and he is fired from his job. Simon learns that his mother has passed away and when he attends the funeral he finds James. He punches him leaving his nose bloody but realizes that his nose has begun bleeding as well.

He comes to conclusion that whatever happens to one happens to the other. Simon comes up with the idea to jump off the ledge of the building but a few feet to the left so he falls on the canopy first then the ground injuring himself and James. Simon is rushed to the hospital and wakes up to Hannah and The Colonel himself standing next to his bed who tells Simon that he is "special," to which the latter responds with a half-smile, "I'd like to think I'm pretty unique."

This is my favorite shot from the film. "The Double" tells a tale of self-doubt and insecurities in one's identity. It was amazing to watch a representation of one’s mind to slowly close in on itself only to create something so real and so powerful as a way to escape. Unfortunately in this film the means of escape turned out to be something extremely dangerous, a doppelgänger who tried to engulf everything belonging to Simon James.