Film Club #1 - Enemy

[Heat]

Heat, wow, you put a lot of thought into that post!

I agree that the spiders in the movie have a deliberate meaning, and it does seem to be fear, but is it fear of something more specific?

I felt, early on in the movie, that Adam and Anthony were one person, much as you say like in Fight club. The ring thing confused me as well, until the car accident happened. As the car crashed into was like "oh, that must be where the scar came from!"

Since the getting of the scar must have happened before most of the rest of the movie, I also realized the movie was not shown in chronological order. I'm still not certain the exact order of events, but roughly I think that the scene where his girlfriend notices the ring mark must be one of the first, chronologically. Whether he had just gotten married recently or what I'm unclear on, but that is my hunch.

So next is the car crash. Then we can assume both he and the girlfriend live and his wife discovers he was cheating. I only assume the girlfriend lives because later in the timeline the 6 month pregnant wife says "Are you seeing her again?", a very specific accusation.

I think the crash or shortly after it must be where Anthony suffers some sort of mental break. I don't think Adam is just an alternate life because Anthony seems truly unaware of his existence a couple of times, but also semi aware, which makes me think psychotic break
Anyway, he must have created or become Adam at this point, and gotten the university teaching job.

His wife is pregnant at this point, and might also be a cause for his mental break.

After 6 months of this double life, we see Adam discover Anthony, and the meeting they have and all of that actually seems to be pretty much in order, just at the beginning of the film instead of the end.

When he visits the sex club and the girl crushes the spider I am unsure of, but based on the conversation he has with the guy in the elevator, I think it was the night before the last scene, though it may actually be that night when he goes again.

I saw that some people think spiders represent women,  but I think they more specifically represent his fear of being tied to one woman, hence the pregnant wife thing scaring the shit out of him...and us. I think he wants to leave his wife, hence his spider crush fetish at the club

A few flaws in my theory that I spot are that it is the Adam personal that visits his mom, though I honestly don't recall if his mom referred to him by name, it was clear she knew of his University job. Anthony seems to be the alter ego. He has the acting job, the nice house, the seemingly lovely wife, and is the more self confidant of the 2, yet it is him that also has the clearly real life, with the house and the wife, whereas Adam, though less confidant and with the crummy apartment with almost no furnishings,  has the mistress. So which is which? I'm guessing that Anthony is the original, and Adam the fantasy life, though there are themes mixed between the 2, so it is confusing.

Actually, I just realized he was confused with his mom saying he liked blueberrie, so this actually fits that Anthony is the original persona, and Adam is the alternate identity. Perhaps subconcious guilt for cheating on his pregnant wife makes Adame the nervous, unhappy seeming one.

I've got more thoughts about the teaching job, like his subject matter and some of the stuff written on the blackboard, but will let some others share their ideas. And many thanks to EP for this club idea, and opening this thread!

Last thought, he says someone famous, was it Marx? Said that history always repeats itself. The first time is a tragedy,  the second is a farce. This strikes me as an important line, perhaps having to do with his choice to cheat on his wife a second time?

I read a lot of interpretations and have come to the conclusion that Anthony is most likely the main character. This might ruin the fun, but even the director himself said that was the case.

However, I still like to think this is about Adam, not Anthony.


There are a lot of hidden things in the movie that suggest it is truly about Anthony who is struggling with commitment and has a sex addiction. Such as Adam highlighting things like 'control' in his lectures, and at the end his girlfriend saying he never had a ring. To see a lot more on this look at EP's second video.


I think that's a bit boring though. I didn't like it because I thought it was revolving around someone's sexual desires, or fear of commitment. In fact I would much rather it serve a broader meaning than that. That almost seems too simple for a movie so complex.